INTERIOR DECORATION OF VESSELS. 95 



Proportion is another great consideration. As the deck heights are usually too 

 low for the size of the room, the walls should be designed to deceive this and give 

 the impression of height. This can be greatly improved by keeping the chair rail, 

 if there be one, as low down as possible, thereby making the upper panels the long- 

 est and preventing the squatty look. Columns and pilasters should be well propor- 

 tioned and with caps and bases suitable for the shafts. It costs no more to turn a 

 column shaft to the proper diameter in proportion to the height and to have the 

 proper taper and fluting, than one poorly proportioned. There are a number of 

 books that treat of this subject, of which Vignola is considered the best. 



Cornices and mouldings should have a defined profile. You often see a jumble 

 of curves and fillets with no particular meaning and cornices too deep or with too 

 much projection or else too little for the lower portion of the wall. Neither should 

 they be too intricate, for, as it often happens, the forecastle hands may have to paint 

 her some time and they are more inclined to finish quickly and leave no "holidays" 

 than to make a careful job, so pile the paint on thick which soon clogs the mould- 

 ings and spoil their beauty. The bed mouldings of cornices can be enriched if more 

 elaboration is desired. Egg moulding, dentil courses and the like are rich, pleas- 

 ing, and good taste, and, as they are inverted, do not collect dust. These, how- 

 ever, should be well above the eye line to have a good effect. 



Panels should be large and, when made of several ply wood or one of the 

 many kinds of composition, will not warp or crack. Small panels or those run- 

 ning in a brick fashion have a gingerbread look and require more labor to put 

 together, which adds to the cost and lacks appearance. 



If a hung type of ceiling be employed, that is, one framed under the deck 

 beams, it should be carefully treated. Here we usually have a large unbroken 

 area and a fine effect can be had with some elaboration by enriched mouldings and 

 ornament, which, if well executed, adds so much to the beauty of the room and is 

 always interesting from any point of view. Hardwood panelled ceilings are hap- 

 pily becoming a thing of the past and those of an ornamental plaster effect, cor- 

 responding of course with the style of architecture of the room, a vast improve- 

 ment. The more common way of casing in the beams and forming panels between 

 them, which for some styles would answer very well, are usually too heavy. 

 The steel deck beams are generally too large and spaced too close together for 

 proper architectural proportion, and, besides, it happens at times that where a steel 

 beam has to be reversed for structural purposes, they cause an unequal width 

 of the panels. 



DIFFICULTIES. 



There are many difficulties to be dealt with in interior ship decoration, 

 caused by the shape of the vessel, the structure, the crown of the decks, the 

 sheer, the low deck heights and the smallness of the air-ports and deck-house 

 windows. 



The shape of the vessel necessarily has to stand, as well as the structure for 



