October, 1913 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



Vll 



THE NOVEMBER AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



WHEN a business man of moderate means achieves 

 a suburban home and a hobby at the same time, he 

 is accounted fortunate by his fellows, for only those who 

 have attempted it know the intricacies of the problems, 

 delightful though they are. Just such a successful home 

 will be the subject of the opening article of the November 

 number of American Homes and Gardens, an article 

 that will be profusely illustrated by beautiful half-tone re- 

 productions from photographs especially taken by the staff 

 photographer of American Homes. A study of cats will 

 be the subject of an illustrated article in the November 

 number, an article which cannot fail to be appreciated by 

 every lover of household pets. Two of the page features 

 of this issue will depict plans and views of artistic sub- 

 urban houses, one a stucco house along English cottage 

 lines, with thatched roof effect, and the other a modifica- 

 tion of the Dutch style, a house the first story of which 

 is of dressed stone. The November issue will contain a 

 most important article on the subject of the decorative 

 value of the piano, an article which will be adequately il- 

 lustrated with interesting photographs of some of the most 

 beautiful pianos in America. "An American Estate" will 

 be fully described and illustrated, and will include the 

 centre-page feature of this number. The garden of a home 

 in New Jersey will be given emphasis in a finely illustrated 

 article describing this delectable country home. As usual 

 the "Collectors' Department" will present an excellent 

 array of articles of value and interest to readers of the 

 magazine, including a particularly valuable article on the 

 subject of "Old Watches," by Harold Donaldson Eberlein, 

 and embellished by many photographic illustrations of 

 watches in one of the finest private collections in the world. 

 The departments of "Within the House," "Around the 

 Garden," and "Helps to the Housewife" will be filled with 

 useful hints to all readers. 



OCTOBER IN HISTORY 



ACCORDING to the old Alban or Latin kalendar, 

 the October of our Saxon ancestors was known as 

 the Wynmoneth, or wine-month, in allusion to which epi- 

 thet an old chronicler remarked, "and albeit they had 

 not anciently wines made in Germany, yet in this season 

 had they them from divers countries adjoining." The 

 ancient Germans called October "Winter-fyllith," from the 

 approach of Winter with the full moon of the month. 

 Saxon traditions allegorized this month by the figure of a 

 husbandman carrying a sack on his shoulders and sowing 

 corn, in allusion to the practice of sowing the Winter grain 

 which is part of the farmer's "Fall planting" practice. 

 In later times kalendar-makers adopted the sport of hawk- 

 ing as emblematic of this mid month in Autumn's triology. 



AN INTERNATIONAL MODERN CITY EXHIBTION 



AN International Modern City Exhibition will be held 

 in 1 914 in Lyons, France, from May 1 to November 

 1, and the cities of the United States have been asked to 

 co-operate in the movement. The exhibition will be held 

 in buildings covering twenty-five acres of a tract of sixty- 



five acres facing the junction of the Rhone and the Saone. 



The exposition will deal with problems affecting the in- 

 dustrial, social, and political progress of cities — among the 

 subjects to be considered are: The causes of changes in 

 population — births, deaths, causes of mortality, and emi- 

 gration from the country to cities; prenatal care for mothers 

 and children, school hygiene, and educational problems; 

 labor; clothing; disease; old age and incapacity for work; 

 municipal administration; industry — transportation, habita- 

 tion, heating and lighting, furniture, food, drinking water, 

 sewage disposal, chemical products, hospitals, physical cul- 

 ture, and the beautifying of cities. The City of Lyons has 

 invited scholars, economists, philanthropists, administra- 

 tors, and manufacturers of all countries of the civilized 

 world to be exhibitors. 



The American Chamber of Commerce in Paris is taking 

 an active interest in the plans of the exhibition, and it is 

 expected that the United States will be well represented, 

 as it should be, since American cities have taken so active 

 a part in the world-wide civic betterment movement. 



THE PEACE PALACE 



THE formal opening of the world's first Peace Palace at 

 The Hague by the Queen of Holland in the presence of 

 representatives of the world's Powers was, indeed, a sig- 

 nificant event in contemporary history. Mr. Andrew 

 Carnegie who made a gift of the palace to the cause of 

 peace promulgation was the guest of honor and on this oc- 

 casion was the recipient of the highest decoration the Queen 

 could confer, a merited distinction bestowed by an appre- 

 ciative nation. The following description of the Peace 

 Palace is from the New York Times : 



"The palace is a brick-faced building with a noble quad- 

 rangle surrounded by green lawns and bright flower beds, 

 with a fountain in the centre. With its tower, spires, and 

 high-pitched roof of quaint Dutch design the palace in its 

 beautiful setting has a charming and picturesque appearance 

 and effect in harmony with the high purpose and noble aims 

 to which it is now dedicated. Even in the materials of 

 which it is constructed the palace is international in char- 

 acter, having, as part of its materials, granite from Norway 

 and Spain, marbles from Greece and Italy, leadwork from 

 Great Britain, Dutch bricks, and stone or metals from prac- 

 tically all of the countries for which this palace is to be an 

 international Court House for the settlement of disputes 

 between nations. The great Court of Arbitration to which 

 nations will bring their cases to plead will sit in the front 

 portion of the building in a room symbolically decorated and 

 adorned. A library, which will eventually be the conpletest 

 of its kind, embracing all the great works on international 

 law in all languages, will be placed in the rear. The In- 

 ternational Court of Arbitration, for whose uses this palace 

 was erected and has now been dedicated, was established in 

 1899 at the first International Peace Conference called by 

 Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. In that conference twenty- 

 four nations were represented, and the number has since 

 been increased to forty-one." The movement now numbers 

 among its supporters the enlightened nations of the world. 



