Wainscoting and Stair ivaijs 185 



same way, the labor of keeping the house clean 

 will be greatly reduced. 



The wainscoting and the ceilings, 

 WMkm if they are made of wood, should be 

 ' 'y> constructed of wide boards, the cracks 

 I being covered with beveled battens. 

 The old-fashioned, beaded, narrow ceiling 

 Pig g5 material is not only difficult to keep 

 The common tinted or vamished, but almost for- 



but faulty , . , , , . 



picture bids cleanlmess. 



moulding. ^j^g^ g^^-^.g ^^^^ ^QQ g^g^p . g^^^^ 



are little better than ladders and more danger- 

 ous. The risers in the main stairway should not 

 exceed 6% inches, nor the steps be less than 

 12 inches wide. The back stair may have 7 to 

 7% inches risers, and 10- to 11-inch steps. 

 The best and most beautiful stair has 

 one or more broad landings. The 

 spiral or "corkscrew" stair is worst 

 of all. The effort to economize space 

 by cramping the stair is almost univer- 

 sal. The difference between a cramped 

 stair and an ample one may not a sfmtary 

 amount to more than 12 square feet of pi^t^^^-e 



molding. 



space, equivalent to the top of a small 

 table. True, the children may go up an easy 

 stair two steps at a time, but when their hair 

 whitens they will bless the man who knew the 

 difference between an easy, dignified stair and 



