78 
House &° Garden 
DECORATIVE LIGHTING FITMENTS 
For Christmas 
Riddle Fitments offer many 
opportunities for the selection 
of Christmas gifts of unusual 
beauty and character—gifts, 
too, that have the added ad¬ 
vantage of enduring worth 
and charm. 
The Riddle Fitment Book 
illustrates in full color and describes many 
Riddle wall and ceiling fitments, as well as 
lamps, torcheres, luminors, book-ends and 
other novelties especially suited to Christ¬ 
mas giving. You will find this unusual 
booklet of value in aiding you to make a 
satisfactory gift selection. Copy sent on 
request to Department 222 . 
The Edward N. Riddle Co. 
Toledo, Ohio 
Makers of lighting fitments since 1892 
There is a certain severity about the lines of these Bermuda houses, and a 
simplicity of construction that is pleasing. The straight lines are usually 
relieved by irregular masses of shrubs 
Building In Bermuda 
(Continued from page 41) 
at the basis of this island type of con¬ 
struction, but the needs of the inhabitants 
influenced by and dependent upon certain 
geographical facts and climatic conditions. 
In a countrv blessed with abundant 
sunlight, shade outdoors and comparative 
darkness indoors become at certain times 
of the day not only desirable but neces¬ 
sary. Hence the houses have been usually 
constructed with wide and deep veran¬ 
dahs and with blinds and shutters fitted 
to all the windows. These shutters are 
either hinged at the top and swing out¬ 
ward and up from the bottom, or else are 
in the form of double doors to French 
windows. One rarely sees movable slats 
to the shutters, as the purpose is to keep 
out light and admit air. 
Closely related to the desire for shade is 
the effort to preserve coolness during the 
hot weather. For this purpose the walls 
are of thick stone, the walls of the rooms 
are finished white, and furniture and car¬ 
pets are more sparingly used than they 
are in a colder climate. Visitors from 
the North, however, find that on the 
contrary little attention is paid to making 
the houses comfortably warm and dry 
during the spells of cool and wet weather. 
The sensation of dampness is particularly 
noticeable in an island only a mile or so 
wide, set in the midst of the sea where 
moisture-laden winds continually sweep 
across it During most of the year, how¬ 
ever, every advantage is taken of the 
breezes and the houses are constructed 
with many and large openings to assure 
that airiness that seems so necessary in¬ 
doors to people accustomed to spend 
most of their time in the open. 
Perhaps more important than shade, 
coolness, and airiness as factors having a 
decided influence upon the buildings of 
the Bermudians is the fact that there is no 
fresh water on the island and the inhab¬ 
itants are forced to take advantage of 
rainfalls and preserve the water thus col¬ 
lected in tanks. As a result, houses are 
constructed with sloping roofs and guid¬ 
ing channels to pipes which lead the rain 
into large stone cisterns half sunk in the 
ground. These frequently have semi¬ 
circular tops like a barret-vault and are a 
characteristic adjunct to the houses. 
Another result of this means of secur¬ 
ing the necessary water supply is a law 
which compels the inhabitants to white¬ 
wash their roofs twice a year as a precau¬ 
tionary sanitary measure. Most of the 
houses throughout the island are therefore 
white, though occasionally one sees pale 
(Continued on page 82) 
The native stone is found in large 
quantities, thick, of even texture and 
easy to cut. It soon weathers to a 
cool gray 
The large cistern, half sunk in the 
ground, is a prominent feature of most 
gardens. Many of them have barrel¬ 
shaped roofs 
t 
