—D.C. Beard, Shelters, Shacks and Shanties, 1914                                  
                                   
DWELLERS IN OUR CITIES

Dwellers in our cities do not seem to realize that there
Is any other life possible for them
Than a continuous nightmare existence amid monstrous
Buildings. Boys will do well to remember this.

AN OVERVIEW

Tree houses are used as health resorts. Recently
There was a gentleman of Plainfield living in a tree house
Because he found the pure air among the leaves beneficial.

The boys at Lynn, Mass., built a very substantial house
In the trees. Some New York City boys built a house
In the trees at One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street, but here
The police interfered. There is now, or was recently,
An interesting tree house on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.
Boys have proven they are perfectly competent.

APOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONS

If the writer forgets himself once in a while and uses
Words not familiar to his boy readers, he hopes
They will forgive him.
                                     In order to build a house
One must make one’s plans to fit the tree.
This will be no bungling, unsightly piece of work.
Your tree-top house will stand the summer blows
And winter storms.
                                    “Waney” is a good word, almost
as good as “sensiation.” Don’t select
A “waney” log. It is sometimes necessary in a two-tree
House to allow for the movement of the tree trunks.

The real old-fashioned axe is exceedingly useful.
I even have one now in my closet here
In the city of New York, but I keep it for sentiment’s sake.

FURTHER NOTES

General Grant was not afraid of work.
Personally I do not like deception of any sort.
If you do not sleep well, you must blame the cook.

By the way, boys, the Indian with the load on his back
Is my old friend Bow-Arrow. I forgot to say
That the mountain goose is not a bird but a tree.

A COMICAL QUESTION FOR BOYS

Which would you rather do or go fishing?

ENVOY

The small boys who started at the beginning of this book
Are older and more experienced now. The reader
Must have, no doubt, noticed that problems become
More and more difficult as we approach the end.