January, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
57 
□ 
Making the Cellar Dry and Keep¬ 
ing It So 
(Continued from page 35) 
no cellar ? There are really only two good 
reasons for keeping it: first, to have a dry 
floor in the first story, and second, to pro¬ 
vide a place for the heater. In old days 
we had kitchens and such things down 
there; but the modern servants won’t 
stand for that — very fortunately for our 
health. Now, in many suburban commu¬ 
nities a central heating plant is maintained, 
supplying steam or hot water to all the 
nearby houses. A common laundry is us¬ 
ually installed here; and thus the house 
cellars are left entirely empty. If we build 
the first floor like the last diagram shown 
herewith, with a slab of waterproofed con¬ 
crete underneath, there will be no question 
of dampness, and a very considerable sav¬ 
ing in expense is had, too. 
Lighting Fixtures Within Your 
Appropriation 
(Continued from page 31) 
tions you may select, so long as they do not 
need special designing; in selecting a 
shower, for instance, you can pick out the 
ceiling plate of one fixture, the chains of 
another, and the shade and shade holders 
of a third. This sort of selection, however, 
should be done with much discrimination 
or the result may be disastrous. 
The three designs now in use are simply 
and technically described as the round 
tube, the square tube and the Sheffield — 
the latter being usually in old brass with 
black finish in the grooves to give char¬ 
acter. All three are suited to any room in 
the house. Other metals and finishes are 
much used, although brass always is the 
most popular. Antique brass is a darker 
shade; there are bronzes of varying shades, 
polished and antique copper, oxidized 
brass, Japanese bronze, half-polished iron, 
antique bronze, oxidized iron, bright and 
shaded silver, and gilt. The gilt finish is 
about ten per cent, more expensive than 
the old brass, and the silver finish more 
costly yet. There is also an imitation of 
carved wood which is heavy and massive 
and more durable than the wood, at about 
half the price. 
Candle lights are not used to any extent 
these days, except by those whose pocket- 
books are large; they do not give suffi¬ 
cient light, nor diffuse it satisfactorily for 
practical purposes. Their chief function 
is ornament. 
Alany people err in selecting shades 
which cost more than the fixtures them¬ 
selves. A good plan is to purchase the 
simpler shades at first; these may be 
changed at any future time as the pocket- 
book permits. It is good economy to get 
a higher-priced fixtures and a low-priced 
shade at first; after one has lived in a 
house for a time one senses better what 
shade will harmonize with the furnishings. 
MM: 
From an old print in La Telegrajie llistoriqut. 
Napoleon’s Visual Telegraph 
The First Long Distance System 
Indians sent messages by means of 
signal fires, but Napoleon established 
the first permanent system for rapid 
communication. 
In place of the slow and unreliable ser¬ 
vice of couriers, he built lines of towers 
extending to the French frontiers and 
sent messages from tower to tower by 
means of the visual telegraph. 
This device was invented in 1793 by 
Claude Chappe. It was a semaphore. 
The letters and words were indicated by 
the position of the wooden arms; and the 
messages were received and relayed at the 
next tower, perhaps a dozen miles away. 
Compared to the Bell Telephone system 
of to-day the visual telegraph system of 
Napoleon’s time seems a crude make¬ 
shift. It could not be used at night nor 
in thick weather. It was expensive in 
construction and operation, considering 
that it was maintained solely for military 
purposes. 
Yet it was a great step ahead, because 
it made possible the transmission of 
messages to distant points without the 
use of the human messenger. 
It blazed the way for the universal 
telephone service of the Bell System 
which provides personal intercommuni¬ 
cation for 90,000,000 people and is indis¬ 
pensable for the industrial, commercial 
and social progress of the Nation. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One ‘Policp One System Universal Service 
Landscape Gardening 
A course for Homemakers and Gar¬ 
deners taught by Prof. Craig and Prof. 
Batchelor, of Cornell University. 
Gardeners who understand up-to-date 
methods and practice are in demand for 
the best positions. 
A knowledge of Landscape Gardening 
is indispensable to these who would 
have the pleasantest homes. 
250 page Catalog free* Write to-day* 
THE DOME CORRESPONDENCE SCDOOL 
Dept. 226, Springfield, Mass. 
GallowayTerra Cotta Co. 
3218 Walnut St. Philadelphia. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden, 
