The Sunday Oregonian., May 21, 1911, SECTION FIVE, Page 2, Image 60

THE SUNDAY OKEUOXIAIf, PORIXAND. 3IAT 21. 191 1.
RETURN TO "PERIOD STYLE" OF DECORATION, IS MANIFEST
Harmony Obtainable by Careful Attention to Every Detail, While Complete Failure Is Possible Even With Richest of Materials as Basis Upon Which to Begin Work.
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HT MRS. I.AI-RA BALDmS
DHLJTTUE.
TIIKKE Is quite a tendrm-y to re
turn to the period style In Interior
decorating and housef urntshina. I
hare notu-ed this In all the large cities
on trie Fa.-mc roast, or course one
never a-ets asrar from It In New York.
but the West and Middle West hare re
fused to adopt It till recently- It Is
the natural reaction, following the
wholesale fd and craze for craftsmen's
Idras. In the formative stage of any
country It la wise and best to follow
the craftsmen. It Is fit and proper and
sensible: but after that stage la pi
then we naturally look for more ele
nnt furnishings and begin to appre
ciate the classic. It Is the principle
that the New York aS-hool of Art works
upon first study front life, draw from
the nude figure, and then when "ne
l s a go. si working foundation study
the classic from the casta the natural
method It seems to me. although It Is
Just the opposite of that employed by
imst American schools.
Trrlod Mjlc- IlluMratrd.
A proper and Intelligent study of
period styles Is a fine thing. Take the
Georgian period under K. and J. Ad-
m It Is classic, graceful and alto
gether lovely. Aa an Illustration of a
pure Adam style we hare the dining
room done by them for the Earl of Mor-l-r.
It Is one of the most harmonious
-and beautiful rooms that I know. Rob
ert A.lAm, the elder of the two broth
ers, was educated In Edinburgh and
studied In Italy. The Adam brothers
were architects, decorators and design
ers, and before hobert was 44 he was
appointed architect to the King of Eng
land. Their style reflects the spirit of
Pompeii snd llerculaneum. and Is a
closer adaptation to that classic style
than Is the modern adaptation of the
Loots XVI period style. They need the
palest tints, generally light deltrata
green or pale soft French grays. They
designed the walls, ceilings, mantel-
I'tece and even the knobs and hinges
tf doors In rooms decorated by them.
le carpets also must always b-e of
ial d'a;gn to harmonise with the
telling. While they were, not furni
ture mik'ri at all. et they did design '
spct txl furatture Xor tneir own pur- 1
lie
;rfh
pa-
poses. They wera the first to tint tha
ceilings, thus departing from tha cold,
taring white before used, and their
style waa a complete departure from
the heavy and massive Jacobean style
preceding them. They need stucco and
i papier mache extensively, advancing
the theory that our homes should be
light and graceful, pleasant and artls
tic. Consequently many of their rooms
depended upon the painter and sculp
tor. Angelica Kanfmann, Antonio Zuc
chl and Clprlana were employed by
them to paint the panels and ceilings
they designed.
Spirit Caoght by Others.
Wedgewood caught the Adam spirit
and also Sheraton, hepple white and
Chippendale. To Pergolesi we are In
debted for much of the Adam popular
Ity. he having published a book which
contains hundreds of the designs of
plaster prises, borders for painting on
furniture, doors, niches, also designs of
furnlutre, mantelpieces. In act every
thing used by the Adam brothers, which
gives a perfect storehouse of Informa
tion to the present-day decorator who
wishes to carry out a room In pure
period style and yet not make a copy
of any one room done by them.
The urn and vase la a characteristic
design of the Adam period and their
furniture la quite easily recognised.
The Adam style Is one so especially
fitted to some of our fine new Colonial
residences Just being built. It must
break, the heart of an architect who
spenda much time and thought design
ing a Colonial house getting It per
fect In every detail to have It deco
rated and furnished out of harmony
with the scheme. I ones went to a
house of pure Colonial type (I bad
known the architect and how much
thought ha had given the plans to have
It carried out la the minutest detail).
and the furnishings made me shiver.
The hall waa large and Imposing, and
would have been beautiful with Colon
ial furniture, but Instead, there was a
rocker upholstered In expensive satin
damask In Louis XVI design and an
other, one of those late modern abom-
Inattons of no period or style, an
empire hall seat and consols table and
he newest modern light fixtures.
Isually the architect puts in the light
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xturee. or plans them, but not In this
case. Consequently, although each
thing waa lovely by Itself and good In
quality, yet as a whole It was a failure,
while there waa the opportunity to have
had something beautiful, simple and
classic
Tha hall should give dignity to tha
house and if one has a Colonial house
and wishes to keep It light, airy and
graceful the Adam period could be fol
lowed. The niches In the wall give
placea for good pieces of statuary or
wedgewood. the ceilings can be car
ried out In baa-relef and made very
beautiful. There Is an Imported papier
mache that can be used and It comes
In perfect reproductions of any period
or style. Then the walls could ba
paneled and the draperies should har
monize. Damasks for this purpose
come 1a pure Adam deaigns in the lovely
new tones of green, old blue, rose and
mulberry. Rugs can ba bad In pure
Adam design and If one caoot afford
the real old Colonial furniture or been
fortunate enough to Inherit some, there
are excellent reproductions. Then a cry
stal chandelier and sconces of the wall
will add the right touch to the light
ing, fixtures; a Colonial mirror and
table and the room would be In harmo
ny. Every Detail Important.
No little detail should be overlooked
no modern piece of anything should
be admitted to mar the harmony. There
Is a great tendency towards gray for
walls today and thus It makes It easy
to carry out the Adam style to perfec
tion. This style Is well adapted to re
ception rooms, too. A Colonial dining
room Is also very beautiful. The one
In the Illustration, that of the Earl of
Mlrby. Is very easy to carry out In any
home built today and certainly would
be charming to live In. The ceilings
need not be so ornate and tha rest is
very altnpl in line and feeling, quite
within any decorator's means to carry
out. The lovely old English chintz
makes such appropriate hangings for
Colonial homes, and altogether there
Is no excuse for a home not being kept
beautiful and harmonious, artistic and
Individual without sacrificing any of tha
Colonial feeling that tha style of archi
tecture suggests.
SETTLERS WNC0NTENTI0N
Prior Occupants of Power Sites to
Be Allowed to rile.
WASHINGTON'. May Hi (Special.)
In April, 11. all legal subdivisions
on the west bans of the Columbia River,
In sections . 4. t. 1. IS. 1. IT and XI,
T. 31 north, range XT east. In the Stnte
of Washington, any portion of which
was within a quarter of a mile of the
river, were withdrawn as temporary
power sites and this withdrawal was
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ratified by executive order tha follow
ing July;
There were several settlers upon
these subdivisions, however, some of
whom had occupied the lands about
I years and Senator Jones, of Wash
ington, was Informed recently that it
was the Intention of the local officers
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at Spokane to deny these settlers the
right to make entry for the lands upon
which they had been living. The Sen
ator thereupon took up the subject
with the Commissioner here and was
Informed that the plat of survey of
the fractional township including the
sections mentioned would be hied in I
the Spokane office May 111, 1911, and
that actual settlers and residents
would be allowed three months from
May 19 to offer their filings.
This was given in a notice issued
by the Spokane land officers, but In
the same notice there appeared a
clause to the effect that these sections
having been withdrawn for water
power sites, no application would be
allowed for the lands included therein.
Upon the representations of the Sena
tor, however, the Commissioner of the
Oeneral Land Office has been directed
by the Secretary's office to Instruct '
the local officers at Spokane to receive
all homestead applications by persons
asserting themselves to be settlers on
this land prior to the time of its with
drawal. All applications, as in the
case with land office matters gener
ally nowadays, will be referred to the
chief of field division for Investiga
tion and report.
MEN OUST PHONE GIRLS
Big New York Business Firms Bra
ploy Confidential Operators.
' New York Times.
Few people know what Is, neverthe
less, a fact, that there Is threatening
a new invasion of woman's lately dis
covered fields of work by what the
suffragettes now teach her to regard
as her immemorial economic rival,
man. Zt has been discovered that cer
tain large firms in bis downtown of
fices have dispensed with the more or
less ornamental and self-conscious
telephone girls of commerce in favor
of a man, who, instead of the ordinary
operator's wages, receives a salary
higher than many of the clerks.
- With so much business of the first
Importance done by phone. It has de
veloped. It appears, that the task of
dealing discreetly with the calls that
come In so miscellaneously over the
wire Is not a mere switchboard opera
tor's job. Rather It demands a con
fidential person with such experience,
such clear judgment, and so much
ready diplomacy as is rarely to be
discovered In even the brightest of the
tribe of high-school-bred young ladies
with trim figures, blonde heads and
nimble fingers.
There are firms in the financial dis
trict who pay their operators 2000
and 13000 a year, it Is eald, and find
it pays the firms handsomely. Some
particularly eminent concerns whose
operations are of peculiar significance
and delicacy pay even more, but the
figures In such cases are naturally not
available.
In the offices of one of ' the firms
which banished the telephone girl not
long ago was a visitor In the same line
of business one who follows the old
slipshod fashion of intrusting his
switchboard to the casual office boy.
The visitor was discussing a matter
of great Importance to both with the
head of the firm, who happened to be
a very well-known figure in New York
affairs. In the midst of the discussion
there was occasion to call up the visi
tor's office to verify essential dates
and figures. Many minutes were con
sumed In getting anybody at all to
answer, and still more in having the
boy who did answer get hold of the
person who could supply the dates 'knd
figures. Meantime, the man whose
valuable time was being wasted over,
these preliminaries fidgeted In his
chair. Finally his patience wore thin.
If you will pardon a suggestion,"
he said, "I think you need a new op
erator In your office."
The other grinned amiably he was
an easy-going sort " You are right, as
usual," he admitted. "Nobody could
possibly appreciate the shortcomings
of my switchboard artists more deeply
than I do, but If tbey are any good
they don't stay."
"Well," said the head of the firm,
mine stays. I pay htm 13400 & year
and he is worth all of It. You pay
yours ?
I pay mine lo a week hes the of
fice boy one of them, or any of them
and that's Just five times more than he
worth."
' Precisely," said the man with the
$3400 operator. "That's the difference."
Threshold of Consciousness.
Ainslie's.
It cannot be too firmly borne in mind
that every day of our lives we see, and
hear, and feel more than we realize,
that these unobserved sights, and
sounds, and sensations may, neverthe
less, be subconsciously registered in our
minds, and that they may soon or late
be projected above the threshold of
consciousness In a form astonishing.
puzzling, and perhaps annoying us.
Sayings of Famous Men.
(Chicago Tribune.)
Lvcurgus: "Let me make the laws
and I care not who makes the fcallads."
Noah: "All aboard!"
Amerlcus Vespucius: "Lend you the
ee of my name? Sure:
Sir Walter Raleigh: "your Majesty.
here's my assessment for street-repair-
ngr."
Noah Webster: "uenuemea. yo"
have to take my word for it."
t