July, irn7 " t7 
CONVENIENT DEVICES FOR THE HOUSE 
THE BALANCED WINDOW 
T HE business of making the 
house more livable by making the 
work lighter can be greatly aided by 
adopting devices which hitherto have 
been restricted to commercial con¬ 
struction alone. There is the balanced 
window, for example, shown to the 
right. This has become familiar 
enough in office buildings, but it is 
also perfectly feasible for those 
rooms of the house where heavy 
overdrapes do not interfere with the 
swing of the sashes. 
These balanced windows eliminate 
sash cords, chains and pulleys. They 
are of metal and fit snugly into the 
casement. The dangers and troubles 
of washing are reduced to a mini¬ 
mum. Should the glass need renew¬ 
ing, it can readily be done by un¬ 
screwing the metal strips and fitting 
in the pane. 
While windows of this kind are 
not advisable for the entire house, 
there is no reason why they should 
not find a place in the kitchen, but¬ 
ler’s pantry and.storage rooms. 
At the top of the switch is placed 
a little glow button. You can find 
the light in the darkest room on 
the darkest night 
A SWITCH GUIDE 
I N the Kingdom of the Blind men 
and women knew their way about 
by a multitude of paths, but no such 
paths lead up to the switch on a dark 
night. You search the wall, feel 
about the furniture, and in time come 
to the cold spot of brass. Meantime 
you and the company and possibly 
the burglar have been in darkness. 
Household inefficiency of this kind is 
such a common experience that the 
householder has almost become hard¬ 
ened to it and scarcely expects to find 
a device eliminating it. 
To obviate this delay has been 
made up a little attachment which 
can be put on any switch plate. It 
is a button treated with a radium 
paint that glows in the night suffi¬ 
ciently to indicate where the plate 
lies. The glow is soft, gentle and 
different enough to distinguish it. 
The button costs fifty cents. 
Compare the house of a hundred years ago with the house 
today and you will marvel at the ingenuity of the men 
whose labors and inventions have made the modern house 
so livable. On this page we plan to show these ideas as 
they are proven of service. An idea being valued at a 
dollar, it is a dollar that is paid the reader who sends in her 
idea to the Editor, House & Garden, 19 West 44th Street, 
New York City 
The idea of the balanced sash window, hither¬ 
to restricted to public buildings, is perfectly 
feasible for certain parts of the house 
Nothhig can be more stubborn than a curtain 
on rings. But a curtain on rollers is quite a dif¬ 
ferent matter. It pulls back at the slightest 
touch, runs silently and, incidentally, eliminates 
the homely ring device 
WHERE LIGHT HANGS 
' I ' HE artist is responsible for the 
JL unbelievable moth in the picture 
below, but an inventor made the light 
toward which it is flying. The light, 
of course, is the thing, and is war¬ 
ranted to give human hands the same 
sense of direction as it gives the 
giddy moth. 
Doubtless everyone has pawed 
about in mid-air for the elusive cord 
pull of the light, and has had his pa¬ 
tience well-nigh exhausted before it 
was found. Here is a range finder 
for the cord. 
It is a little pendant of glass with 
a brass top cap that can be attached 
to the cord. Inside is suspended a 
spot of metal treated with a radium 
compound that does not need to ab¬ 
sorb light by day in order to glow 
by night. In other words, it elimi¬ 
nates the necessity for having a 
pilot light which, at best, eats up a 
certain amount of current. In day¬ 
time this crystal pendant is suffi¬ 
ciently unobtrusive to avoid its get¬ 
ting in the line of vision. $1. 
At the end of the electric light cord 
hangs a tiny glow lamp which elim¬ 
inates the necessity for having to 
feel around in the dark 
INSTEAD OF RINGS 
F OR stubbornness few things can 
compare with a portiere or cur¬ 
tain hung on rings. Invariably it 
sticks and refuses to swing the way 
you want it, despite tugging. 
On the other hand, picture a por¬ 
tiere or curtain attached to little 
rollers set in a groove inside the up¬ 
per casing of the door or window. 
It moves noiselessly at the slightest 
touch and falls into position without 
effort. Tn addition, rings on rods, 
which are scarcely beautiful at best, 
are eliminated. 
The picture to the left tells the 
story and the cross-section above ex¬ 
plains the secret. The curtain is at¬ 
tached by hooks fastened to the 
tongue on the roller. This device is 
made up in 12' lengths in any wood 
or design desired. It could be made 
to conform perfectly with the other 
molding in the room. 
