AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
1873 .] 
THE mmimmW. 
BET (JV other Household Items, tee "Basket" pttgte.) 
A Home-made Extension Lounge. 
Anybody can knock np such a lounge with a few 
carpenter’s tools. It is a very convenient thing to 
have in the house, it is so easily turned into a 
bedstead when an extension is required. 
There is, first, the light frame of an ordinary 
Tig. 1 . — FEATIIEIt FAN.—FRONT. 
lounge, made with four posts, held in place by four 
light narrow boards on the sides and ends, with 
narrow slats nailed across the top from side to 
side. There should also be a support running 
through the middle of the top of the lounge from 
head to foot. A few of the slats are nailed to this 
support if it is not sufficiently firm without. The 
slats should be narrow, not more than an inch and 
a half in width, and placed evenly a little more than 
two inches apart. This completes the lounge- 
frame without the extension. 
To make the extension, make two more posts 
like the other lounge-posts, and unite them by a 
narrow board like the sides of the lounge. Nail to 
the top of this side-board as many slats as there 
are spaces in the top of the lounge, taking care 
that they are narrow' enough to slip into these 
spaces easily, and all evenly placed and nailed. 
This is all there is of the extension, and it looks 
frail enough by itself. But place it upon the 
lounge so that it has the support of the side pieces 
and middle “stringer” (perhaps that isn’t the 
word—perhaps my technology is all wrong, for 
there is no one at hand just now to help me to 
correct terms, and when I have said beams and 
boards and rafters, that is about the limit of my 
knowledge in this department)—well, then you 
have quite a respectable lounge, and you may con¬ 
vert it into a serviceable bedstead when need re¬ 
quires—a wide bed or a narrow one, as you please. 
A good way to fit up the lounge : Make a thick 
box mattress to fit the shape of the lounge. Make 
two other mattresses of equal thickness, each half 
*B large as the lounge mattress. Fill them (very 
full) with straw or husks, or whatever suits you. 
Cover them with strong pretty calico, and stand 
the two half mattresses up on their sides at the 
back of your broad lounge when they are not 
needed for the bed, thus making a comfortable 
back to the lounge. You can pull out the extension 
just enough to let these half-mattresses slip dow f n 
back of it, so as to make the lounge wider and the 
back not quite so high—just as you like. One or 
two large pillows, covered like the lounge-ticks, 
would add to the comfort of the concern. 
Unless the lounge-posts are ornamental, a curtain 
tacked across the front, and separate ones tacked 
across each end, would add to the good looks. 
Dimensions of the frame: One foot high, six feet 
long, two feet wide. • Aunt Jane. 
-- * -- —*!««—— - »-» - 
A Handsome Feather-Fan. 
A remarkably pretty fan was left at this office 
not long ago. The engravings which we give of 
the two sides show 
very clearly how it is 
constructed. The head 
and breast of a pigeon 
arc stuffed, to preserve 
the natural form, and 
the wings being spread 
to their utmost extent 
are allowed to dry in 
the position shown. 
Upon the back side of 
the fan the skin of the 
bird is drawn together, 
and the place where it 
is joined is covered 
by an ornament of some kind. It is necessary that 
the skin of the bird be preserved from the attacks 
of insects by rubbing it over with some substance 
that will be either poisonous or repulsive to them. 
All bird-stuffers use arsenic to preserve their skins. 
They dust upon the fresh skin all the arsenic that 
will adhere to the flesh side. Those who do not 
care to use arsenic for this purpose can brush over 
the skin with a solution of corrosive sublimate in 
alcohol, which can be had of any druggist. Bird, 
skins are very liable to be attacked by insects, and 
soon become unsightly and fall into decay if not 
poisoned in one of the methods we have mentioned. 
If either arsenic or corrosive sublimate is used, it 
must of course be with the greatest care. We 
wish we knew of some other way of preserving 
skins, but do not. If any one succeeds with less 
poisonous things, we should be glad to hear of it. 
The fan here figured was made from one of the 
fancy breeds of pigeons, but very fine ones can be 
made from the common wild pigeon that is caught 
in such great numbers in the Western States. The 
iridescent feathers on the breast of these pigeons 
are truly beautiful, and some very expensive muffs 
are made of the skin from the breasts ox' these birds. 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
One’s Lot in Life. —When I took up my pen I 
suspect that I was about to write some sort of an 
“ essay,” but a letter peeping out of a crowded 
bag of unanswered letters upon my table suggested 
a new thought, and I will give here an extract 
from that letter. It came to me a few months ago, 
from one of the readers of these “ Home Topics,” 
and I still hope for the.privilege of giving it a per¬ 
sonal answer. Bless the dear woman for making 
that sweet letter to me a part of her celebration of 
her baby’s second birthday ! 
“ A great many of your rich experiences I know 
nothing practically about, for I am differently cir¬ 
cumstanced. I do not have the real pleasure of 
practical housekeeper experiences, for I keep two 
girls usually, and the first year of baby’s life I had a 
little more besides. I grow very weary sometimes 
of the care of such a household, and am tempted 
to sigh sometimes for my girlhood’s Utopia of 
married life ; a little house (‘ love in a cot,’ you 
know), just big enough for husband and baby and 
myself, and to do my own work. I get so tired of so 
much company as we have, and the demands of 
society that take so much of my time, and often 
wish for a quieter life. But we can not know what 
is best for us, and so I am most grateful for the 
comforts and luxuries with which my loving hus¬ 
band surrounds me, and strive to keep up as well 
and evenly as I can in all the duties that come to 
me. I am thankful that not only is my life full, but 
that I am ready and willing to work, even beyond 
my strength, though it is not just the kind of work 
I would choose. I find that I can not always stop 
at home with my baby when I want to, nor pay as 
little attention as I would like to dress and society, 
etc., and as much to self-culture and mental growth, 
to charity and my own inner spiritual life. But I 
mean to do the best I can, and trust God for the 
rest.” 
After I had read this letter through, I passed it 
across the table to one with whom I like to share 
all the best things that come to me. Perhaps it 
had something to do with his conclusions given in 
a late letter from a neighboring city. 
“ I found quite an interesting study in the faces 
of the wealthy and fashionable ladies in church. 
They are not frivolous, and I don’t believe their 
lives are frivolous. There is so much cant about 
their luxurious idleness and heartlessness. They 
have to choose their path carefully, and with tears, 
A HOME-MADE EXTENSION LOUNGE. 
