A Housing Problem Novelty In order to solve the housing problem, a builder at Los Angeles is putting up two hundred attractive mud houses, He is copying the idea from the ancients and South American natives, who used to build their houses of wet soil, mixed with straw, cast in moulds of required size, and left in the sun to dry.
Generally speaking, any earth with a clay base, that makes it cohesive when watered, can be used for the purpose. The straw in the mud serves a purpose similar to that of steel reinforcement in concrete.
The mud mansions built scores of years ago by the Mexicans are today in splendid condition, although somewhat damp and insanitary. These faults, however, are being remedied. For instance, whereas the old Dons were satisfied te plaster their walls with mud, and protect this with a coating of whitewash in which had - been incorporated tallow and cactus juice while the lime slaked, the present-day builder prefers to cover them with hard cement plaster thoroughly to anchor ito the walls—generally three coats—and waterproof throughout with an all-mineral compound evolved by himself and conceded by chemists to be virtually everlasting.
The builder makes these claims for the houses now under construction: That they are everlasting: meaning that the occupants—will. never know the annoyance or expense of the usual repair bills. That they are soundproof so that howling winds, rattling roofs, or other noises will not be heard within. That they are non-conductive and fire-proof, cool in summer and warm in winter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.