Ingenious Devices 
LABOR-SAVING SCHEMES AND SHORT CUTS IN THE HOUSE AND IN THE GARDEN 
A Helpful Sideboard 
N a house whose owner is a militant 
“practicalist,” I saw several schemes 
for economizing the labor, time and pa¬ 
tience of the housekeeper. The pantry 
sink, for instance, at which she expected 
to wash her choicest china and dearest 
heirlooms, was built to order at a definite 
height. She claimed a standard height 
sink was as ridiculous as a standard height 
in women, and had it constructed to save 
the cramped back and arms of one work¬ 
ing in an unnatural position. Then, too, 
the sideboard was an assistance. It was 
built in and planned to back up upon the 
pantry, where it was finished as a cup¬ 
board. The drawers could be pulled out 
either from the dining room or pantry 
side—and the compartments above were 
fitted with doors working in a similar 
manner. On the dining room side they 
were finished to match the rest of the 
woodwork and the doors were glass; on 
the other side the finish was similar to that 
of the pantry. This idea saved carrying 
the silver and china first from one room to 
the other and then back again through the 
swinging door. After the washing the 
various articles were arranged in drawers 
or compartment as they were to remain. 
The drawers could then be opened on the 
dining room side at the next meal, and the 
dishes in the upper section could be 
reached by the glass doors. A. W. D. 
A Backyard Screen 
A COMMON difficulty, where the 
houses in a suburban community 
are grouped close together, is to secure at 
least a reasonable privacy for the back¬ 
yard. Particularly true is this when there 
are no hedges or fences in the front—an 
arrangement that is supposed to bring 
spaciousness, but which actually fails in 
this and in securing privacy as well. 
The accompanying photograph shows 
one solution of the problem in a suburb of 
Chicago. From simple seventeen-inch 
brick piers with cement tops, and rough 
hemlock plank and boards, a screen has 
been built between two adjacent houses. 
The unplaned timbers and sawed-out 
boards were given a creosote stain to har¬ 
monize with the exterior woodwork of 
the houses themselves. Upon the struc¬ 
ture vines have already started to grow 
and, if not allowed to obliterate the archi¬ 
tectural character of the screen, will add 
to its effectiveness. R. F. 
To Prevent Sediment from Tanks 
HEN one has an attic tank and pipes 
from this to supply the house 
water, it frequently happens that if roof 
water is caught without careful filtering 
that sediment will come down the supply 
pipe at the bottom of the tank. The same 
trouble occurs with cisterns where the in¬ 
take of the pump pipe is near the bottom. 
A contrivance to prevent this in the case of 
the attic tank consists of a piece of hose a 
few feet long attached to the outlet inside 
the tank, and with a float attached to the 
outer end. When the tank is full the hose 
extends straight up and takes in the water 
from within a few inches of the surface 
where it is free from sediment of any kind. 
As the water gets lower the float falls, the 
open end of the hose always remaining 
within a few inches of the surface. The 
tank may be cleaned out and flushed with 
no other outlet than the supply pipe which 
may be inserted in the bottom. When 
the piece of hose is removed drain the tank 
by having a two-way cock inserted on the 
lower floor. This arrangement will pre¬ 
vent the sediment in the hot water heater. 
The same contrivance may be attached 
to the iron pump pipe in a cistern. With 
a larger float the results are the same. 
H. F. G. 
A backyard screen that serves its intended purpose well and at the same time is an added 
attraction in the yard 
Open to JCt£chen 
Open to Kitchen 
This sideboard has an entrance on both the kitchen and dining-room. The plan shows how 
the drawers can be opened, or dishes put in the cupboard section, from either side 
( ff.U 
