XVI 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
October, 1909 
In The Public Service 
The President of the United States 
works for 80,000,000 people all the time. 
He needs rest and change to keep him 
fit for his work, and yet he cannot neglect 
his official duties, he must always be within 
reach. 
When Washington was president he 
rode his horse as far as Mount Vernon and 
kept in touch by messenger with the affairs 
of state. The President to-day has a wider 
range and can seek the cooling breezes of 
the New Englaad coast. 
The long distance telephone keeps him 
in constant communication with the capital 
and the nation. 
The railroad will carry him back tc 
instead, not only to Washington but to any 
other point. 
The Rell system performs this service 
not only for the President, but for the whole 
public. 
This system has been built up so grad- 
ually and extended so quietly that busy 
men hardly realize its magnitude or appreci- 
ate its full value. 
Washington in a day, but usually he need 
not make even this brief journey. The 
Bell telephone enables him to send his voice 
Forty thousand cities, towns and villages 
are connected by the Bell system, which 
serves all the people all the time. 
The Bell telephone has become the implement of a nation. 
It increases the sum total of human efficiency, and makes 
every hour of the day more valuable to busy men and women. 
The highest type of public service can be achieved only by one policy, one system, universal service. 
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
Every Bell Telephone is The Center of the System. 
vom Ppactical Steam and == 
Hot Water Heating and Ventilation 
By ALFRED G. KING 
402 Pages. Containing 304 Illustrations 
Price $3.00 
An original and exhaustive treatise, prepared for the use of all engaged 
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HE standard and latest book published. Tells how to get heating contracts, 
how to install heating and ventilating apparatus. Describes all of.the prin- 
cipal systems of steam, hot water, vacuum, vapor and vacuum-vapor heating, 
together with the new accellerated systems of hot water circulation, including 
chapters on up-to-date methods of ventilation; fan or blower system of heating 
and ventilation; rules and data for estimating radiation and cost, and such other 
tables and information as make it an indispensable work for heating contractors, 
journeymen steam fitters, steam fitters’ apprentices, architects and builders. 
This work represents the best practice of the present day and is exhaustive in 
text, diagrams and illustrations. 
IN I. Introduction. II. Heat. III. Evolution of Artificial Heating Ap- 
CONTAINING CHAPTERS ON _paratus. IV. Boiler Surface and Settings. V. The Ghininesamice! 
VI. Pipe and Fittings. VII. Valves, Various Kinds. VIII. Forms of Radiating Surfaces. IX. Locating of 
Radiating Surfaces. X. Estimating Radiation. XI. Steam-Heating Apparatus. XII. Exhaust-Steam Heat. 
ing. XIII. Hot-Water Heating. XIV. Pressure Systems of Hot-Water Work. XV. Hot-Water Appliances. 
XVI. Greenhouse Heating. XVII. Vacuum Vapor and Vacuum Exhaust Heating. XVIII. Miscellaneous 
Heating. XIX. Radiator and Pipe Connections. XX. Ventilation. XXI. Mechanical Ventilation and Hot- 
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XXV. Temperature Regulation and Heat Control. XXVI. Business Methods. XXVII. Miscellaneous. 
XXVIII. Rules, Tables and Useful Information. 
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MUNN & COMPANY, INC. 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK CiTY 
Problems in Home Furnishing 
(Continued from page xiv) 
across the bottom, may cover the electric bulb 
without the usual base or standard required by 
a heavy lamp. A wire frame may be covered 
with grass cloth or wall-paper by one who is 
clever at such things, or a Japanese paper 
shade with enameled ribs may be bought. The 
wicker shades with paper linings that have 
been so popular this summer may also be used 
by this correspondent for her special need. 
COLOR SCHEME FOR A MUSIC ROOM 
“A Music Teacher’ inquires about some 
way to bring interest into the room in which 
she does her teaching. ‘““The walls need re- 
papering, and the white woodwork will have 
to be painted, and I would like to improve on 
the present coloring of both, which is very or- 
dinary. I believe that color effect in a room 
engages the interest and gives pleasure, but I 
do not know how to create this for myself and 
my pupils.” 
A new paper made by an American firm 
and printed in dull gray with a little gold, 
green and lavender in the background, is sug- 
gested for the wall covering, as. it gives a 
misty, outdoors feeling and does not require 
pictures for a decoration. ‘The woodwork will 
need to be painted gray to correspond with the 
tone of the paper. Thin écru net may be hung 
across the windows, with over-curtains of gold 
color. (There are various materials from 
which to choose, according to the amount that 
is to be expended.) If there is a mantel, a 
mirror with a frame in a hand-carved pattern 
may be hung above it. If rugs are to be used 
their coloring should be kept subordinate to 
the wall and curtain colors. Superfluous fur- 
niture should be eliminated from the room, and 
comfortable chairs with arms installed. The 
rattan chair made in China and costing ten 
dollars looks well in a studio. 
CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS 
IN WINTER 
O BE literally correct the care of house 
aces begins much in advance of the 
winter season, or at that time at which 
the plants which are to be grown for foliage 
or bloom in the coming winter months are 
purchased or secured. 
As soon as it is warm enough to place house 
plants in the open air one may begin to pre- 
pare for winter by starting cuttings of ge- 
raniums and other plants. A sand-box in the 
open air in a more or less sunny position, ac- 
cording to the class of plants which are to be 
grown, is the best place for this preliminary 
work. For the growing of geraniums, helio- 
tropes and such sun-loving plants a south ex- 
posure will be found favorable, while an 
eastern position will answer for most other 
varieties of plants. Any large, shallow box 
suited to the number of plants to be cared for 
will do, and it should be elevated upon sup- 
ports of some kind to a height that will be 
convenient to work at when seated on a chair 
beside it; also, it should be of a width easily 
reached across. 
The box should be filled full of clean, white 
sand, into which the pots of plants are plunged 
to the rims. Cuttings to be rooted may be 
thrust into the sand between the pots, and will 
guickly strike or root. Plants usually make 
abundant root growth in the sand—much in 
advance of that made when started in earth, 
and it will not be necessary to pot off the cut- 
ings until they have made some top growth; 
then they should be potted in quite small pots 
of good compost suited to the particular needs 
