TOOLED LEATHER 
^ I 'HE Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Golden Age, 
have played their roles in the development of 
the ingenuity and culture of mankind, each marking 
an epoch and an advanced step towards the evolu¬ 
tion of practical needs into ideal conveniences, and 
so, out of the elements which made the environment 
of our ancestors, have developed, existed, passed 
away and been born again to cater to the ever 
changing tastes of humanity the various styles of 
buildings, furniture, decorations etc., that we term 
“ Periods. ” 
If, from the romantic standpoint of art, litera¬ 
ture and chivalry, the Golden Age was happily 
named, it might seem an ill choice of the term to 
express, in a period so devoid of romance, chivalry 
and purely original art, what is really a Golden Age 
from the financial standpoint, yet never in the world’s 
history has the development of the world’s resources 
of mines, agriculture, and mechanics made the term 
“Golden” more expressive. 
With this wonderful outcome from industry has 
come the reversion of taste for the environment and 
the luxury of the other Golden Age, and the modern 
Aladdin (otherwise the great financier and Trust 
builder,) having energetically rubbed his lamp of 
intellectual mastery of industry, forthwith erects his 
modern palace along the lines of Old English, 
Spanish, Italian, German Baronial or French 
mansions and castles and ransacks all Europe for 
treasures of art, furniture, decoration and fantasy 
wherewith to give his residence of to-day the veri¬ 
similitude of the venerated past. 
A TABLE MAT 
77 
