The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-11-18

There Is NO reason to complain OF a. lack
of fireplaees in the modern city house, but
often in the old fashioned one the fire
place is only a sham and it requires mucn
study and labor to convert the chimney
opening under the maEtel into a real, cosy
fireplace.
Thanks to the house furnishers, very
beautiful cabinets can be easily found 10
fit the cold, cheerIess looking marble man
tel shelves Witch are SO numerous.
These, with a cosy. bright fire under
meath will change the appearance OF any
room.
How to beautify the unsightly brick
fireplace Of an old-fashioned country
house is often the question when per-
piexes one who cannot endure the usual
method Of fitting a fire board to the open
stove pipe belonging to a piece OF Iurnl-
ture which is not only ugly, but taxes
up a great deal of space.
The old brick fireplace may be made an
object of beauty by getting any wrought
iron manufacturer to make brackets 70
hold Q shelf and frame fittings, Which
contrast prettily with the red brick. ana
iron should be wrought iron to cores
pond, and in case of n nantei pEaee
thus treated a square wood box was pant
into the corner at the side, with wrought
iron cover and an iron ring handle to the
cover.
This box serves as a seat and furnishes
one of the little cosy corners which are
50 acceptable to the aristocratic home
maker.
The oak mantel of the modern city pack
parlor, when used as a library, mas De
made Individual by the mistress who has
- q L~. o-, Tn "a "a 10 a wide oak
panel has been fitted into the space be-
meath the shelf and on this an artist in
typography has burnt in old English let
tiers the following MOTTO
Old wood to burn.
Old wine to drink,
Old books to read.
Old friends to trust.
II requires patience and time to carry
to a successful completion such individual
touches in the home, but they are often
more satisfactory thar the most expen-
slve pieces of furniture. Another motto,
suitable for fireplace ~decoration. is this
Blow high. blow low
Not all the rudest winds that blow
Can quench our hearth fires rudy glow.
Andirons are constructed in every style,
many Of them being copies Of French and
Italian art.
They are splendid affairs. often four to
five feet in height and embossed in strong
devices, or they are marvellous examples
of retrousse work, which naturally bring
extravagant prices.
Others are quite plain on the strict and
formal lines of old English styles, with
very simple enumeration, but they are
equally artistic.
The Queen Anne style is low, but just
now high andirons are popular. Those
with claw feet and flame tops are neat de-
signs.
A goodly sum may be spent on the well
equipped hearth of today, for beside
elaborate brass frame, andirons and fem
der, there must be a set of tongs, shovel
and brush, perhaps a beautiful screen and
possibly a fine wood box.
In the elaborate sen the hearth brush
is encased in a holder of superb finish
with a long handle, elegantly ornamented.
Some of the art stores are showing mag
nificent brass wood boxes, costing as high
as s25o.
They are both round and square in
shape, and frequently the top has a double
division, which lifts up for the putting in
of wood and coal, enough to last for a
CRATE for several days.
These boxes are most decorative, with
heavy conventional borders and odd, queer
looking handles.
One art store makes. a specially of
carved dark oak wood boxes, which sell
for SIS up, and which are considered by
many far more desirable than the brass
onee.
Brass goods are receiving great atten-
tioa this season.
The wonderful advaneements made are
shown in the very delicate tracing effects
Of the freside screens.
a fanciful design is that Of an open fan
or a stand, the latter being c~harnningly
ornamented. while the centre Of the fam
shaped screen is almost as fine as lace.
The present Fashion of the metal bed
stead, with its open head, demand the re-
vival Of the bed tester. Aside from the
picturesque effect of bed drapery, it is
eminentIy useful in shielding the head
from draughts of air which should be adj
mitted freely to every sleeping room, says
the American Journal of Health" The
head-piece OF the old-fashioned wooden
bedstead was made solid IN order to do
away with this drapery, but the head of
the sleeper was still left exposed to
d~raughts, and, worse still, TO strong light.
The habits of modern times have made it
impossible for every one TO rise with the
lark, and the best that can now be done
is to secure as nearly as possible the con-
ditions of night during those early morn
ing hours which most of us devote to
sleep Thick shades of dark color shut
out the light, but also the air, which it
is especially desirable to admit in the
morning. The light of the sun shining
through a large window on a sleeper is a
common cause to those nervous head
aches from which so many delicate wom-
en- suffer. The light of the moon, when
it is at its full. is also known to be in
furious.
The old-time canopy which draped the
bed on all sides was undoubtedly a sti-
fling arrangement, but the modern partial
canopy Is a half tester. which merely
drapes the upper half of the bed and
shields the head from d~raughts and the
eyes from light, There are many ways
of arranging this drapery- hi simplest
is to suspend the tester from a hook in