Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1901 — BUILDING CROOKED HOUSES. [ARTICLE]

BUILDING CROOKED HOUSES.

Uany Structure* ia Europe Intentionally Pat Up with Leaning Walla. One of the curious things to attract the attention of visitors to Holland is the leaning of a great majority of the houses. To see certain parts of Rotterdam and Amsterdam it would seem as though there were no houses there standing perfectly straight and that great numbers of them must collapse. In buildings side by side some will lean forward, some backward and others sidewise. Their old cracked walls suggest that it is the result of age, while of course it is principally due to the soft, wet ground on which they are constructed. , There are, however, many buildings in these cities, says Pearson’s Weekly, which were originally and unmistakably built out of the straight. For instance, not far from the Hotel Vieux-Doelen, where the delegates to the peace conference stayed, there is an extension being built to one of the churches, and although the walls are not yet completed they lean outward more than 12 inches. •* Another instance of this is found in some of the comer houses, whose walls lean out over each street. In many cases new houses are evidently put up to match the houses alongside. Strangely enough, though, there are comparatively few cases on record of COIIUpSQ. - : ; At Frankfort-on-the-Main, though of course such construction is not common in Germany, there is one street in which two houses on opposite sides of the street lean over so far that their roofs meet. In one of these houses Lord Rothschild waa bom. In Paris, on the other hand, it is noticeable that the builders intentionally construct the houses so that they lean backward slightly, to add to their stability. But almost in the center of Paris there is one big stone building which leans out fully 3£ feet over the sidewalk. So solid, however, are the Paris buildings that this one is claimed to be safe.