HUTS AND HOUSING [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The
present urgent requirement for cheap and rapidly constructed house accommodation prompts me to record my personal experience herein on the largest scale. In 1855, I witnessed the construction, at Aldershot, of huts calculated to hold 8,000 men in the North Camp, and 12,000 men in the South Camp. In addition- there were numerous huts for hos- pitals, recreation rooms, stores, offices, &c. ; so that though each but sheltered twenty privates, the total number of these buildings must have been over 1,100. Their life had been originally estimated at five years ; yet in 1883 twenty-eight years after their construction—when for various reasons they were replaced by the present brick buildings—they were substantially sound, and had been subjected to few structural alterations or repairs.
Their material was thick, tarred deals, overlapping and resting on a slight brick foundation ; no steel lining, and no wood pulp packing ; roofs thick-tarred felt. They proved dry, warm, comfortable and very healthy. Their sole draw- back was that for about five weeks in winter they were often very cold, and for five weeks in summer they were unduly warm. The time occupied for the construction of these 1,100 huts extended over about six months. Had they been steel- lined and pulp packed their lives might have been doubled or trebled. Obviously their total cost was comparatively insig- nificant.—I am, Sir, &c.,
HENRY KNOLLYS,
Colonel, late Royal Artillery.
25 Meyrick Park Crescent, Bournemouth.
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