8 NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 
lovely a place in which they could give to themselves any 
manners they pleased.” 
Passing through Ipswich on his way back to Salem 
Dr. Bentley says, “The road to Ipswich is laid without 
any regard to distance, and remains as it suited the ac- 
commodation of the first inhabitants. Zigzaging towards 
their little groups of houses. Ipswich continues to neg- 
lect all its mercantile advantages. Not a vessel sails to 
any foreign port. Not even the fishery, from which Bevy- 
erly profits, is regarded. In Ipswich some few persons 
are building but the houses are too much neglected and 
their mossy tops are more numberous than in any other 
part of New England. They have distinguished them- 
July 2, 1915. 
selves and they only wait for the angel of enterprise to 
descend into their waters and then all will probably step 
in and be cured. There is a decency of character in Ips- 
wich and they have some of the best land in the county.” 
After this memorable trip Dr. Bentley settied down 
in Salem again, and many came to his home to hear of 
the things that had been seen, for in those days few 
stirred from their home tow and this little journey to 
Cape Ann seemed like a prodigous undertaking, and they. 
were well content to hear their good friend describe its 
good and bad points, without themselves going to investi- | 
gate. : 
Steps and Perrons ve 
MARY HARROD NORTHEND 
O one feature of landscape architecture and gardening, 
save the planting, is capable of such varied and in- 
teresting treatment as steps. Until recent times the 
greater part of this study was for outdoor, not indoor 
steps—a problem of landscape architecture, rather thaa 
architecture. Indeed the splendid possibilities of interior 
staircases were learned by architects first from the garden 
courtyard stairways of Genoa during the Renaissance. 
Stairways remain a serious problem in gardens and 
housegrounds laid out on any but flat ground. 
Where the need is self-evident it is really difficult to 
build stairways that do not look appropriate. Ordinarily 
a direct solution of the problem is more or less_pic- 
turesque. The material has little to do with the effect 
Even wood, which is so hopelessly mean and stupid 
the cheaper forms of construction, lends itself to attrac- 
tive results. Wood should be sparingly used for garden 
steps, however. It rots quickly and warps out of shape. 
It soon looks shabby. Unless constatnly oes nails 
pull out, supports weaken and accidents may follow. No 
one can afford to run that risk. 
Log steps or perrons are useful at times, in woods 
or wild land where stone is not available. They should 
be made of locust, chestnut or red cedar. Straight clean 
logs should be selected an inch or more large in diameter 
than the required depth for the riser, but never less than 
five inches. It is well to hew off two sides so that the 
finished top and front will be nearly flat. Do not use the 
saw, which suggests the sophistication that log steps are 
used to avoid. They may be any desired length. Dig 
away the surface of the bank on which the steps are to 
go, to such a depth that the ends of the finished steps will 
not be above the ground. 
Near both ends on what is to be the riser cut grooves 
verticallv. 114 inches to 2 inches deep and 3 to 4 inches 
wide. Then beginning at the bottom, lay the logs upon 
the bank where “the steps are desired taking care to get 
their horizontal and vertical dimensions parallel, In the 
grooves drive down pegs, made to fit and long enough to 
be fixed firmly in the ground, into which they should g0 
not less than 1144 feet. The pegs should be spiked to the 
logs and the tops cut off to fit the log surface. When in 
place, fill in the step behind each log. Ifa ate clean step 
is wanted, use gravel well pounded down, and, if the 
soil is heavy, t ke care that there is an opening left under 
each log to drain the water. In some cases good soil may 
be used at the ends, where plants can be grown. But in 
the middle or near the rail, if a rail is used, the steps 
should be kept clean in order to avoid the appearance as 
well as rea! danger of being tripped up. 
Perrons not only of logs as described, but of stone 
and concrete are desirable when the slope is so gradual 
that, if spaced evenly, the treads would be twenty inches 
or more wide. They are much easier and cheaper to con- — 
struct than solid heavy: steps and often look better. — The - 
treads may be filled in with gravel, or with other ma- 
terials. In Italy where this mode of construction has 
always been much used, one sees treads of small stones 
often fixed in mosaic patterns; of stone slabs, which may 
or may not be of the same material as the perrons: of 
concrete, tile and brick. In American gardens they are 
used infrequently as yet, but will undoubtedly be more 
seen as times goes on. The best example which I know 
is in the branching staircase leading down to the lower 
pool at Mr. Harold McCormick’s estate in Lake forest, 
Ill., where Mr. Charles Platt has used brick for the 
treads, set in a simple pattern. 
Steps or perrons spaced regularly more than twenty 
inches apart are annoying to climb, however, and should 
be rarely used. Either you must take two or three odd 
sized paces or uncomfortably stretch. Whichever you 
do, you stub your toe as well. Where feasible, it is bet- 
ter to group the steps, leaving platforms between. Where 
there are only three or four such landings, it makes little 
differenec how they are arranged. Where there are more, 
the double repetition—three steps up and two ahead, or 
whatever it happens to be—becomes very trying, however. 
Some relief should be given, such as an enlarged plat- 
form with a bench, where the ascent may be broken for 
a moment. 
Another thing to be avoided is too long a straight 
flight of steps. The mere sight of an. extended stairway 
is ‘enough to dampen the ardor of all but the incorr rigibly 
youthful, Joy becomes work. Not without reason ae 
long flights been associated with penance. Fifteen con- 
secutive steps in a straight line should be the limit. 
Where the elevation to be overcome is so great it’ 
would be better to take up part of the height with branch- 
ing or curving divisions: the object being so to arrange 
them that the eye estimates each division as a task com- 
plete in itself which may be undertaken without suspicion 
of fatigue. Where utilitarianism alone is the object 
sought, perhaps this attention to the psychology of step 
climbing would be unwarranted. But gardens and pleas- 
ure grounds should please in all things,—offend in noth- 
ing; which is sufficient justification for this discussion. 
In old gardens steps were often of granite blocks. 
The beds were generally laid out on nearly level ground. 
Where the house was placed on a higher level nearby, 
(Continued on page 29) 
