The screened veranda is also becoming common. It too can be used only during a portion of the year in a large part of the country. But even a limited use serves to satisfy that longing for life in the open. Screens on veranda or window are conspicuously absent on the Pacific Coast, as climatic conditions do not permit the propagation of flies and mosquitoes in large quantities, so screens are unnecessary.

In the Middle West there has been developed an architectural feature known as the summer-kitchen. This is simply a one-room building detached from and immediately to the rear of the dwelling. During midsummer months of almost unbearable heat the family cooking and laundry-work are done in this detached building in order that the dwelling proper may be spared the addition of avoidable heat and odor.

In cities along the Gulf of Mexico in general, and in New Orleans in particular, projecting balconies on the second and third floors are conspicuous. Moreover, the living-rooms of many homes are also on the second or third floors. The climatic significance of these considerations lies in the fact that the ground floor is too damp for comfort and for health. Dryness of floor and air are worth the exertion of stair-climbing. New Orleans is sometimes referred to as the most conservative of American cities. In this particular respect her conservation appears to be well founded on an obvious scientific truth.

The use of storm-doors and storm-windows is good evidence that severe weather is occasionally experienced. Throughout most of the Middle West and in the northern portion of the Atlantic coast region the winters are so severe that dwellings could not be kept comfortably warm without the use of storm-doors and storm-windows, and, moreover, their use conserves fuel consumption. Along the Great Lakes, as well as along the sea-coast, double windows serve the additional purpose of resisting destructive winds which are sufficiently strong to blow in a single thickness of window-glass. In Minnesota and the Dakotas, where temperatures of twenty to forty degrees below zero occur every winter, the lower portions of the humbler cottages are enclosed with tar-paper or burlap each autumn in order that artificial heat may be retained.

The use of tall smoke-stacks on factories shows climatic influences indirectly. By the use of great height in the chimney an accelerated draught is secured for the fire-box, and, moreover, the gaseous waste-products are expelled sufficiently high in the atmosphere to secure their harmless dispersal. The

tallest smoke-stacks in the United States are those in connection with smelters, where poisonous fumes are thus expelled to best advantage. Furthermore, in planning groups of buildings like universities and civic centers the position of the heating-plant should be determined in large measure by the prevailing direction of the wind. The need for considering this matter in the planning is obvious.

A JANUARY SCENE IN A VILLAGE LOCATED IN THE HIGH SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.

The need of warm dwellings in such an environment is apparent.

CONDITIONS IN CALIFORNIA

California is the climatologist's paradise. Here within a comparatively limited region one can find an epitome of all the various climates of the United States, besides some climates peculiarly her own. Extremes of climate as well as diminished ranges are exemplified in different parts of this state of infinite variety. For these reasons climatic influences on architecture are readily apparent there. A few of these will be mentioned. The portion of California which is most densely settled and which is best known in the east has mild temperatures, meager rainfall and few extreme weather conditions. It is therefore a

A COTTAGE SHROUDED IN A MANTLE OF SNOW. Snow is a poor conductor of heat, and a good protector from winds. Such a dwelling may therefore be kept warm in spite of its frigid appearance.

land of the out-doors, and life is largely in the open. At the recent Expositions at San Francisco and San Diego many of the exhibits were out of doors. Art objects of great value were exhibited in the open. The flower-markets of San Francisco are on the sidewalk in winter as well as in summer, and bandconcerts are given on Sundays throughout the year in Golden Gate Park. The Greek Theater of the University of California has no roof. The ventilation of moving-picture theatres, a troublesome problem in a large part of the United States, needs no solution in southern California, where there are only a few nights in a whole year when such pictures can not be viewed under starry skies. The waiting-rooms of railway stations are also in the open, with only a roof for protection from sun and

Courtesy of The National Builder. THE BUNGALOW COLONY IDEA IS INCREASING IN POPULARITY IN THE WEST. Is it any wonder that the death-rate among residents of such a colony is but a small fraction of that which obtains in the tenements along Hester Street, New York, or along Blackhawk Street, Chicago, where more than 2,000 persons live within a single block?

from the occasional shower. Where the sunshine is oppressive, a double roof is constructed so that the air space thus provided may insure cool temperatures in the shade beneath.

CONCLUSION

In this age of efficiency, greater attention is being paid to details than ever before. It appears to be a trait of human nature to consider material and external things first, and personal and internal things last. From the point of view of climate we have long studied the relations of weather to crops. Only recently have we considered its relation to man himself. One phase of the new interest in climatic influences on man himself is that evident in the increased attention being paid in domestic architecture to weather and climate as a condition of environment. The careful architect can not and does not disregard the weather records in planning the most humble bungalow. Considerations of comfort demand that the type of construction, the arrangement of the rooms, the exposure and the heating system, should be adapted to the climate of the region concerned. Considerations of safety demand that the construction shall be made to withstand extremes greater than any which appear in the recent records. Just how large a margin of safety should be provided for is a complex problem, and one whose ultimate solution rests upon an extended weather record for the particular vicinity considered. Matters like these have influenced the design of the home, which, like many other things, has evolved rapidly of late, and is even now in a transition stage. In the well-planned modern home the livingrooms face the south to secure a maximum of sunshine and a minimum of cold and boisterous winds, while the least used rooms are placed to the north, as that is the least desirable exposure, climatically considered. The top-most room, formerly a dusty attic or store-room, has become a sun-parlor. The basement, formerly the laundry or cellar, has become the summer study or work-shop. By a wise dispensation of nature, a comfortable environment is usually a hygienic environment also. Collectively, man has gained much by ceasing to be a nomad. Individually, men are happiest when they live in their own homes. Natural environment determines in large measure the nature of that domicile. Weather conditions are now considered by the conscientious architect in planning the construction of such a dwelling, and the artificial climate which is to be created within it.