Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/613

 587 WOMAN'S HOMK The door that bangs all night and de- prives us of our well-earned rest could explain its misbehaviour by pointing to its cheap and flimsy latch. The wet patch on the bedroom ceihng is an outward and visible sign of a leaky cistern in the roof. Safety'Catch for sash windows. Note the cam that prevents opening with a knife blade House fittings may be considered under the following headings : Fastenings, the water system, lighting, heating, ventilation. To those who know just how cheaply the speculative builder buys his bolts, locks, and other fittings, it is not surprising that many prove unequal to what is demanded of them. Door locks usually are of the " mortice " variety, sunk into the woodwork, and thereby concealed from view. But it is not difficult to detect the cheap and flimsy lock. Push the door to, allowing it to shut by its own momentum. It should do this with just a suspicion of a click as the catch glides into the socket. The cheap latch will either fail to catch, or will shoot home with more noise than is pleasant. Its working parts are roughly finished and carelessly adjusted. Another annoying defect of the door furni- ture is that the latch handle becomes de- tached. This is particularly the case in old houses dating from a period when door knobs were fixed by a little headless screw* ever ready to jump out of its socket and lose itself in some obscure cranny in the floor. Modern ingenuity has abolished this ineffective device, and all up-to-date door knobs are secured in a way which prevents them from being detached except b}^ sheer violence. One may generally judge of the quality of a lock by its key. The better the former the better the design and finish of the key. The tendency now is towards small keys that project as little as possible from the door surface. Hinges should be of ample depth and not too light in construction. They have to carry the whole weight of the door, and if not strong enough for the purpose the door will sag and the latch fall out of line with its socket. Front door latches are now usually of the Yale type, the advantages of which are excellence of workmanship, safety (a Yale lock is practicably unpickable, and no two are alike, consequently each lock can onl}' be opened ath the key supphed with it), and lastly, the smallncss of the key, which is thin and flat, and may be carried in a purse, a convenience appreciated by lady members of the household. It is by no means uncommon for the latch locks of ordinary make to be identical in pattern in a whole street of houses, a state of things that hardly makes for security. Bolts are usually strong enough, hut in cheap houses the sockets are of the flim.siest construction, thereby discounting the security one would infer from the stoutness of the bolt. Window fastenings vary in kind according to the type of window. The sash window is secured by a spring catch of a pattern familiar enough to every- body, including the persevering burglar, who finds it easy to push it back from outside with the blade of a knife. Catches of this pattern must be at least a century old, and as they have not been improved, except in one detail shortly to be noticed, presumably they represent the best form of fastening available for their particular purpose. The improvement consists in so shaping; the base of the catch that it becomes impossible to open the catch from outside. Casement windows are secured bv a lever bolt, which cannot be tampered 'ith from outside so long as the glass remains intact. Stays are provided to keep the casement fixed when opened the desired amount. These stays are not infrequently too light for their purpose, and being weakened by the line of holes down the centre, they break in careless hands, or when strained by a sudden gust of wind blov'ing on the open casement. As they are exposed to the weather when the windows are open, these stays are some- times made of brass, an excellent material if heavy enough to ensure the requisite strength. Iron stays are preferable to light brass ones, and if black enamelled, are not likely to rust under careful treatment. Every stay should be provided with two pins on the window- frame, on to which it drops when the casement is closed. This gives additional security, as the stay then becomes a supplementary fastening. The water supply may come from one of three sources — the rain, the well, the water company's system. In cities it is al- '-*^^'" catch for casement windows most always from the last of the three. On the other hand, in country districts, well-water is- often the only source of supply. Under cer- tain conditions of soil, wells run dry in hot summers, and then the storage of rain-water may become necessary, but this is exceptional