The editor will gladly answer queries pertaining to 
individual problems of interior decoration and furnish¬ 
ing. When an immediate reply is desired, a self-addressed 
stamped envelope should be enclosed. This department 
The August Willow Call 
OR the furnisher who responds to the 
call of “Wicker-willow!” comes an 
effective screen woven of wicker and 
stained to match any tone of furniture in 
the room. Each fold has a woven border 
of about six inches deep, a little wider at 
the bottom than at top. which acts as a 
frame for a linen panel of a cross stitch 
design. The linen tones in with the color 
of the wicker and the design may repeat 
the design of the hangings or the table cov¬ 
ers. A very attractive figure has a gate¬ 
way, on either post of which is perched a 
peacock spreading a tail of rich colors. 
This is placed near the top of the panel. 
The same design on linen is used as a val¬ 
ance at the window, and the curtains have 
a running pattern carrying out the same 
idea in color and design. 
Most attractive are the sets that facili¬ 
tate the serving of cold drinks on the 
porch or lawn, and, in addition to the use¬ 
ful wicker trays with glass tops over cre¬ 
tonne, there are now to be had individual 
coasters for glasses to match the trays. 
One particularly serviceable tray is of 
green wicker with cretonne top, and has a 
high handle, under which there is room 
for the pitcher or bottle, with holders for 
half a dozen glasses, while another is of 
natural-color wicker, into which fit a 
quaint pitcher and six mugs of red and 
blue Hungarian ware. 
For late summer and early fall, when 
the weather permits the taking of meals 
out of doors, the porch serving table 
should come in handy. It is of wicker, 
simple of line, strong yet graceful. A 
well-supported shelf is hung below, and 
the top shelf carries a protecting rail into 
which fits the serving tray. The cost is 
moderate enough and the advantages ob¬ 
vious. Such a table is light enough to be 
moved about and yet sturdy enough to 
withstand outdoor use. Its place in the 
scheme of summer decoration, like that of 
willow ih g’eneral, is plain; though the use 
of wjtlpyy •t 1 h*fpqghout the year is being 
adopted—n'n'd'Hgljtly—by bungalow dwell¬ 
ers.*’ In the small informal house such a 
table will enhance the dining-room the 
year around and may be put to summer 
uses when that season comes around. 
Old Lamps Made New 
N many houses where electricity has 
been introduced in the past few years, 
the kerosene lamp has been relegated to 
the garret, and the regulation electric lamp 
fixtures introduced. Why discard the fine 
old lamps that have perhaps been in the 
family for years, many of which have 
much artistic value? Also why spend 
more money than necessary for new elec¬ 
tric fixtures when a perfectly satisfactory 
The wicker serving table possesses the possibilities for 
all-the-year use—in summer, out of doors, and 
winter for the enclosed porch 
lamp can be made from the old kerosene 
lamp, which is perhaps one of the memo¬ 
ries of the household ? Every one of these 
lamps which has any pretensions to artistic 
lines should be utilized as an electric lamp. 
Some folks are much like cats in that 
they dislike to change their habitations. 
Many of us dislike to have our environ¬ 
ment changed in the least, but the objec¬ 
tion to doing away with the cherished old 
lamp is no longer an objection, because the 
process of turning the old lamp into the 
new is very simple. An electric socket 
need only be soldered to the base of the 
old oil burner, the cord connection being 
led through the side. The burner screws 
into the oil tank, as originally intended, 
leaving the lamp complete and ready at 
any moment to serve its old-time function 
as the center of the family circle. A floor 
outlet to connect with the electric current 
is desirable, or a baseboard connection, 
but even a connection with the chandelier 
is feasible. To do away with the constant 
filling of the lamp, the occasional overflow 
of the tank and consequent ill odor, and 
the odor from badly trimmed wicks, or a 
wick turned too high in the old kerosene 
lamp - , will be well worth the extra trouble. 
Old brass candlesticks may also be elec¬ 
trified by having brass plugs made to fit 
the candle sockets, and threaded to attach 
to the electric lamp socket. This can be 
done by an intelligent machinist. These 
lights will do away with the grimy look 
the candles very soon assume, and will not 
“melt and run over’’ in summer as the 
average candle does. 
Get Acquainted with the Meter 
HAT would you think of a house¬ 
holder who installed a butler, and, 
making no inquiry as to the amount of 
wages required, at the end of the month 
paid the bill he presented without ques¬ 
tion? You would undoubtedly think the 
householder crazy. Nevertheless, you may 
be this very householder, only instead of 
the butler, the servant you are trusting so 
implicitly is your electric meter. Why not 
meet the meter at once, get acquainted 
with it? If you do this you will have no 
difficulty in making your monthly bill tally 
with the meter, instead of drawing a check 
for the amount, with sublime trust that no 
one makes mistakes, and that the amount 
of the bill must be paid whether large or 
small. 
The electric company does not want to 
cheat you in any way, but it is only human 
to make mistakes, and undoubtedly there 
102 
