The side walls
extended outward a distance of 3 feet, where they were joined by the rear
wall of the chimney.
The Proper Way to Build a Stone Wall.
In making our chimney we could not rely on the red shale to hold the
stones as firmly as good lime mortar would, so we had to be careful that
each stone, as it was laid, had a firm bearing. The stones were embedded
in a thick layer of mud, and if they showed any tendency to teeter we
propped them up by wedging small stones under them until they lay solid.
Another thing that we were very careful about was to "break joints"; that
is, to keep the joints in each layer of the stones from coinciding with
those in the next layer, above or below. To make sure of this we made it a
point to lay a stone over each joint in the top of the wall and then to
fill in the space between the stones with smaller stones. In this way the
wall was made very substantial.
When the masonry had been carried up to the top of the chimney opening, a
heavy timber about 12 inches wide was laid across the walls close against
the wall of the building. This was to support the fourth wall of the
chimney, and so we flattened its upper surface. To prevent it from
catching fire it was covered with a thick plastering of mud, and then to
keep the mud from cracking and flaking off we procured a piece of tin and
tacked it over the log.
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