Evening star., 1940-04-13
New Electric Outlet
system Convenient
And inexpensive
Standardized Rocewuy
Fastened to Wall and
Is Not Conspicuous
BY LAWRENCE CROLIUS.


come and gone long ago many
homes still have small christmas
trees" sprouting from electric out
lets in various parts of their more
Important rooms. These trees
are far from decorative, however.
and merely represent the feeble ef-
forts of the owners to provide elec-
tricity to large number of lamps.
appliances and other electrical de-
vices from inadequate outlets. The
root of the tree is the base outlet
which was put in when the house
was built, and is usually far away
from any logical point of use
Plugged into this outlet is a 10-cent
multi-socket plug which may be
topped off with still another plug
of the same type. Thus, the house.
holder has provided himself with
from three to six additional out
lets from which he runs long ex-
tension cords to all parts of the
room to light floor lamps, operate
the radio, or illuminate the family
pOfCralC over Jhe mdntel.
While this system of supplying
yourself with current is certainly
an inexpensive one, it isn't hard to
see that the original circuit is more
than likely we'll overloaded, and the
lengthy extension cords will wear
out in time and cause costly and
perhaps dangerous short circuits.
If your home is short-handed in the
way of outlets like so many homes
are, it would be far better to re-
move these Christmas trees of plugs
and extensions and install a new
system of combination plugs and
moldlng now available for quick and
inexpensive installation.
Fastened to Wall.
This new wiring aid makes it pos
sible to have as many base outlets
as desired and needed at any place
around the room, 1t consists of
standardized metal raceway only =
inch deep which is fastened to the
wall either on top Of the present
Dashboard alone. or trimmed off
with a strip of decorative molding
to make it inconspicuous If you
prefer to have it at the chair rail
level it can be trimmed off with two
little holdings, or it can be run
around the wall of the kitchen or
basement workshop at any conven-
lent level. Any way you do it you
will be delighted to find that the
small size of the conduit and it's
good-looking design make it prac-
tically unnoticeable.
After the small raceway has been
tightened into place select the vari-
Gus places where you want the out
lets, and the new plug receptacles
are snapped into place at those
points. The intervening spaces are
then filled in with the standard form
OF cover plate which is provided and
the job is completely trimmed out.
Hence, if you should want to change
the location of the outlets in the
future you can do so without having
to tear out plaster walls or remove
decorative baseboards Or if you
want to add to the number which
were installed at first you can snap
them into place in short order.
X X X
Material for Plaster Cracks.
If you are considering an extern
sive spring home rehabilitation pro-
gram of painting or other decora-
tion you will likely find there are
numerous places around the walls
S1-Loro thoro oro oo;rl;oo cro obs L.,
the plaster, scratches, dents and
many other blemishes and imper-
fections. You probably have found
In the past that ordinary paint will
not cover up these unfortunate
places, and unless something is done
about them they are apt to spoil the
looks of the best possible materials
which might be used
Your painter or decorator can
now obtain a new Surfacing mate
rial, however. which fills in open
joints, Clipped corners, rough spots,
nail holes and hairline cracks with
the greatest of ease. According to
the makers of this material it will
adhere permanently to wood, plas-
ter, wallboard, brick, concrete and
metal surfaces and provides an eX-
cellent, smooth surface for subse-
quent painting or other decoration.
We also are advised that it will
not shrink, crumble, crack or fall
away after it has been put on, and
it will fill in cracks and rough spots
without Sagging.
This interesting material comes
tn the form of dry powder which
you merely have to mix with water
to make it ready for immediate use.
1t may be mixed to a desired con-
sistency which will make it ap-
plicable with anything from brush
to trowel or flexible broad knife.
You merely have to spread it on
evenly and fill the various holes
and imperfections by pressing the
material into the openings. After
1t has dried hard and firm it may
be sandpapered to level off any
brush or troWel marks, then an oil
base primer is put on and the sur
face is ready for final decoration.
X
II you would like to know the
names of the manufacturers of the
products described in this column
just cut the column out and send
1t to Lawrence Crolius, 81 East
Sixty-seventh street, New York,
N. Y, along with a stamped, self
addressed envelope.