Suggestions from a Lady

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MESSRS. EDITORS:I thank you for publishing my former suggestions, and in continuation, I would ask artizans why may we not have the roofs to our dwellings domed, both the central and the wings? The flat ceiling over our heads gives a prison-like feeling when contrasted, as it is constantly, with the beautiful dome of the sky. In the central, the second story would make a magnificently domed chamber. The wings, with beautifully domed ceilings and plenty of windows, would make one an inviting dining-roomthe very atmosphere of which would furnish a salad for the viands; the other wonld make a miniature skv-hoiise for that sanc t uary, the most invaluable of allthe gatli-criiig-room of the family. As this is the place where most of the waking hours are spent, so it is the place where comfort, taste, and good cheer should be the ruling deities. If it is practicable to have the roof made of some translucent substance, like thick glass or thin marble, supported by a wooden or iron frame, this would be an additional beauty; and if the main rooms could be made circular, by making the corners into closets, presses, cupboards a nd libraries, it would, give more harmony to all the senses. My attention has lately been drawn to the scanty room in the rai I road cars. (Ladies h ooped skirts may have suggested the thought.) I would ask, is it not practicable to have the track made broader, and by i n creasi ng th e bread th give more comfort and safety? The extremely cruel t.isk of the men who feed the fires on board our steamers calls for some alleviation. Their burned and blackened faces, streaming wi th per-spiration in a stifling atmosphere, appeal for apparatus which shall do the work of feeding those fires without this peril to human health and life. I will make no further suggessions in this letter, but will not promise to abstain from constructing ideal houses, cities, and air-cars in future. If capable of all these I should still consider that the greater work which makes home the paradise of earth. M. L. VARNEY. San Francisco, Nov. 10, 1860.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 3 Issue 24newThis article was published with the title “Suggestions from a Lady” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 3 No. 24new (), p. 379
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican12081860-379

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