HOUSE AND GARDEN 
271 
April, 1915 
tie and licking up every morsel of sweet¬ 
ness, back in a far-distant childhood, that 
I greatly prize the old-time utensil. 
When it came into my possession 1 
pondered a long time before 1 decided how 
I could use it. Finally an idea came. I 
took the kettle to a worker in brass down 
in Allen street, had him remove the old 
handle and rivet a plain drop handle on 
each side. Then he mounted the kettle 
on three plain balls, which serve as feet, 
and I had a jardiniere of unusual design 
and lineage. When once you know its 
history you quickly see there's no dis¬ 
guise attempted. It's the old-fashioned 
kettle, transformed, it’s true, now holding 
a date palm in the hallway instead of jam 
on the kitchen range. 
Who has not had difficulty in getting a 
good arrangement of handsome flowers 
which have straight, stiff stems such as 
gorgeous tulips, lovely jonquils and nar¬ 
cissus? A low glass flower holder, a hem¬ 
isphere in shape, solves the problem. By 
using it stiff flowers may be displayed in 
a mass for table or other decoration, with 
each blossom standing separate and dis¬ 
tinct. This holder is on the same prin¬ 
ciple as the small ones which hold only 
one or two sprays. But the spherical 
shape, full of places for the stems, hold 
and at the same time give form to the 
mass of blossoms. 
An Old Problem Solved 
RANDFATHER, descending the 
J stairs on a cold winter morning, 
hurries to the living-room for a glimpse 
of the morning paper. But it is already 
in the hands of other members of the 
family. “I just wanted to know how cold 
it was last night,” pipes grandmother, 
pouring over the weather column; “but 
it doesn't seem to tell here.” “I wish one 
could tell what the temperature is at 
night,” complains sister Mary, examining 
her bulbs in the window box. The small 
brother wonders if the pond is frozen so 
that he can skate on it — and the man of 
Door porters are being made in a number of patterns 
that have an enhancing charm 
the house falls into an amiable dispute 
with his helpmeet as to the advisability of 
wearing rubbers, the question devolving 
upon the condition of the streets — whether 
frozen or not. 
These domestic uncertainties would be 
Of the many door knockers being shown few are more 
genuinely artistic than this of the satyr and the 
crab. George L. Lober was the artist 
impossible were this particular family the 
possessors of a regulating thermometer. 
For use indoors and out, its value far ex¬ 
ceeds its price, in the mental satisfaction 
it gives in determining past and present 
temperatures. For this little instrument 
not only records the weather conditions 
(so far as the temperature goes) of the 
moment, but also the lowest and highest 
temperatures touched by the mercury in a 
previous given period. The mechanism 
of this “scientific toy” is so simple that 
the proverbial child can set it in action. In 
appearance it resembles the ordinary glass 
thermometer for use on a window. In¬ 
stead of one tube, containing the mercury, 
it has two—one for registering the great¬ 
est degree of heat, the other for the great¬ 
est degree of cold. In each tube is a small 
bar of steel, placed above the mercury. 
Controlling this bar by means of a magnet 
(which is provided with the thermometer 
without extra charge) it can be moved 
up and down in the tube at will. For de¬ 
termining the lowest temperature during a 
cold night, for instance, one moves the 
steel bar—in the tube for recording cold— 
down to where the mercury is at that time. 
The thermometer is then placed outside 
the window, or in the conservatory, or 
wherever the test is to be made. As it 
grows colder the mercury rises (instead 
of dropping, as in ordinary instruments), 
pushing the steel upward as it does so, till 
the extreme point is reached. When tem¬ 
perature becomes warmer as morning ap¬ 
proaches, the mercury falls, leaving the 
steel, however, at the point touched during 
the extreme cold. By a glance at the 
thermometer it is seen at once just exactly 
how cold the night has been, or, to be ac¬ 
curate, what has been the lowest tempera¬ 
ture reached during the night. In the 
same way, one may ascertain the greatest 
heat of a summer day, when the mercury 
is supposed to make a marked rise, say in 
the middle of the day, when the sun is 
highest. This is recorded in the other 
tube, in which the mercury rises to the 
extreme of heat. The thermometer, at a 
moderate price, will be found indispens¬ 
able to the average household, for use in 
the house, on the porch, or in the care of 
indoor plants. 
Warming Facilities for the Kitchen 
N important problem in the kitchen 
is that of keeping food warm and 
warming dishes that are to be used on the 
table. This is a very simple matter in a 
coal kitchen. The best coal ranges are 
equipped with good warming shelves. 
Where the warming shelves are not pro¬ 
vided, as in the case of a cheaper range, it 
is possible to have a tinsmith make a ser¬ 
viceable substitute of japanned iron, which 
can be placed above the stove at a con¬ 
venient height. These iron shelves should 
have round holes cut through for ventila¬ 
tion, and may be supported against the 
wall by means of brackets. 
In a gas kitchen this matter of warm¬ 
ing-shelves presents much greater diffi¬ 
culty and requires more thought. With 
the gas stove we have no longer a con¬ 
stant radiation of warm air which can be 
utilized not only for the purposes named 
above, but for raising bread and drying 
the kitchen-ware. These needs must now 
be provided for in some other way. 
The larger gas ranges have a warming 
oven above the elevated baking oven, 
which is kept hot by the oven burner when 
the latter is in use. At other times the 
(Continued on page 312) 
For a Colonial room come these porters of less elab¬ 
orate and obtrusive design 
