The Modern Home
Gleanings from Olympia
THE " Ideal Home " Exhibition generally brings to light a certain number of appliance; which are nowhere else so eon- veniently displayed. Unfortunately, one is often deterred from examining them by the importunities of the salesmen in the galleries where they are chiefly to be found. I shouln have thought that these Soho-tailor methods must. frighten away more custom than they capture. Not all the exhibitor's adopt them, of course ; hut the well-behaved stall-holder- must often suffer from the efforts of their vociferous neigh hours, since one is apt to hurry with downcast eye past good and bad alike, or, worse still, to avoid their vicinity altogether.
A new form of artificial daylight, by means of "
reflectors, deserves an early and congratulatory mention, Any daylight lamps that I have hitherto examined have gh e.i out a rather unpleasant greenish-blue light.. One obeth iently accepted the statement that it was the same as day- light- —with the tacit reservation that it must have been rather an unpleasant sort of day but one felt inclined to go on risking eye-strain by using ordinary electric lamps rather than exhibit the unhealthy pallor which the ersatz daylight. gave. Furthermore, most daylight lamps scent more suitable in appearance for the laboratory titan for the home, and arc by no means economical in the amount of current they use fie the light produced. The " N.I.." reflectors arc a great. im- provement. In the first place, the light they give is extremely pleasant and becoming : it might. be reflected sunlight from the best sort of day. Then it is extremely efficient. The makers claim a 40 per cent. increase of efficiency over even ordinary electric lighting. Certainly I should have judged one of their lamps to be 100 watts, whereas it was only 60. This is not surprising, since the device consists of a reflector which does not screen off all the rays of the ordinary bulbs used, but mixes with them a proportion of overcorrected light so that the sum is equivalent to pure daylight. A further advantage of this is that in many cases only the reflector need be bought,
evens
and these are by no means expensive, ranging from 7s. up- wards. The complete fittings exhibited and catalogued bowls, pendants, standards and desk-lights—are all extremely well-designed. In fact, were I furnishing to-day, I should not hesitate to instal " N.1.." artificial daylight in several rooms.
The many excellent qualities of birch (which the layman will recognize as the wood of which three-ply tea-chests are made) have hardly been given the credit they deserve because of the appearance of the wood itself. Louis Bamberger and Sons show an exhibit of Canadian birch treated in a new way which should go far to remedy this neglect. The timber is impregnated right through with some substance which gives it almost exactly the appearance of walnut in fact an expert might be pardoned for failing to notice the difference. Birch is considerably less titan half the price of walnut (besides being more consistent in quality), and the cost of impregnation by no means makes up the difference ; so that the new product should find many applications with a substantial saving of expense. It may be particularly recommended to anyone who wants a good- looking and hard-wearing floor. Among the smaller exhibits the " Agfa " Artificial Silk
Sponge deserves a recommendat ion which must seem absurd at first sight for so insignificant a product. But its glass- cleaning properties arc marvellous. A sheet of glass can be smeared with grease, wiped with one side of an " Agilt " sponge, wiped with die other side—and it is not only cleaned but polished I For all purposes where chamois-leathers have hitherto been used, it is obvious that silk sponges will be used in future. They do not become slimy ; they are easily cleaned again and again ; and they reduce the time of washing and polishing shiny surfaces by about four-fifths. In particular, their sharp corners arc admirably adapted for getting right to the edges of window-panes. The cellulose finish of cars, too, offers another obvious field for their use. They cost one shilling and sixpence.
While on the subject of window-cleaning I must also call
attention to the " Carter Window Washer " for windows which cannot easily be reached by hand. This consists of a small water-filled receptacle wielded at the end of a long pole. One side is fitted with a strip of felt kept automatically moist, and along the opposite side is a strip of rubber. The dirt is removed by the felt and a polish imparted by the rubber. This appliance, too, should simplify what is often an awkward and even dangerous operation.
G. M. BOUMPIIREY.
• [Enquiries arising out of articles on "The Modern Home" should be addressed to the Editor of THE SPECTATOR, 99 Goner Street, W.C.1, and marked "Modern Home" in the top left- hand corner.]
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