IN THE BEGINNING 



Yet how seldom it is that one finds a comfortable 

 staircase, either in our private houses or in pub- 

 lic buildings. Measure them, and you will find 

 that the riser is generally from seven to eight 

 inches, and the tread rarely much exceeds ten. 

 In one of the largest of our railroad stations the 

 architect designed the staircase, to be built of 

 enduring stone, so steep that it was a daily oc- 

 currence for people to trip going up, or to fall 

 headlong going down. The accidents were so 

 frequent that the company was forced to build g 

 wooden structure over the expensive stone work, 

 with a proper rise and tread. For such a blunder 

 as this there could be no excuse whatever. The 

 architect had been doing work for the railroad 

 company for years, and had probably designed 

 thousands of staircases, giving him ample oppor- 

 tunity to learn the proper formula for such a 

 structure, and in no event could want of space be 

 urged as an excuse, as the building of the wooden 

 superstructure subsequently proved. When this 

 building was remodelled a few years ago, a new 

 stone stairway was built which went, I think, a 

 little too far to the other extreme, the risers being 

 six inches high, and the treads fifteen and a half 

 broad. While people neither stumble nor fall on 



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