ORNAMENTING NEW HOMES. 21 



Where reliable builders can be found who will look to the 

 interest of the employer as well as their own, much more 

 satisfactory results may be obtained if the work is done by 

 day labor than if by contract. 



The requirements for a healthful house are, first, 



Good Drainage of the Cellar. 



A wet or even over-moist cellar is often the cause of 

 much sickness and discomfort, for it serves not only as a 

 place for the development of disease-germs, but also those 

 that cause the decay of the woodwork and hastens the 

 corrosion of any metal substances stored therein. It causes 

 contraction and expansion of doors, windows, casings, and 

 floors, and gives no end of trouble in many ways. From 

 its long use for storing vegetables, etc., we have come to 

 think that a cellar is almost a necessity, but it is not so 

 much so at the present time as when almost every family 

 put in a large supply of provisions for winter use. Now 

 the provision-dealer puts in large supplies and is ready to 

 deliver fresh vegetables and fruit in limited quantities 

 every week, or even every day if desired. 



The cellar is useful in the modern house, however, not 

 so much for storing winter supplies as for the location of 

 the furnace and the needed fuel. In the " good old 

 times " our houses were heated by burning large quantities 

 of wood in the fireplaces; then came the stove, one in each 

 room; and finally we have come to centralizing all heating 

 apparatus in one furnace or boiler, which, until we come 

 to the condition where all heat can be supplied to our 

 dwellings from outside central stations, either by steam, hot 

 water, or electricity, is by far the most satisfactory ar- 

 rangement we find now available* 



