Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/823

 Popular Science Monthly

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��Floor plan of the apartment showing the rearranged lighting system

Making Over the Lighting System

THOUSANDS of apartments in ev- ery city are wired and lighted in the most thoughtless manner possible. One husband, with a practical turn of mind, studied the situation, and in a few hours made a very convenient arrange- ment. The expense he had to bear himself, but all of the changes can be undone and the material removed to another apart- ment.

All of the lamps in the flat were six- teen candlepower carbon bulbs, giving relatively little light at a high cost for current consumption. Except in the dining room and parlor there was but a single lamp in a central ceiling fixture and set so high as to be difficult to reach. All of the lamps were of clear glass, hence glaring. The clothes closets had

��no lights and were so located that the single north windows could not possibly illuminate them. Aloreover, the electric apparatus for which attachment was needed, could not be used without hav- ing each time to unscrew a solitary lamp and leave the room in blackness.

For the entire flat he purchased tung- sten lamps of higher candlepower, thus securing more light for less current con- sumption. The reduction in monthly bills quickly compensated for the new lamps. The four small ceiling bulbs in the dining room were chosen of frosted glass; most of the other lamps have frosted tips. The four parlor bulbs he dipped in an amber solution to soften the light.

The central dining room fixture held three lamps. Two were sufficient for dining purposes and he removed the cen- ter one to permit morning attachment of the electric toaster.

A Safe Swing for the Baby

IN an Illinois town a clever, mother has made for her "toddler" a swing from which he cannot easily fall. The wicker hood of an old baby carriage, shaped like half a muskmelon, is sus- pended by ropes from a low tree limb. If he tires of swinging he can fall asleep comfortably in the hollow of the basket; without danger. — Avis G. Vestal,

��� ��The baby swings in the hood of a discarded baby carriage

An Improved Match-Striker

TACK a piece of fly-screen over sand- paper of the same size. This will not wear out as readily as sandpaper alone.

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