444 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 19 13 



insurance and repairs, while the security afforded is per- 

 petual. The interior should be so arranged that each room 

 can be completely shut off from the rest, at need. While 

 the modern idea of gaining an effect of spaciousness by 

 throwing the hall and the living-room together, and connect- 

 ing the remaining rooms on the first floor by means of wide 

 arches has abundant esthetic justification, it is wholly im- 

 practical from the standpoint of fire prevention. The open 

 stair-well is a serious menace under such conditions, and 

 unless a door can be built at the head of the stairs, the 

 whole structure should be enclosed even at the sacrifice of 

 picturesqueness. The arches can be rendered unobjection- 

 able by means of sliding doors. 



Even when every reasonable measure of prevention has 

 been taken, it is still possible that fire may break out from 

 some cause beyond control, as lightning, an exploding lamp 

 or the burning of an adjoining building. For this reason, 

 every dwelling should be supplied with simple and inexpen- 

 sive fire apparatus, and each of the inmates instructed in 

 its use. In a house of seven or eight rooms there should 

 be at least two small chemical extinguishers, one kept 

 always in the same place in the basement, and the other 

 on the second floor. They will last a lifetime, and the 

 chemical contents can be renewed as often as necessary at 

 a cost of only a few cents. A pick and axe should be 

 fastened to the wall in some central place, and their re- 

 moval save in case of fire positively forbidden. Their 

 value will quickly become apparent should a fire be located 

 in a partition or around the chimney. A rope ladder stored 

 on the sleeping floor may be the means of saving life should 

 a blaze start in the night. Keep not less than two water 

 pails, constantly filled, on hooks on the stair landing, where 

 they can be quickly reached from either floor. Three and 

 four-story houses should have pails on every landing. The 

 round-bottomed style is best, as those with flat bottoms are 

 apt to be taken for cleaning and scrubbing and either left 

 out of place or not refilled after using. 



Prompt action is imperative in dealing with fire success- 

 fully, and a single pailful of water, ready to hand, and 

 hurled on the flames without delay, may effectually check 

 what would otherwise have developed into a serious con- 

 flagration. On the other hand, an incipient blaze may easily 

 gain dangerous headway during the time lost in filling a 

 bucket from the faucet, searching frantically for a mis- 

 placed extinguisher, or groping in the cellar for an axe. 



WHEN MAKING A GIFT 



By Harry Martin Yeomans 



HEN one receives a gift the spirit and good 

 will which prompted the offering is always 

 appreciated far more than any intrinsic 

 worth that might be attached to the object 

 itself, but when the gift also possesses merit 

 and is in good taste, then it is indeed an ob- 

 ject to be treasured by the recipient, who can voice his whole- 

 hearted thanks without restraint. Any gift should be looked 

 upon in this light, but, nevertheless, we have all had the ex- 

 perience of penning a note of thanks for some poorly se- 

 lected gift, and at the same time been secretly wondering 

 what in the world we would do with it, not because it was 

 cheap in money value, but because it lacked the qualities 

 which mark the difference between the good and the com- 

 monplace. At wedding receptions the usual display of cut 

 glass, gold clocks and impossible pictures make one pity the 

 bride who is to adorn her new home with articles of such 

 doubtful merit. At a wedding reception the writer recently 

 attended in a small town, she discovered, on viewing the 

 wedding presents, an old-fashioned pieced quilt which had 

 been presented by the groom's grandmother. This product 



of the old lady's skill made half of the other presents look 

 tawdry and cheap, and I have often wondered whether she 

 realized how vastly superior her homely present was to 

 most of the others which kept it company. 



At some time or other, we all have to face the gift prob- 

 lem, and whether in commemoration of some anniversary, 

 for the prospective bride, or at the holiday season, it is 

 well to give a little thought to the selection of one's gifts, 

 so that ones' friends can treasure the gift iself, as well as 

 the spirit in which it is sent. 



For those who are interested in their immediate sur- 

 roundings and in the furnishing of their homes, there are 

 multitudes of objects that make beautiful gifts. Small ar- 

 ticles can always be selected, but there are certain pieces of 

 furniture of an intimate nature, which make excellent gifts, 

 without giving offense, as they do not suggest that the giver 

 is trying to furnish the recipient's house for him. Here is 

 a little list of such articles, objects that possess real worth, 

 and while none of them is unusual or faddish, they are all in 

 excellent taste and would not be out of place in any home. 



Of the articles made of mahogany, after Colonial models, 

 there are tea-tables, sewing-tables, palm-stands, tea-trays, 

 book ends, stationery racks, muffin stands and mantel clocks. 

 Desk sets always make an acceptable gift and they can 

 be obtained in glass, brass, copper, leather and brocade. 

 Lamps when fitted with an appropriate shade are desirable 

 presents. Those usually shown in the department stores 

 should be avoided, however, and you should have your lamp 

 made up from a pottery or porcelain vase, or from a small 

 brass or copper jardiniere. They can be mounted to burn 

 either oil or electricity. 



Reproductions of Sheffield plate, on copper, can now be 

 obtained, and the articles in the shops include an endless 

 variety of articles having the grapevine or the grooved 

 border. There are all sorts of trays, platters, vegetable 

 dishes, coasters, tea caddies, candlesticks and photograph 

 frames. 



The Russian brass candlesticks and samovars are to be 

 recommended, as well as desk scissors in a sheath, jardi- 

 nieres, fern-dishes, tray, umbrella stands and andirons. 



Photographic brown prints of paintings after the old 

 masters, when framed without mats in bands of dark 

 brown wood, make excellent pictures for almost any room. 

 One of the best gifts for the home-maker; one that makes 

 its presence felt on the first of every month, is a year's sub- 

 scription to one of the magazines devoted to art in the 

 home. 



A SUGGESTION FOR A LUNCHEON DESSERT "BOX" CAKES 

 FILLED WITH COFFEE JELLY AND WHIPPED CREAM 



