Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-12-13
PAPER ON THE WALL.
PATIENTS DRIVEN NEARLY INSANE BY
 WEIRD AND INTRICATE DESIGNS.

They Irresistably Attract the Eyes From
 the Strain-Suggestions for Purchasing
 the Proper Wall Covering.
 It is well established fact that ch1l-
 dren are often haunted at night by the
 hideous objects they have traced in the
 patterns on the wall. Older persons are
 familiar with the fact that certain pat
 terms irresistibly attract the eyes from
 floor to calling and from one corner of
 the room to the other.
 Endless headaches are the result of
 such straining of the eyes. The writer
 once occupied room, which had such
 a paper upon it's walls. It was a small
 room and the consequence was suc- 1 cession of severe headaches that finally took the form of vertigo, and which were not relieved until change of
 room was effected. The paper was
 very pretty, but the amount of activity
 displayed by the pattern, which seemed
 after a brief scrutiny to be literally
 alive, was impossible to endure.
 Elderly people may be loath to admit it, thinking it a weakness, but they are frequently subjected to much diseom- fort by walls that to the casual ob- server appear attractive. know of one blue and silver paper that had to be covered by plain pepper-and-sa1t sur face before the mistress of the room could be induced to return to it. Papers are frequently one thing In the shops and quite another thing up-
 on the wall. In buying plain paper this discrepancy cannot occur. For bedrooms plain papers with a roughly finished surface are the best.
 These should be light and cheerful in
 color, and can be relieved by a richer border and contrasting woodwork if desired.
 In hall richly figured paper may be
 used, but better results are invariably obtained by the use of a plain paper of some dark tone. A deep, old red is very effective With this the wood work should be painted black and high ly vanished. The floors can be cover ed with mating or with dark carpet. On planning a room, the first consid- eration should be the walls, the wood- work and the covering of the floor. Any
 room will have some architectural fea- lures that will assert themselves if 1t is not swamped in unnecessary nick
 hacks. The ends to be sought are, as
 in dress, simplicity, use, good color, and
 pleasing effect The fewer materials
 used the better. The trouble is that our
 walls are usually so offensive that in-
 stinctively we seek to conceal them
 beneath pictures, photographs, fans
 and draperies which only serve to hold
 the dust and weary the eyes.
 A good wall needs very few pictures.
 A plain wall will set off the few en- cravings to which one may cling to es- cape monotony. But if one has the courage to do without pictures alto- gether in bedroom one will save ones eyes from detecting that this or that frame is hanging out of plumb, and will keep them for the parlor where they belong. It may require some heroism to simplify the bedroom in this
 way, but the result will more than compensate.
 There is a space, freshness, sense of cleanliness obtained in this way that cannot be achieved by all the deeora- tion that could be crowded on the walls. Simple muslin curtains at the windows, clean mating on the floor, a l plain wall with pretty border, a l white iron bed with brass trimmings | and linen sheets-these things togeth- CT make bedroom that must be ac- | knowledged faultless by the most fas- tidious taste
 l Yet these things could be purchased for half the price of the useless decora- 1 tions with which we constantly dis l figure our homes
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 1 Railroad Women in Norway. l In Norway women have for some | (