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this leads to people refraining from building. There is a foolish 
prejudice against wooden houses, whereas you all have seen in maga- 
zines, cinemas, etc., what delightful timber buildings are erected in 
America. I do not refer to Queensland as, although the houses there 
are principally wood, they are generally of such mean type that one 
would not be induced to employ that material after seeing them. A 
house with stone or brick base and walls partly of weatherboards 
and shingles of tiles, pleasingly intermixed, can he made to satisfy 
the taste of most people. It can be rendered absolutely water-tight 
and to last a century. Such a house with proper insulation in walls 
is cool in summer and warm in winter. 
I have already sufficiently animadverted on the use of galvan- 
ised iron for roofs, and 1 extend this objection to fences. No pub- 
lic authority should allow a galvanised iron fence to be erected 
alongside a street ; it is an offence against good taste. Boards or 
split palings can he used which will tone down with age and produce 
a homely artistic appearance, and be equally enduring and pur- 
poseful. 
Finally, let householders study landscape gardening, then they 
will discover how, by comparatively simple arrangement, an ordin- 
ary building block can be made a pleasure to themselves and to the 
general j ublic. ll has always struck me as a display of selfishness 
to hide our gardens behind close hedges. It is the duty of every 
citizen to assist in improving the town lie inhabits and to pronfdte the 
welfare of his fellow men. Surely if one has been blessed with means 
to erect a good dwelling with a beautiful garden, one might at least 
share th’s pleasure with those who pass by, some of whom may be- 
in less fortunate circumstances. In this respect, Continental, Amer- 
ican, and Canadian people put English people to shame. The gar- 
dens in front of their houses are visible to everybody and add greatly 
to the charm of their cities. If I were a town-councillor, I should 
endeavour to bring in a by-law prohibiting a high close hedge or 
fence in front of a residence. We should all help to make the City 
Beautiful and thereby elevate our fellows. 
This paper does not pretend to give any instructions, nor to 
dogmatise in any way. Everyone has bis own particular ideas and 
most of you probably have at one time or another been interested in 
buildings, but these few remarks will serve as reminders. 
The plans shown are simply an indication of the essential fea- 
tures to make a comfortable home, and are all entirely different in 
arrangement of the various apartments. Being drawn to the same- 
scale, comparison is made easier. One can vary any plan in many 
different ways, and it is not possible within the scope of this paper 
to illustrate the exteriors. You can see them in plenty in various 
publications, also 1 believe at some drapery or other establishments- 
in the city. 
