HOUSE AND GARDEN 
J 
N U A R Y , 
I 9 I I . 
stock hardware are the Renaissance, 
Gothic, Italian, Spanish, early French, 
German and English; the Empire, the 
Romanesque (whose modern vogue is 
now almost entirely gone), Greek, Moor¬ 
ish, Persian, Indian and even the Japan¬ 
ese and l'Art Nouveau. 
Although the point should be obvious 
to everyone, too much insistance cannot 
be put upon the fact of having only the 
best locks obtainable for the outside doors 
of a house. Ordinarily those of the in¬ 
terior are of minor importance. It ha: 
been demonstrated that there is no pattern 
of lock in the world which cannot be 
picked, but the locks made by one of the 
best manufacturers show an interchange 
of once only in 27,000 times, which safe- 
the door very well. This, of 
is the cylinder lock; the old turn- 
guards 
course, 
In spite of the cusp- 
ing and reproduc¬ 
tion of detail this 
is not true Gothic 
bier lock showing only one out of 35 
changes at the most. For the inside door 
fastenings, old-fashioned rim locks and 
thumb latches are picturesque and appro¬ 
priate in many cases and certainly add an old-time charm to a 
room. Chain door-fasteners, casement and transom adjusters, 
sash locks, door stops and the like, commonplace as they are, can 
be greatly improved in appearance by having them finished in the 
same style as the articles adjacent and at only a small increase 
in cost. 
For the man or woman who loves 
order, a key cabinet saves annoyance 
caused by losing keys. It ought to be 
about the size of the ordinary house 
medicine cabinet and about as deep— 
the duplicate keys of the house hanging 
in rows, neatly tagged, and the door fast¬ 
ened with a good lock. 
Still another practical suggestion is to 
have drawers and cupboards properly 
marked. Small brass card holders are 
inexpensive, and when filled with cards 
neatly labeled, save a large amount of 
opening and shutting drawers and doors. 
In conclusion, I would impress upon 
the home-builder's mind the fact that the 
architect considers artistic hardware an 
important item in the success of the 
house. During the infancy of modern 
stock hardware a number of prominetr; 
American architects did much to advance 
its development; one says; "Its present 
great development and vogue are due 
above all to the sympathetic and cor¬ 
dial appreciation of the profession in every section of the 
country, the practice of which tends steadily to give increased 
prominence to hardware as an important detail of interior deco¬ 
ration, and to devote increasing care to its intelligent adaptation 
to its environment." Do not minimize its importance. Let hard¬ 
ware have artistic interest coupled with its commonplace utility. 
An old thumb-latch 
and handle secured 
by hand-wrought 
nails 
Lighting Fixtures of Character 
THE TREND OF MODERN DESIGNS AND THE PASSING OF GAS EQUIPMENT—SOME 
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR A CHOICE OF FIXTURES AND THEIR LOCATIONS 
B Y K A T H A EINE NEWBOLD BlRDS A L L 
S O firm a hold has electricity on the problem of lighting that 
practically none of the houses under construction nowadays 
are fitted with gas pipes and fixtures. There is, of course, the 
connection for cooking, and oftentimes gas is used throughout 
the kitchen domain. Now that the 
economy of electricity is assured by 
many saving devices, and the current in 
many sections of the country costs no 
more than gas, it is safe to say that use 
of gas for house lighting is on the 
decline. 
And with the wholesale advent of elec¬ 
tricity, comes a desire to entirely abolish 
the ugly, incongruous fixtures with their 
quids and twists and characterless 
forms, and to provide for each room 
of the house dignified and artistic fix¬ 
tures which will either suit the style of 
the period in which the room is to be 
furnished; or which are of so general 
and simple a style that they will fit in 
with furnishings of any character, be 
they early English, French, Italian, or 
Colonial. Fhe combination gas and elec¬ 
tric fixtures which are generally in use 
now are no longer made in the best and 
most desired designs, for where a new 
house is wired for electricity, the cost of gas piping throughout 
may be eliminated. 
It is an erroneous idea that an old house cannot be effectively 
wired for electricity without tearing out flooring and walls, and 
generally upsetting the equanimity of 
the household. If one desires to ex¬ 
change the old way for the new, and to 
replace the out-of-date gas fixtures with 
more modern, convenient arid artistic 
electric fixtures, one should consult a 
good electrician. Work well done at first 
will more than repay the little additional 
expense it may require to secure the best 
services. 
The matter of buying fixtures for the 
house is one which is seldom well con¬ 
sidered until the building expenses have 
been pretty well fixed; and it is always 
more or less of a shock to find that good 
style fixtures add a considerable sum 
to the already planned expenditures. 
In selecting fixtures it is well to re¬ 
member that one is choosing them for 
years to come. Wall papers may be 
changed frequently, but a change of fix¬ 
tures is rare, mainly because of the ex¬ 
pense. 
The low dome-light for over the dining-table 
is being superseded by the high-hung fixture 
or by an abundance of side-wall brackets 
