Vlll 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1 9 13 



Symbols 

 of Protection 



Ancient Egyptians carved over 

 their doorways and upon their 

 temple walls the symbol of super- 

 natural protection; a winged disk. 

 It typified the light and power 

 of the sun, brought down from on 

 high by the wings of a bird. 



Mediaeval Europe, in a more practi- 

 cal manner, sought protection behind 

 the solid masonry of castle walls. 



In America we have approached 

 the ideal of the Egyptians. Franklin 

 drew electricity from the clouds and 

 Bell harnessed it to the telephone. 



Today the telephone is a means 

 of protection more potent than the 

 sun disk fetish and more practical 

 than castle walls. 



The Bell System has carried the 

 telephone wires everywhere through- 



out the land, so that all the people 

 are bound together for the safety 

 and freedom of each. 



This telephone protection, with 

 electric speed, reaches the most 

 isolated homes. Such ease of com- 

 munication makes us a homogeneous 1 

 people and thus fosters and protects 1 

 our national ideals and political 

 rights. 



American Telephone and Telegraph Company 

 And Associated Companies 



One Policy One System Universal Service 



Just Published 



The Swiss Chalet Book 



By WILLIAM S. B. DANA 



THIS book tells the story of the Chalet in Switzerland, its 

 history, evolution and construction. It is picturesque 

 as well as instructive and is replete with illustrations 

 and diagrams, sections and plans. The author has not 

 neglected the Swiss Chalet in America and tells the reader 

 of the use that has been made of Chalet forms in California, 

 accompanying his text with attractive pictures. 



Table of Contents 



Chapter I. — Switzerland Visited; Swiss Architects and 

 Builders. II. — Construction Details ; Granary Construction ; 

 Examples of Modern and Older Chalets. 111. — The Chalet 

 Skeleton ; Basis of Ornament; SmallChalets. IV. — Balcony 

 and GableConstruction ; Doors, Windows ; some Classic and 

 Modern Chalets. V. — The Chalet Facade ; Window Disposi- 

 tion ; Plans and Elevations. VI. — The Chalet Facade ; Sys- 

 tem of Ornamentation. VII. — The Chalet Interior ; Planning, 

 Plans and Elevations. Vlll. — The Chalet Interior ; Interior 

 Decoration; Furniture. IX. — Adaptation of Swiss Chalet in 

 other Countries ; American Adaptations. Bibliography. 



Cloth, y^xlO^ inches 



151 Pages 250 Illustrations 



Price, $2.50 Postpaid 



MUNN & CO., Inc., 361 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 



"SQUATTERS" OF OUR DOOR- 

 YARDS 



By A. A. MACK 



N( ) one at all familiar with suburban 

 life can have failed to notice the in- 

 difference with which some creatures of 

 the woods view the advances of man. 

 While civilization, so-called, in the shape of 

 human habitations, railroads, trolleys, autos, 

 etc., drives their kin to regions more remote, 

 these particular wild ones, like the human 

 "squatters" we find here and there in 

 grown-up towns and cities, hold on to their 

 abodes, so incongruous with their surround- 

 ings, until they are actually forced to 

 abdicate. 



In some instances this condition is a 

 source of annoyance to the suburbanite, as 

 many of the wild creatures are anything 

 but desirable neighbors, but in other cases 

 it means more than money can always 

 buy — the privilege of studying nature at its 

 best while one is amidst the comforts and 

 conveniences that only a modern home can 

 furnish. The noisy twittering of the spar- 

 rows, when eyelids are heavy with the sleep 

 so sweet in early morn, may be unwelcome, 

 but who can object to the tuneful warble 

 of the robin, aiding us back to the land 

 of dreams or inspiring us with the joy of 

 life that goes with the breaking day. We 

 might object to the way the chippies spoil 

 our house and walk, but who can protest 

 against the way the bluebird, the robin and 

 the jay adorn our lawns and shrubbery? 



The writer recently moved to such a 

 neighborhood as is referred to. Walking 

 along the street one would never suspect 

 that there was anything alluring in the 

 locality to the nature lover, but should one, 

 by happy chance, venture in the rear of 

 the row of prosaic one and two-family 

 houses on one side of the thoroughfare his 

 eyes would be opened by the variety of 

 feathered creatures hopping about the 

 bushes, trees and lawns and his ears as- 

 sailed, if we can use such a harsh word, by 

 musical notes from many little throats. 



All about are trees and shrubbery in 

 which the birds have made their homes for 

 years, and it will take more than the mere 

 presence of humans at their very doors, so 

 to speak, to drive them away. The street 

 referred to fringes what was once a small 

 country estate. Back of the big, old- 

 fashioned house, which is still standing, was 

 a tract about 1,500 feet in length and two 

 or three hundred feet in width, covered 

 with trees, bushes and high grass. There 

 were no children running about the prop- 

 erty to annoy the birds and other wild 

 creatines that made their home there, and 

 generation after generation came and went. 

 Finally, when the tract was sold and houses 

 began to appear on it one by one the birds 

 and bunnies and squirrels began to dwindle 

 in numbers, packing up and getting out to 

 safer climes. Instinct told them that the 

 boys and cats that go with "civilization'.' 

 were their natural enemies. But there were 

 some that would not be driven out by mere 

 appearances, notably a family of jays that 

 made its home in the crotch of a particularly 

 old tree. This family had become so at- 

 tached to the place that not even the Win- 

 ter's snow could drive it away. The blue- 

 crested heads bobbing up and down in dili- 

 gent search for food when the earth is 

 wrapped in a mantle of white have become 

 a familiar scene in the neighborhood. As 

 Summer sees little newcomers hopping 

 about. 



