Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-11-07
House Papering.

IT is matter of doubt why hOusekeep-
ers as a general rule do most of their
house papering in the spring rather than
in the fall of the year. There does not
seem to be any good reason why such a
course should be adopted. In the first
place rooms are newly papered to give
them more tidy appearance. In the
spring there is enough out of doors to at
tract the eye; the windows are almost in
variably open, and if one sits down in
the house in preference to taking a seat
on the lawn or piazza it is usually by the
window to get view of the green fields,
flowers, trees, or something outside of the
house. The paper on the walls attracts
little attention and deserves little. In the
fall and winter everything outside is
dreary and bleak, and this should be
made up by making the living rooms of
the house as cosy and pleasant as possible
The paper that was put on in the spring
has lost its attractions for the eye now,
however much it may have been admired
when it was first laid. 1t has become
sOiled in spots, and these untidy places
are the first to catch the eye If the paper
had been put on in the fall it's brightness
would have remained until spring, and in
the summer it is not essential. Paper in
a room adds great deal to it's comfort
1t is poor conductor of heat, and will
more than pay its cost in the saving of
fuel. The paste fills many of the cracks
in the wall through which the cold air Of
winter will drive, and prevents drafts
from which colds and sore throats arise.
In fall papering we have no appearance
of the mosquito corpses slain by sleep
less victim in a fit of desperation, nor are
we constantly reminded of those pests,
the flies. The wall remains brightest and
freshest when we most wish to see bright
and fresh things. Now word about
paper. Cheap paper is always the dear
est. Those cheap kinds costing from fiji
teen to twenty-five cents per roll are al
ways yard or two short, so that in
reality nothing is gained by purchasing
those poor grades; and a paper that is
worth less than thirty-five or forty cents
hardly repays laying. If you wish to be
as frugal as possible, select a paper with
d stripe with no match" to it, and in
place of border take the remnants, cut
out the stripe, and inter it at the top and
bottom of the room. 1t gives neat ap-
pcarance, and looks like panel work. In
this way your room is more ornamental
you save the border and use up the waste
pieces that are of no value for anything
else
Now, about putting on the paper. The
first essential is good paste, and the fol-
lowing rule for making that article is the
best and far the cheapest we have ever
seen or used: Take eighteen pounds Of
bOle, finely powdered and softened in
water. Then boil pound and quarter
of common glue until it is thoroughly dis
solved, and stir in the bOle with two
pounds of gypsum. The whole mass is
then to be forced through sieve. This
may then be diluted with water to the
consistency of a thin paste. 1t is not only
better and cheaper than ordinary flour
paste, but will adhere to walls that have
been Whitewashed. Cut enough of the
paper in strips the desired length to cover
the entire room. Take boards the length
Of the paper, and place them upon stools
the right height to enable you to reach
across the boards easily. Place the cut
paper on these boards face down, and with
a soft brush apply the paste. When q
strip has been pasted, fold the lower end
over about one-third the way up, to pre-
vent its sticking to the wall at the bottom.
Take the strip by the two upper corners,
and place them against the wall. The
paper will hang close to the wall, but
will not stick at the bottom, and you can
sight down the inner edge and see when
you have it true with the casing or last
piece laid. Then fasten it at the top. For
working it against the wall don't use a
cloth take whitewash- brush and care
fully brush the paper to its place. These
directions may be old to some of our read
ers, but it cost the writer vast amount of
trouble and D0SSihlV some ScOIdinU hn
fore they were found out and put in prac-
tice. BY following these directions,
especially the one in regard to folding the
lower end of the paper over and letting it
adhere to the body Of the paper, one can
do the otherwise unpleasant job of paper
ing alone, and all help is superfuous. BY
using the brush place Of the cloth, air
places will be avoided, and the paper
will not be soiled by paste that sticks to a
cloth.-Ag1TcuItural Exchange.