Evening star., 1932-08-28

them. Early American archtec-
ture, beginning with the Indian
tepee, was not designed for perching.
Colonial mansions were too sharply
gabled to furnish a comfortable resting
place for anything but pigeons; their
moss covered tiles were unSullied by the
foot of man. And the baroque towers
and turrets Of the nineteenth century
would have discouraged Shipwreck Kelly
himself.
It is only during the last few years
that roofs have come into their own.
Their Sloping shingles of yesteryear have
been replaced by level expanSeS OF tar
and gravel, and today the roof of the
average apartment house is as thickly
populated as the Coney Island board
walk on a Sunday afternoon. 1t is the
favorite stamping ground of every one
in the building-as the top-foor tenants
can testify.
According to prevailing opinion, if you
can't have a pent house, the next best
thing is to have a roo. garden. 1t is
very simple: all you need is a beach
umbrella, a couple of deck chairs, and
q
air and ultraviolet rays. A few hardy
shrubs in wooden tubs may be added
for decorative effect; but they aren't
necessary, and after two weeks of Au-
gust sunshine they will Shrivel up and
blow away. All you can raise in a roof
garden is your temperature.
Two deck chairs and an umbrella are
of
dener busy, however.
A deck chair nowawayS may be almost
anything that can be sat upon, and sew
eral things that can't. 1t is made OF
wood and gayly striped canvas, and the
1882 model has a cute little awning at
the top. Its chief virtue is its compact
ness; when manipulated properly it can
fold up as fiat as the proverbial holding
corporation AS for the umbrella, it is
large and colorful-the kind that used
to sprout from the dashboard of the
village delivery wagon.
Phoebe inaugurated our roof garden
during that hot spell in the middle OF
July, and although it is only a dozen
feet square, it has afforded us more ex-
beans The furniture is standard (two
chairs and an umbrella) and before we
set it up for the first time we pictured
ourselves lounging luxuriously in our
aerie with frosty drinks at our elbows
and only the blue sky-and few radio
aefials- overhead. At night we would
lie back with the river breeze tanning
our brows and gaze at the unfamiliar
stars above or at the coruScating con-
tours of the city below. We would loll--
that was the word.
In the ideal roof garden there should
be no distractions for body or mind no
demands upon ones consciousness. But
ours was not ideal even at the begin
ming I spent one whole morning set
ting up the deck chairs. The ordinary
folding chair, or "cramp chair" holds no
terrorS for me; it has only two parts, the
back and the bottom, and the latter can
be identified easily because the legs are
attached to it.
DUT the modern deck chair is more
- complex. Back and bottom are
Joined in a single piece Of canvas so
that you cannot tell which is which
and in addition there are arms, legs,
awning and foot rest-all confuSingly
similar in shape. When folded it re-
sembles a huge japanese puzzle COM
posed of half dozen wooden rectangles,
0qe within the other.
The problem is to decide which one to
pull out first. I started inside with the
smallest one and worked out, unfolding
each layer to it's fullest extent unit, I
reached the outside frame, which was
obviously pair of legs. But in the place