Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-03-24

The last of the series of lectures by
Donald G.. Mitchell before the Yale Art
School on "Esthetics of Everyday
Life" was delivered on the 25th ult.
The speaker said:
To speak Understandings of the
adOrnment Of interiors, we must have
q well-defined idea OF the disposition
and collection of rooms. In this matter
convenience is the first law Whatever
arrangement sacrifices this, no matter
for what effect, is bad. Instead of q
stark, narrow hall, with only hat
stand to welcome the visitor, should be
good breadth of hallway, which al
ways carries with it welcome. The
space so used will be far more effective
there than when put into a little-used
parlOr. 1t permits also partial equip
ment with such fixtures as books, pic
lures, etc, as shall tell at the outset
something Of the taste of the Occu-
pants. Stairs play an important part
in our domestic economy, and are not
to be sighted. They should give free
and easy passage to whatever may he
above. 1t is amazing what inconveni-
ence has fer year after year been i'm
posed by only four or five feet of need
less curtailnent of space and the fail
ure to throw off an inch or two from
the rise of home stairs. 1t is barbar-
ism which women, had they been srchi-
tects, would have remedied long ago.
The space needed-and this would
make all the difference between an
easy, inviting stairway which gives dig
nifty to hall, and a pinched, niggard-
ly one-is so small that it could, in the
great majority of cases, be secured
without interference with other wants
In regard to the general arrangement
of rooms, in view of the limitless variety
of the demands which different condi-
tons impose, little can be definitely
said. But certain large rulings, which
can be borne out by good sense and
good taste, may be made. First, we
should order our divisions and parti-
tons for the comfort of our own fami-
ly, not for the benefit of outsiders In
dividuality may express itself as charm
ingly and piquantly in the distribution
Of parts as in the exterior or furnish
ing. If condition of life and tastes in
talities, or if we love domestic quietude
and modest Inequalities, these should
be respectively provided for. The
friends whom we invite will have q
stronger relish for those appointments
which are most characteristic of our
own taste. Outside architecture should |
be declarative of purpose, while the in
side admits of pleasant and grateful
surprises, AID should not be SO arrang-
ed as TO be read from the outside. Fin
ally, with respect to interior division,
the mistress Of the house, in nine cases |
out of ten, is the best judge, and to her |
should be given the jndgeship, If, in
deed, she does not of her own accord |
take it. The best planned of all houses
are those which have grown up under |
the suggestion and supervision of q |
good, resolute materfamilias.
The speaker here began to consider
the arrangements of house in detail,
starting with the vestibule. Passing
from this he took up the matter Of |
floors, and said: Floor surfaces we
find covered with wooden carpeting of
every tint and figure. This is agreea-
bic to the foot, however calling it may
be to the eye. But it is reservoir Of
dirt and dust, no matter how vigorous
and aggressive the housewifery, and is
wisely giving way to such use Of it as
only necessity demands. In the proper
flooring of halls no soft wood should be
used. Georgia pine is excellent, and so
are black oak and ash, though the lat
ter NAV he dispOsed tn silver No LIGHT