76 
House & Garden 
PAM MEYER 
JBrancfi De /luxe 
3 81 JrftfiyfvenueJVeu) 1/or ft 
Exclusive footwear (orWomen. 
Our representatives visit all the larger cities. We shall be pleased to 
notify you of dates upon request. 
Beauty and the Bathroom 
(Continued from page 74) 
your hands. There are fancy faucets 
which do not meet these requirements, 
but avoid them. Faucets which only 
flow when held are a curse and should 
only be used in public places where the 
water tax is high. 
What you must look out for in the 
floor tile is that it be as little slippery 
as possible. Therefore do not get a 
glazed tile. More and more floors are 
being tiled in colors, to match the home 
scheme. Also, the dull tile obviates the 
squeak occasioned by the shoe touch¬ 
ing it. This is a minor point, but one 
worthy of notice. 
Walls can be tiled to any height de¬ 
sired. In the average room the tile is 
carried only 4'6" up except at the point 
where the shower is installed. There it 
should be carried up 7'. 
The Closet 
The syphon type is, of course, the 
best obtainable. Many closets are sold 
especially from catalog and by mail, as 
absolutely silent. Never, if you can 
help it, buy anything of this sort from 
a photograph. No closet can be ab¬ 
solutely silent. If there is any flow at 
all, complete silence would be impos¬ 
sible. A minimum of noise is the best 
that can be achieved, and the best 
makers have closets of this sort. 
The bowls are generally of porcelain, 
and the best ones are of vitrified china 
(really porcelain), which is non-absor¬ 
bent and quite the thing for this use 
because of the freedom from discolora¬ 
tion. 
For general use, the less wood around 
the seat, the better. 
The tank as a flushing medium is 
still about the best thing to use. There 
are on the market various flush valve 
types, some of which operate with a 
foot button on the floor or with a hand 
lever on the right side of the closet. 
These may be good in some locations, 
but neither the ordinary plumber nor 
the man in the house can repair them 
in an emergency. The piping in the 
valve type of flusher requires careful 
arrangement to avoid trouble. 
Sometimes it is rather convenient to 
have the closet in a doored recess open¬ 
ing into the room and available from 
the hall as well. This is especially to 
the point when there are few bathrooms 
in the house. 
Incidental Fittings 
Chairs and stools are usually in white 
enamel or in fancy rooms are made to 
match the general style which prevails 
in the decoration. 
The question of closets in the bath¬ 
room is entirely dependent upon in¬ 
dividual taste. You can have the wall 
and mirror finished type, or the long 
door regular closet, or a combination 
of these, with or without full length 
mirror. In some rooms a glass shelved 
linen closet is found to be a real con¬ 
venience. 
The soap racks, etc., have lately be¬ 
come recessed in walls. This system is 
not popular, however, because, although 
useful and economical for hotel or in¬ 
stitutional use, it adds no charm to the 
fine bathroom. Rather, it detracts from 
its dignity. 
A nice way to have scales in a bath¬ 
room is to have the dial encased in the 
wall, and the tray on which one stands, 
sunk into the floor. This arrangement 
economizes space and is very welcome 
to fastidious people. 
Plan the bathroom of your house 
early. Talk with your architect. In¬ 
sist upon the best and get it. Your 
bathroom need consist of very few 
things, in the last analysis, and the 
wisest plan is to get the best. The cost 
will be from §250 upwards, for fix¬ 
tures. However, it is wisest to buy the 
best you can afford so that a replace¬ 
ment cost is obviated. There must be 
no skimping of plumbing work, be¬ 
cause that would be a menace to both 
health and wealth, and the plumbing 
costs no more for good material than 
for bad. 
Collecting Autographs 
(Continued from page 27) 
On the other hand the growing in¬ 
terest in real autograph collecting has 
led to devising many delightful and 
legitimate uses for autograph letters 
and documents. I know of no more 
attractive a wall-decoration for a li¬ 
brary than framed original letters of 
famous writers. These are made doubly 
interesting by having portraits of the 
writers, preferably small engraved ones, 
placed within the same mount with the 
autograph letters. Rare letters so 
mounted should never be pasted down 
on the boards of the mount, but should 
be tipped with paste (never with glue) 
and placed under the mat opening. 
Wide frames are unsuitable for auto¬ 
graphs, very narrow wood strips being 
used instead. 
A few unusually interesting auto¬ 
graphs may well be called a collection, 
although one would not care to frame 
an extensive group of autographs. A 
large collection of letters is best arranged 
with each piece in a separate folder on 
the outside of which is written a brief 
biographical sketch of the writer of the 
document contained therein, together 
with a clearly written transcription of 
the writing if it happens that the auto¬ 
graph is difficult to decipher readily. 
Again, autographs may be inserted to 
add interest to such books as they may 
have definite connection with. In my 
own library I have, in addition to books 
autographed by their authors, other vol¬ 
umes which have become “association 
books” likewise by the insertion of auto¬ 
graph letters and documents. Some col¬ 
lectors have taken a single work, a Life 
of Napoleon, for instance, and by the 
addition of autograph material and 
prints have expanded one volume into 
twenty or more. As for myself, I have 
been content with the addition of a 
treasure or two, leaving to those who 
have but a single hobby, and that teth¬ 
ered to such a post, to pursue this sort 
of extended extra illustration known as 
“Grangerizing,” from the method used 
by an 18th Century writer, the Rev. 
James Granger in illustrating his Bio¬ 
graphical History of England. It must 
be admitted that Grangerizing is a very 
fascinating hobby and one that is ap¬ 
plicable to every product of literary en¬ 
deavor. 
The uninitiated who might become 
interested in autographs are often fright¬ 
ened away by imagining that interesting 
autographs are beyond reach and be¬ 
yond purse. True it is that good auto¬ 
graphs are becoming more scarce as 
collecting them increases, but collections 
are constantly being dispersed by public 
or private sale; new “finds” are likewise 
constantly coming to light. Fortunately 
for the collector America has become an 
important market for autographs, and 
several noted dealers in autographs lend 
impetus to the pursuit. Of course fine 
letters by great makers of history are 
not to be had for a song, except through 
those happy accidents which add zest to 
collecting of any sort. I once obtained 
(Continued on page 78) 
