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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1913 



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IF you have purchased any other player- 

 piano than the Kranich & Bach, there 

 are nine chances out of ten you will find 

 that some cheaper or lower grade instrument 

 contains a self-playing mechanism identical 

 with yours. 



The majority of player-pianos are assembled" instruments, 

 containing a sort of "hybrid" self-playing action capable of being 

 "tinkered" into all kinds of pianos, but designed for no one in 

 particular. 



THE 



Kranich & Bach 

 player-piano 



contains a superbly constructed player-action made by Kranich & 

 Bach exclusively and expressly for Kranich & Bach pianos, and is 



built completely in every de- 



M, 



JUST PUBLISHED 



Popular Handbook for Cement and Goncrete Users 



By MYRON H. LEWIS, C. E. 

 Octavo (6>< x 9J4 inches) 500 Pages, 200 Illustrations. 



Price, $2.50, Postpaid 



THIS is a concise treatise on the principles and methods employed in 

 the manufacture and use of concrete in all classes of modem work. 

 The author has brought together in this work, all the salient matter of 

 interest to the users of concrete and its many diversified products. The 

 matter is presented in logical and systematic order, clearly written, fully 

 illustrated and free from involved mathematics. Everything of value to the 

 concrete user is given. It is a standard work of reference covering the 

 rious uses of concrete, both plain and reinforced. Following is a list of 

 chapters, which will give an idea of the scope of the book and its 

 <?h treatment of the subject: 



the Uses of Cement and Concrete. II. Glossary of Terms Employed in 



Kinds of Cement Employed in Construction. IV. Limes, Ordinary and 



'. Natural Cements. VII. Portland Cement. VIII. Inspection and 



■■ign Substances in Cement. X. Sand, Gravel, and Broken Stone. 



increte (Plain). XIV. Concrete (Reinforced). XV. Methods and 



tis for Plain and Reinforced Concrete. XVII. Concrete Blocks. 



ete Tiles. XX. Concrete Pipes and Conduits. XXI. Concrete 



'I. Concrete in Water Works. XXIV. Concrete in Sewer Works. 



XXVI. Concrete Retaining Walls. XXVII. Concrete Arches 



Subway and Tunnels. XXIX. Concrete in Bridge Work. 



XXXI. Concrete Construction Under Water. XXXII. Con- 



neys. XXXIV. Concrete for Ornamentation. XXXV. Con- 



OCXVI. Inspection for Concrete Work. XXXVII. Water- 



ig and Painting • Concrete Work. XXXIX. Method for 



! and Estimates for Concrete Work. 



361 Broadway, New York 



HAIRCLOTH 



ANYONE whose recollection extends 

 back as far as thirty years remembers 

 the black haircloth with which the sofas 

 and chairs of the "parlor'' were covered. 

 These chairs and sofas were sometimes in 

 themselves of very excellent design and 

 lately I have seen a set of them which 1 

 knew somewhat intimately in childhood 

 days, and they are surprisingly interesting 

 covered as they are, with a striped fabric 

 showing a Louis XVI design in two tones 

 of gray. 



It seems that haircloth is now used 

 chiefly as a lining for garments, particularly 

 for the collars and lapels of coats an'd 

 cloaks where a fabric stiff and yet pliable 

 is required. Its use as a furniture cover- 

 ing is by no means over, however, and re- 

 cently I have seen some haircloth of an 

 entirely new variety which shows the 

 change and improvement which good taste 

 has wrought in it. In other days this fab- 

 ric was almost invariably of black, having 

 a slippery and to some extent a glossy sur- 

 face and was generally held in position by 

 wooden buttons covered with the same ma- 

 terial. The haircloth now seen in the shops 

 is of really beautiful patterns and colors in 

 various shades of old blue, numerous tones 

 of dark red and wine color, many shades 

 of gray and deep yellows and old golds 

 shading into the darkest browns. The pat- 

 terns I have noticed are extremely pleas- 

 ing. One which I remember particularly 

 showed stiff little "nosegays" formally ar- 

 ranged. Another very pleasing design was 

 of wreaths somewhat upon the Empire 

 order and there are numerous adaptations 

 of "diaper" patterns. Since seeing these 

 fabrics on sale in the shops I have seen 

 furniture actually covered with them and 

 it is pleasant to find that this odd material 

 has been so beautified and improved that it 

 has entered upon a wholly new phase of its 

 exceedingly useful career. 



KINGS WEIGHED IN GOLD 



IF the King of England, when he went 

 to Calcutta, had not set his face against 

 the proposition he would have been 

 weighed in gold, and the amount required 

 to make him tip the scales would have been 

 distributed among the poor, says Harper's 

 Weekly. This is a very ancient custom that 

 still prevails in many Eastern lands. A 

 Maharajah who was recently crowned 

 seated himself in one of the gold pans of 

 the balance, while into the other was 

 thrown gold coin until royalty rose in the 

 scales. The Maharajah, by an old un- 

 written law, did not become legally chief 

 until he had been weighed in this manner. 

 In olden times the custom prevailed of 

 throwing the money into the air and letting 

 the people scramble for whatever part of it 

 missed the scales, but this resulted in dis- 

 order and frequent loss of life and, more- 

 over, defeated the object in view, as the 

 strong and well-fed usually prevailed over 

 those more in need of the benefit. After 

 this a commission of functionaries was 

 named to divide the gold among the poor 

 of the country districts after the monarch 

 had been weighed. 



This custom of weighing monarchs is 

 not so extravagant as it may appear to be. 

 In the case of George V, it was calculated 

 that one hundred thousand dollars in gold 

 would be devoted to the weighing and the 

 expenses of the entertainment, but that is 

 not to say that the expense was necessarily 

 determined by the bulk of the monarch. 

 As much more may be added to the fund 

 as any number of persons desire to give. 

 However, the native Indian potentates are 

 usually heavy enough to satisfy all demands. 



