A Burmese Dwelling.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 134, 10 June 1904, Page 4

A Burmese Dwelling.

In Burma (says the House rleautiful) a house can be built without a nail. The house is hung on four upright posts of teak or bamboo, 7ft or Bft from the ground ; the planking of the floor is tied to the uprights with rattan ; the walls are made of split bamboo, plaited into beautiful and fanciful patterns. The roof consists of the leaves of the toddy palm, which have been soaked in salt water to make them insect proof. There are no windows, but large flaps of tho plaited bamboo walls aro raised in the daytime to admit light and air. The house consists, in the case of the poor, of only one good-sized room, but when there are several chambers they lead off from the common room, and are separated from it by partitions of plaited bamboo. These aro generally raised Ift or 2ft. from the floor of the common room, but in no case is one floor above another in a Burmese house.it heing thought a great indignity to have anyone's feet over one's head. On the front of tho house there to always a larse balcony with a balustrade. The thatched roors arc highly inflammable, and leaning against every thatched house may be seen a longhooked stick, with which to pull oil' the roof, should it catch fire, and a wooden clapper to beat out any spark that may settle on it. In the roof chatties, or pitchers, full of water are always kept ready for emergencies. As may be imagined, houses so lightly constructed would burn readily, and a village or town is of (en rapidly destroyed by fire. Thatched houses are no longer allowed, and the roof of all new houses must be made of tiles or shingles