National Republican., 1877-11-12
Home Adornment,


WAsHSGTOS, ID. G., November.
Home Adornment.
Even the most poorly furnished house NAV be
rendered attractive BY the exercise of little
tasteful ingenuity, and equally true II Is that
| many elegant homes, despite all the uph0l.
| sterers art wear ever a bare and cherries
| look for want Of those dainty knick. .knacks
| made by the loving hands of woman. Sup
pose, for instance, that you are too poor to aord
| real lace curtains for the windows Of your sit
| ting-room or sleeping apartment, and your
asthctic taste rebels against the common substi.
tute of coarse and ugly nottingham Il does not
follow that for this reason you must have bare
windows or put up with only plain, stiff shades.
| OF course the shades are Indispensable but
some flowing drapcry besides adds much to the
ch"crtnlnesS of the room. Take some plain,
| dotted or 0rgandie muslin--you may purcl ase
| good quality for twenty cents per yard by the
| picce-allOw two strips to window, rufllc tho
| inside and bottom end aud flute the rufilcs
| For lanIbrcquins take strip OF the same, a
yard and half longer than the window is
wide; round of the ends, ruflle Il all around,
| put II across the top of the curtains loOped
| with bows of ribbon plain muslin to
match tho prevailing color of the room,
and let the mutilcd ends hang free.
| Then in the centre of this top piece pin your
wreath of autumn leaves or sprays of pressed
FERNS and hanging below may be your bird
cage or basket of irieS One who has never
| tried II can have no idea of how much such
simple things add to the home like apI oaranco
Of AN apartment. Make the shades OF cheap
| white cotton to fit the inside of the window,
with stick run in the top and
bo t,m hens Some prefer uub!, a Cd
cotton, as the light shining through
| imparts delicate ecru or cream tint. Blue
muslin, If not too dark shade, has pleasant
effect, on the "bluc glass principle. Suppose
YOU have window that ovcrlooks back
| alley or other disagreeable view which you
| wish to hide, you may turn II into thing of
beauty and make 1t as ornamental rs a
stained cath dral window thus: Take your
pressed leaves aud ferns, arrange in graceful
designs, and gluc them on sheets of thin white
or delicately-tinted paper, just the size OF
| your wind0w-panes. Then gluo the sheets
upon the glass, and cover the whole with n
coat of transparent varnish. This docs not
read invtingly hut II you make the attempt
you cannot but be delighted with tho effect.
Now is the time to adoin our living rooms
with vines and growing plants. English ivy,
which Is 50 common in this latitude as an nut-
door decoration, is still more beautiful trained
inside for winter. Put u pot or two over at
least one door, and let II creep and trail around
it. Other pots on brackets may be trained
over the windows and around the pictures,
clambcring over the frames and twining about
their cords. Once in a fortnight, or there
abouts, the leaves require washing to cleanse
them from dust and clear the pores, So that
the plant can breathe. Plant some morn
ing-glory seeds In small box and set
1t In sunny place, and 1t will yield
you marvellous returns for a small amount of
trouble. A clematis vine, raised from the
seed, will climb without cords wherever YOU
choose TO train itattaching its delicate fbrcS into
the meshts of your curtains, and without dam.
| age. as they are so easily broken, or even cling.
ing to wall ll-paper or woodwork. We have prev
Ously spoken Of the amusement as well ~ tho
beauty afforded by such experiments. as rais-
ing vine from q sweet-pOtato In jar of water,
or pine-cone lightly sprinkled with earth aud
some with graSssecd, suspended In tho win
dow, or wheat and grasses grown upon muslin
over glass Of water, &c. I ere are many
others Of similar nature which are equally
interesting. Take, for instance, q carrot
the larger the better, but n syminetcrically
formed one-cut of and throw away about
one.half of it, then with table-knife scraps
out the centre of the larger part-that is, tho
part from which the sprouts shoot when II be-
gins to grow. When ready to hang up II Is
shaped like cup, and will hold over a gill Of
water. Tie in n cord, like a basket-handle. ill
II with water and suspend In sunny window.
In few days the green fringed leaves will
appear and multiply, and soon the carrot will
be completely hidden by its own beautiful
foliage. The water should be rcplenishcd
every day, and not allowed to become half
absorbed, and the carrot must be laid
in cold water few hours betore
scooping 1t out, as otherwise 1t is apt to break.
| II m acorn Is suspended over vessel Of water
so as TO Just touch, IN a few weeks IL will send
roots downward and foliage upward amazingly,
and behold, here is an oak growing in the
house. A chestnut will do the same, but its
leaves are not 50 pretty.
| Put bunch of raw cotton on top ola glass
| of watCrand SOW IL with different kinds Of grass
and canary seeds, and soon you will have /.
| t,,n Iri,, aud
growing grasses; add n few buckwhcat seeds
and their white flowers will form lovely con.
trust with the rest. A sponge soaked In water
and sown in the same way, then suspended by
Il string, will soon become q mass of living
green.
Miss Matte Wicks, of Greensboro, Md, u
pretty and attractive young lady, was to have
been married at her house one evening recently
10 Rev A. G. Bergman, of NcwtOwn. He ar
rived on time, but the evening before the day
appointed for the marriage she cloped with
Alfred Raughlcy, Of Greensboro, aud they
were married at Whitleysburg.
sME chucked aud was much amused;
| \ pun-the showed II IN her face,
Having she said the past peru'cd,
| ! ClcUpHtras needle trnUc;
WY Ton Tom, IA i probably Sa, VA Tn,o,.r used
Two years ago the peak Of Popocatcpe,l, in
/; Mexico, was asconded by Mrs. Terry aud Miss
! Sawyer OF New York, and Miss Richardson,
of New Orleans who were the first ladies that
ever reached the summit, which is 1850 feet
above the level of the sea, and 2,l3 ct
higher than Mont Blanc This feat has ow
been accomplished again by Mrs. Ski toa, Mnc
OF the United States Consul. General to Mexico,
and Miss Bertha Read, of Missouri.
On the old Calvert estate, not far from this
city, a tombstone bears the following inscriP
ton:
| Here lies the body OF
George Calvert, Esquire,
of Riversdae,
Youngest son Of Benedice Calvert Esquire,
OF Mount Avery. Prince George County.
| Maryland,
And grandson Of
| Charles Calvert,
| vi. Lord Baltimore
| who died
| Jan. 70 lSSs,
| Aged TO-