30 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 1907 



smoke, soot, or ashes spreading out into the room, while the 

 cooking smells are drawn up through a ventilator just above 

 the range. A whole chicken can be roasted in a quarter of an 

 hour and lamb chops can be broiled in three minutes. This 

 rapid cooking results in retaining the juices of the meat. 



The advantages offered by the kitchen for the develop- 

 ment of electric power devices have not as yet been fully 

 realized. The kitchen is the workshop of the house, and 

 affords a splendid opportunity for labor-saving apparatus. 

 A well-ordered kitchen should have its electric fan set in the 

 wall to draw off the heated air and odor of cooking from 

 the building. Small electric refrigerating plants are provided 

 to do away with the inconvenience of hauling ice into the 

 house. As yet electric labor saving apparatus has not been 

 introduced to any large extent in private houses, but some of 

 the accompanying illustrations, which show its uses in hotels, 

 will be suggestive of its possibilities in the home. Here may 

 be seen the electric dishwasher, the dishes being piled into 

 an open wire basket and dipped into boiling water which is 

 whirled rapidly against them by an electric motor. The 

 same operation repeated in three different vessels will thor- 

 oughly clean the plates, after which an electric fan is used 

 for drying them. The entire operation requires but a few 

 minutes. The knives can be scoured and polished by passing 

 them between a pair of rapidly rotating buff-wheels, and an 

 emery wheel is provided for sharpening the steel blades. 

 But the use of the electric motor in the kitchen is not con- 

 fined to cleaning apparatus. A number of electrically driven 

 machines have been devised for preparing food. Two of 

 these are shown herewith. One of them consists of a cab- 

 bage-chopping machine, and the other is a potato-paring ma- 

 chine. The latter discharges potatoes fully pared except for 

 the eyes, which can readily be cut out by one of the attend- 

 ants. It will be evident that these are but a few of the 

 different uses to which electric power can be applied, and it is 

 expected that the next few years will add wonderfully to the 

 present variety of electric labor-saving devices for kitchen 

 use. 



While the tendency of the day is undoubtedly toward the 

 increased use of electricity In the household, Its general 



A Corner in an Electrically Equipped Bathroom 



progress Is dependent on various conditions. The popular 

 prejudice that electricity is expensive In any form is fre- 

 quently supported by the bills which come in for its use for 

 light. No general means has yet been devised to satisfy 

 consumers that the bills for electricity are fair and correct. 

 This prejudice must be overcome before It can be applied to 

 miscellaneous household matters. 



The Public Value of the Private Garden 



HERE Is no easier or more delightful way in 

 which the private citizen can contribute to 

 the embellishment of his town or city than 

 by the maintenance of a flower garden. 

 Often enough it Is quite impossible to do 

 this, for land Is scarce and valuable in 



crowded places, and the very persons who might be those 

 most willing to help local embellishment in this way are pre- 

 cluded from doing so from the lack of land. The late Mr. 

 Cornelius Vanderbilt pulled down a number of costly dwell- 

 ings, purchased for this purpose, that he might arrange a 

 small garden on one side of his great Fifth Avenue palace; 

 Mr. Andrew Carnegie followed the same plan in the gar- 

 den attached to his New York house; one or two other 

 wealthy citizens of the metropolis have done the same; but 

 the results have scarcely compensated for the cost, and the 

 expense, in any event, is prohibitive in all except very oc- 

 casional instances. 



Singularly enough it Is the citizen of moderate means who 

 can do more in this direction than his wealthy fellow towns- 

 man on the avenue. The man who does not want to live on 

 a costly street, or does not have to do so, will occupy a more 



modest house, and may perhaps have a bit of land before 

 his front windows. It is a public duty to make the best of 

 every such opportunity. The labor is never great; the cost 

 is never large; but the results are always satisfactory. Even 

 a single vase of flowers, or a box of blooming plants over 

 the door or at the lower window sills, will accomplish much 

 and be real notes of Interest and of life In what might other- 

 wise be solid expanses of solemn brown stone or scarcely less 

 varied red brick. 



Moving out into the suburbs the opportunities for effec- 

 tive work become greater. The further we get from the 

 high-priced center the more ample the opportunities and 

 the greater the responsibilities of the house owner. A gar- 

 den of some size may be a matter of some expense; its care 

 may entail a certain amount of labor, and It may. In short, 

 be some "bother." But the duty can not be escaped. If one 

 does not care for a garden for one's own sake, one should 

 certainly maintain it as a matter of pride and as a duty due 

 one's neighborhood. The personal Interest will be sure to 

 come, and come quickly; for plants are fascinating things to 

 watch grow, and they are the most brilliant and the most 

 helpful of all exterior decorations. 



