Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-07-28
A COY COR NER.
ORIENTAL AFFAIR IS DOOMED BY
i THE RISE OF THE JAP
ANEsE VARIETY.
Turkish Armor and Draperles and
Tutted< Divans are Being RELOCATED
to the Second Hand Man-cIeanli-
ness and Fresh Air Chief Requisites.

The doom OF the overworked orient
al coy corner has been sounded. The
head of the house has long worked
secretly against it. the feminine world
has tired OF it, and the tidy home
maker who goes In for all things hy-
gienic has decided that 1t is unhealthy
because dust gathers In it's multitu-
dinous folds, and no ordinary house
maid may be trusted to clean 1t with
out bringing an avalanche Of draperies
and armor upon her head
Therefore, the cozy corner as 1t has
been known for half decade, is fad
Ing away into attic shadows Artists
friends are being deluged with gifts
in the form of discarded near-m metal
armor, hangings are being converted
INTO couch covers, and oriental scarfs
into covers for divan pillows. The
tufted divan has been relegated to the
secondhand furniture shop-and en-
ter the new summer like cozy corner
:, In its most popular form 1t suggests
the immaculate housewifery Of Japan
admitting air from all directions.
The alcove devoted to the corner
Is screened off by bead partiers-noth-
Ing heavier-and they hang straight
and plain. A portiere five feet. wide is
OF tridescent beads, some large, some
small. apparently thrown together In
haphazard, disregard to color scheme
but when the light strikes the finished
work 1t shows a Japanese lady in
humble but coquettish attitude.
Another hanging combines shells
with oriental beads. Eighteen or
twenty delicately colored snail shells
are strung together, then come three
or four beads. big, and round, followed
by a short pipe of bamboo, the ar
rangement being repeated until it
works out delicate design in leaves
and blossoms
TO the floor, others are finished in fan
tastio- scallops, but all can be washed
Off with warm water as if they were
SO much porcelain.
For a background to this cozy cor
ner Japanese prints or banners are
used, or simple frieze of plain toned
burlap bordered by Japanese bands.
But there must be no folds to hold the
summer dust. If canopy is used at
all, it is of the lightest silk, in simple
folds, which can be wiped off or taken
down and shaken each week, In place
Of the upholstered divan there are
quaint, low settees of bamboo or rush
work, piled with cushions covered in
washable Japanese crepe.
Paper lanterns. are not used to cast
dim light in the summer cozy cor
ne ouI d poiilpoo table may hold a
squat, brass lamp, or overhead there
Is hung a lantern in green bronze
metal. edged with a bead fringe which
scintillates in a thousand colors and
can be washed and wiped.
/ a woman whose husband lis an ex-
pert angler has built an ideal cozy cor
ner In his den with drapery OF fish
nets that are genuine, caught with fish
poles that have passed the age of USE
fulness, small handnets, etc. The
couch is of rattan, piled with pillows
In washable, materials, showing moth
ing but woodland and, river tints, The
background, is Of. woody brown burlap,
and its one decoration Is a mountain
fish, reproducing the pride Of her hus-
bands many catches..@.
Close to the couch. is low rattan
table, bearing the smoking outfit es-
sentfal to- a real fisherman's comfort.