Evening star., 1936-02-08

7 OW would you like to nave the
IL walls OF your home plastered
and brought to you all fin
Il L ished?
No musS, no fuss-and a brand
new. solid wall for the price of home
made plastering plus wallpaper.
It's possible today. When the time
comes to do over your dining room
walls you don't have to cover up your
furniture with ghost-like sheets as
protection from the snowfall of
powdery dust that settles on all ex-
posed surfaces. There's no need. even,
to have that damp smell inside your
house. 1t can all be done at a factory
and come to you in the form of solid
finished panel ready to be nailed up
like a wooden shingle!
Indeed, these panels made of sui
phate of lime look like wood, for they
are finished in walnut, knotty pine
or Douglas fir. The finest specimens
of these woods are selected by the
manufacturers and photographed.
Then the photograph is reproduced on
the face of the plaster panel in the
color and the pattern of the original
wood. There is always an interesting
movement of the grain and enough
burling to give variety to the pattern,
for each panel is facsimile Of an
aristocrat of the walnut, pine or fir
family.
AS protective measure and to aid
in the finishing a coat of lacquer is
put over the whole. Then you can
leave it as it is or shellac it and apply
either wax or varnish.
The amazing thing about these
panels is that they can be cut with a
saw and readily nailed. If you've tried
to hang pictures in ordinary plaster
with ordinary nails you know what an
achievement it is to drive nails through
composition of this sort, without crack
ing. The proper way to put up these
panels is to insert strips of wood into
the old plaster and nail the panel top
and bottom, then join the edges with
thin strips of real walnut, pine or
fir.
Of course, a wall of this stuff is
plaster. interior finish and rudimen-
tary flreproofing all rolled into one.
Its core Is mineral that will not burn
nor even allow high temperature to
pass through it until its crystalline
rock structure has been broken down
and destroyed. This is slow process
requiring intense heat, so the panel is
actually surprisingly fire-resistant.
You won't save any money by get
ting your plastering in prefabricated
form, but you will save wear and tear
on household equipment and nerves.
And the finished product, which looks
like rich wood panelling, is more orig
inal than ordinary wallpaper or in
terror paint
So many people read about non-slip
tubs last week, and lamented because
they could not rush right out and get
them, that we secuted round to find
another fear-of- slipping discourager
1t seems 10000 people year are
disabled by falls in bath tubs. So
there is basis to the fear.
We found 81 panacea: A handhold
and a foothold made of rubber, at
taching to the side and bottom of an
ordinary tub so you won't skid, even
when the tub is wet. The gripping
pad attaches to the side of a bathtub
by means of suction cups. There is a
metal plate, too, nodded into the grip,
so it stays put by weight as well. All
you do is wet the suction cups to
make them stick, bend the pad until
it assumes the shape you want, hang
it over the side of the tub, smack it
sharply to eliminate air and create
vacuum in the cups, and it will assume