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38 Adobes a r e s t r u c t u r a l l y much w eaker t h a n f i r e d b r i c k , s o t h e m ost i m p o r t a n t c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n l a y i n g t h e a d o b e s a r e t o s t a g g e r t h e j o i n t s i n e ac h c o u r s e and t o a s s u r e t h a t c o r n e r s a r e s o l i d l y bonded. But l i t t l e s k i l l i s r e q u i r e d t o la y a d o b es and most men c o u ld do i t ; h o u sew iv e s o f t e n l a i d adobe b r i c k s w h ile t h e i r husb an ds w ere away a t work ( C a r t e r , 1958, 1 1 8 -1 8 7 ). To com pensate f o r c o m p a r a t i v e l y p o o r s t r u c t u r a l q u a l i t i e s o f adobe b r i c k s , w a l l s o f g r e a t t h i c k n e s s were n e c e s s a r y ; seldom w ere th e y l e s s t h a n 16 i n c h e s — two o r t h r e e t h i c k n e s s e s of adobe b r i c k . But su ch t h i c k w a l l s have t h e i r a d v a n t a g e s , nam ely, p r o v i d i n g e f f e c t i v e i n s u l a t i o n from c o l d o r h o t w e a th e r . The numerous comments a b o u t t h i s f a c t o r by Mormons i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e y c o n s i d e r e d t h e s e i n s u l a t i o n q u a l ­ i t i e s im p o rta n t. In f a c t , t h e p i o n e e r s who b u i l t wood frame h o u s e s q u i t e f r e q u e n t l y p l a c e d ado bes b e tw ee n v e r t i c a l s t u d ­ d in g b e h in d t h e c la p b o a r d s f o r th e p u rp o s e o f i n s u l a t i n g and a d d in g s t r e n g t h t o t h e h o u s e . A p i o n e e r woman i n Duchesne County i n n o r t h e r n U tah i l l u s t r a t e s h e r method o f i n s u l a t i n g fram e w a l l s w i t h adobe: When t h e boys had enough lum ber on hand t o b e g in b u i l d i n g ou r h o u s e , my b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , James G i l b e r t , a c a r p e n t e r , p la n n e d ou r home and began e r e c t i n g t h e frame w ork. When t h a t was c o m p le te d , he b u i l t t h e r o o f . The n e x t jo b was t o make ad o b es t o l i n e t h e h o u s e , s o w i t h t h e h e lp o f my s o n - i n - l a w , James Moore, my b r o t h e r b r o t h e r C u r t, my t h r e e s o n s and my t h r e e y o u n g e st d a u g h t e r s , I b eg an c a r r y i n g a d o b e s t o l a y them o u t i n t h e su n t o d r y . . . . The a d o b es d r i e d q u i c k l y so by l a t e summer we were a n x io u s t o g e t them i n t o t h e w a l l s . The men f o l k s were v e r y busy g e t t i n g i n t h e c r o p s and b u i l d i n g s h e d s and g r a n a r i e s and c o r r a l s . I d e c id e d I c o u ld l a y th e ad o b es up b etw een t h e 2x4*s i n t h e w a l l s Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.