INTERIOR DECORATION OF VESSELS. 97 



large central well as far back as one can remember. The walls were always 

 treated alike on the several decks in view, which spoiled the effect. In the 

 steamer Commonwealth great improvement was made in treating the two heights 

 in the Venetian Gothic saloon more like one height. 



If the deck heights will permit it, a good practice is to hang the ceiling under 

 the beams before mentioned, with large panels and false beams to suit the design of 

 the room. With the hung ceiling it is possible to carry ventilation ducts, pipes, 

 electric wiring, etc., above it and out of sight, to which access can be had where 

 desired by having some of the panels made so that they can be taken down without 

 disturbing the remainder of the work. With a ceiling of this type it can be better 

 treated to suit the period of design chosen for the room and will also serve better 

 to reflect electric lighting by avoiding the deep shadows between the beams. 



Airports and deckhouse windows by the smallness of the openings usually 

 form a problem hard to treat. The inside sash sometimes employed helps matters 

 a great deal. This method was used in the dining saloon of the Great Northern 

 and Northern Pacific, the sashes behind the airports being glazed in a glass known 

 as satin finish which broke the outlines of the airport and gave the effect of large 

 colonial windows. Of course it has to be admitted that when the sashes have to 

 be opened the good effect is somewhat lost and the draperies have then to make up 

 for it. The promenade deck of these vessels was enclosed for the length of the 

 main public rooms and large house type windows were used for those rooms. But 

 we are not often so fortunate as on the steamers mentioned and have to use other 

 schemes. Ports and windows, if worked in pairs, can be treated as a large double 

 window and look better than if spaced singly and equally distanced all around the 

 walls as so often seen. On the Whitney yacht before mentioned, very large plate 

 glass windows are introduced in the deck-houses. These large windows are ar- 

 ranged to suit the interior of the rooms and are a very great improvement over 

 the pigeon-hole type more often used. This yacht, it may be well to remark, is one 

 of the cases where the decorator and the constructor have had to work together 

 from the beginning. 



With the height of large steamers above the water it is possible to employ 

 large metal-framed windows especially designed to suit the interior. This is being 

 done on most of the transatlantic lines with great success when the location is not 

 too much exposed to the elements. 



Too much care cannot be taken in working out the staircases. The stairs in 

 most vessels are too steep and winding. Winding stairs only look attractive on a 

 plan. Thwartship flights should be avoided as much as possible, as in descending 

 such flights one has to meet the rolling motion of the vessel. 



The proportion of the width of tread to the height of the riser should be care- 

 fully worked out. A good rule is to have the sum in inches of one tread and two 

 risers to equal as near as possible to 24 inches, the width of the tread taken always 

 without the nosing. A good proportion would be 7 inches for the risers and 10 

 inches for the tread. While a less angle of incline would perhaps make a grander 



