Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/468

336 Fig. 6. The shelves are 6 inches wide at the middle, and three of them are 2½ inches wide at the ends, while the top one is rounded off as shown.

Short brackets, 1½ inches wide and 2½ inches long, support the shelves at 2 or 3 inches from the ends, and under the middle of the bottom shelf a larger bracket, 5½ inches wide and 8 inches long, is cut.

A notch is cut in the front of each shelf and a corresponding one in the staff that binds the shelves together at the front, so that they are spaced, from the bottom up, 11, 10, and 9 inches apart respectively.



Slim steel-wire nails two inches long will secure the brackets to the wall, or long, slim screws may be used in preference, as they will hold better if they strike a lath, without rebounding and breaking the plaster away. The woodwork may be finished in any of the weathered-oak stains and given a coat of thin shellac, or painted; it is purely a matter of choice,

the library or den a convenient piece of wall furniiture is shown in the illustration of the book-shelf and pipe-rack.

If it is possible tv get a piece of wood 24 inches wide and 26 inches long, it will answer for the back; but if not, then two pine or white-wood boards, 12 inches wide and ⅞ of an inch thick, can be glued together. The shelves are 6 inches wide and 24 inches long, and are spaced 8½ inches apart. This space can be made smaller if it will be used only for small books.

With a compass-saw the top and bottom lines of the back board are cut, and under the lower shelf three supporting brackets are screwed fast to both the shelf and the wall-plate.



A plan for the brackets and wall-plate may be drawn on brown paper and transferred to the wood, on the lines of which it will be an easy matter to follow with a saw.

Two small quarter-circular shelves are attached to the middle bracket, and a few holes made in them will accommodate pipes.

The upper shelf is supported by two slats at each end, that are attached to the ends of the lower shelf with screws and glue; and over the screw-heads some imitation lead heads are attached with slim wire nails and afterward painted black, or the natural wood can be stained.

shoe-box and window-seat is made from an ordinary box, 16 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and about 30 inches long. Four legs are