FZ W M<-_WMARADFORD,^ > ■ -1 —— i ~ —- . - Mr. William A. Radford will answer questions and give advice FREE OF" COST on ail subjects pertaining to the subject of building, for the readers of this paper. On account of Ills wide experience HS Editor. Author and Manufacturer, he is, without doubt, the highest authority oil all these subjects. Address all Inquiries to William A. Radford. No. 17S West Jackson boulevard. Chicago, 111., and only enclose two-cent stamp tor reply. There are perhaps more square houses built In the Middle West than houses of any other style or design. I Hy "square houses" is meant houses I with plain, straight sides and square j corners, in which the width nearly or I quite equals the length. "Rectilinear," j perhaps, would be a more accurate | term, but that does not convey an im pression of the square appearance that j such houses have. Economy in building and economy in heating, both have their influence. Houses of tlie "square" type range from 22 by 28 feet to 30 by 36 feet in size, and they contain from six to eight rooms—seldom less than si* and seldom more than eight. They are built either full two stories, with an attic: or like this one, witli some of tile windows elevated above the eaves to admit light to the upi»er rooms. This particular house is one of six rooms, 26 feet wide and about 27 feet 6 inches from front to rear. It is a very economical house to build. It Is all plain, straight work, except the dormer windows; and these are as plain as they can be and still look well. Such houses are so easily built that i a great many of them are put up in country places without architectural plans; but that is, generally speaking, a mistake. Good working drawings are so cheap nowadays that no one can afford to take chances on haphaz ard work. You can always recognize houses that have been built after the j Ideas of a local carpenter, just the j same as you can spot, a suit of home- I made clothes by the amateur expres- j sion that smiles at you when you see them They may contain the best of material put together in a good, solid way; but when the job is done, it lacks the stamp of finished excellence that only years of experience in cut- | ♦ ing and fitting can give. It is a mis take to take chances on amateur tali ent when you can secure expert ad- i vice and exi>erience for a few dollars. In this house, what would otherwise he a very plain living room, is made attractive by a fashionable window seat and a triple casement window in the front part of the room. There ar<? a variety of these windows to choose from. Some are hinged at the side so that the sash may be opened inward like a door; in others, the sash is piv oted in the center, at top and bottom; some aro hinged at the top; and still othvr deuigns are hinged at the side — xstr \ mm l "C~u KITCHEN _ J I LlviNa I p ,z- 0 «,* 0 - ; I, DINING ROOM I r r FT>KCM ~R — J ; First Floor Plan. HO as to o|>en outward. Where the sash swing out. the fly screens are fitted on the inside, the advantage • claimed being that you can hang cur tains in any way you want them, and not have them disturbed by opening and shutting the windows. Because «uch windows are becoming popular. It is only natural to suppose that wo men like them. They certainly pro duce a stylish effect, and that goes a Jong way. In building a house it pays to inves tigate the new things, both by reading and by observation. You can always find a new house that contains some of the fashionable ideas, ideas that are popular, the ideas that up-to-date architects like to work into their de signs. Some of these are very attract ive and add very much to the appear ance of a house, while others are sim ply suitable togo with certain com j binations. The owner is the one most vitally interested; but a little advice from a successful architect goes a ! long way, and lasts a long time after ! wards. You don't build a house every | year. It pays to be careful. l.ong years of experience In build | ing medium-priced houses has denion i strated a few facts that everyone MA Bl D PJOVI | Second Floor Plan. should (••now. For the health of the j family, you must have good drainage, sufficient ventilation, and an abun dance of sunshine. In the face of mod-' j ern invention, every new hortse should 1 | be piped for gas and for hot and cold ; ! water, and wired for electricity. Ev- j I er.v house should contain provision for I I comfortable, easy heating; and every j house should have a good bathroom. ! These things are essential, both for health and for comfort; to neglect j them means to regret it as long as | you live in the house. Other things i not so important, and still desirable, will suggest themselves, and may be adopted or rejected according to the size of the house and the expense a person feels justified ingoing into; but the demands of health and com fort come first. Shattered Idoi. "One of the greatest sorrows of fa mous persons like m'.-alf," recently observed a well known novelist, "is 'he realization that comes to us soon er or later that it is impossible to live up to the ideal opinions that the peo ple whom we meet in the ordinary af fairs of life have formed of us. "Not long since I had occasion to re mark to a waher in a cafe where I sometimes dine: \\ aitei, this beef is extremely tough.' "Whereupon the servitor looked at me with a sad expression and sighed deeply. " May I inquire,' said I, 'why you sigh in that fashion?' " 'Ah, sir,' said the waiter, 'I took you for a man who always said orig inal things, and here you come and say just the same thing that all the rest of them do.' " Egypt's Green Sun Rays. In Egypt, where the atmosphere is very clear, the green tints of the sun set light are peculiarly distinct. As the sun descends nearer to the horizon, and is immensely enlarged, its rays suddenly become for an instant of a brilliant green. Then a succession of green rays suffuses the sky well nigh to the zenith, says the Youth's Com panion. The same phenomenon occurs at sunrise, but less conspicuously. Some times at sunset, just as the last por tion of the sun's disk vanishes. Its color changes from green to blue, and so also after It has disappeared the sky near the horizon is green, while toward the zenith it Is blue. The fact was of course observed by the ancient Egyptians, and references thereto are found in their writings. M'ALEER OF BOSTON HAS EYE ON PENNANT Jimmy McAleer, New Leader of Red Sox. Jimmy McAleer, the new leader ot the Hoston American league club, tlg ures on speed and slugging to win this year's pennant. McAleer is quite optomistic of his team. "I expect to see Stahl, Hooper, Speaker, Wagner, Lewis and Carrlsan Mullin's Don'ts for Yt j Pitchers Don't try to pitch without first getting control. Don't Imitate—be natural. Don't try to bean the batters. Don't lose your nerve. Don't forget that there are eight others In the game. Don't think because you afe young the other players are pulling aga ! n*t you. Don't fail to cover first base. Don't blame individual players if they lose a game. Don't try to strike out all the batters. Don't fail to watch older pitchers at work. Don't fail to take advice when offered. Newark will get Pitcher Ragon from Brooklyn. Pitcher Chesbro has asked the Bos ; ton Nationals for a trial. Howard Camnitz of the Pittsburgs j is an alderman in Hustonville, Ky. The United States League club in I Chicago has signed Bugs Raymond. [ Pratt of the St. Louis Browns is a : graduate of the University of Ala bama. Hugh Leonard, a young California j pitcher with the Red Sox, is. only 18 | years old. Gov. Harmon of Ohio is a thlrty- I third -degree fan and is rooting for j the Reds. Peaches Graham of the Philadelphia Nationals owns farms in Minnesota j and Manitoba. Minneapolis has taken Frank Dele hanty from St. Paul through the I waiver process. Manager Stallings of Buffalo is try- I Ing to secure Shortstop Blackburne | from the White Sox. Howard Campbell, the University of ; Michigan pitcher, has signed to play | with Omaha this year. Mcßrlde, the clever Washington shortstop, has missed three games in j four consecutive campaigns. Spokane has bought Infielder Davis from San Francisco. He is a youngster who hails from Auburn, N. Y. President Ward of the Boston Na tionals talks of taking his team to ; Bermuda to train next spring. Comiskey says that California is the j only place for spring l training and that j the White Sox will go there next year. On paper Topsy Hartsel's Toledo j team looks to have a chance to finish j at the top in the American association. President Meyer of the Okla homa State league has signed Bill Setley as chief of his staff of umpires. Kansas City has bought Everett Hornsby from Houston, where he has been a winning pitcher for thiee years. I The Athletic inflelders are going to wear leather shiuguards this year, 'tis said —and block Ty Cobb on the bases. Willie Keller may accept an offer I from Japan to coach several native col lege teams. He says he can get big money. There are ten bachelors or. t;>3 Brooklyn .earn ibis year. The teuai::: . Wheat, Stark, Miller, Schardt, Dent, Morrow, Bj;k, Alien Knetzar and Kent. hatting more than .300," he satd. "Yerkes may come through, too, with a higher average at bat. With Hoop er, Speaker and Stahl, not to mention some of the youngsters, tearing around the bases, i think Boston has au ex cellent chance for the banner." 'DRUCKE WINS DAMAGE SUIT Giants' Pitcher Gets Enough to Buy Ranch in Waco Country in Texas, Whence He Hails. Louis Drucke, pitcher of the giants, ] the other day settled for what l)e con sidered a substantial consideration a suit that he had brought against the Interborough Rapid Transit Company V a \ , f\ f—| Louis Drucke. n New York to recover s2r>,ooo for in juries which he alleged he had re ceived in October, 1910, in a subway train, which left the rails at the Ful ton street station. Drucke had a grip on a strap, but was swung around and struck against the steel frame of the car doorway. He said that the muscles of liis back w ere ruptured so that he has not been able to pitch a full game since. In ducements to settle were held out to him twice before the suit came to trial and finally when the case was called before Ptistice Pendleton i,i the Su preme Court, counsel announced that a settlement had been reached. What the amount of the compensa tion was, no one would divulge, but it was said that Drucke got enough to purchase a ranch down in the Waco country in Texas, whence he hails. A report finally got abroad that he ra ceived half of wf.it he demanded. Pittsburg l\»im Travels. The Pittsburg (*lub will do more traveling than any or the major league j »e>.ii>s during the coming season Al lowing 25 men on each trip, Barney Dreyfus will have to buy 34U,ti73 miles of transportation. FORMULA BY SCHULTE Confidence is Secret of Knocking Out Home Runs. If a Ball Is Judged Correctty and Hit Squarely on the Nose With a Free Swing It Will Easily Sail Over the Fence. "Confidence! That single word lets you in on the secret of knocking home runs in the major leagues," says Frank Schulte of (he Cubs. "When baseball fans wondered at the number of four baggers I bit out last season and asked me for the key to the mystery I al ways gave them that answer. "One Instance will illustrate the whole story. Mathewson is Justly re garded as one of the hardest pitchers to hit the game has ever developed. Yet Joe Tinker can solve his deliv ery as easily as if the great Giant pitcher were a bush leaguer. For Joe Goes up to bat with one thought, 'I can hit that fellow,' and he does. I have often heard it said that Mathew son would rather face an entire team of sluggers than Joe Tinker by hte lonesome. It's confidence that makes Tinker win so many games for the Cubs from Mathewson. I know I hav en't the confidence against Matty that Tinker has, and I don't hit him well. "It's not so difficult to score homers as many ybelleve. It's mighty hard to tell just how I do it. But after I have rapped one out I know that I have not swung at the ball as hard as I did a few innings before, perhapa, when it went only as far as the shortstop. If you judge the ball correctly, hit It right on the nose with a free swing, not too hard, and raise It up, you stand an excellent chance of making a circuit of the bases. The hardest hit balls generally goon a line to the in fielders or outfielders. But the long, tall flies are the boys that clear the fence. "I can't tell how I had such a year for making home runs last season un less it's because 1 didn't try to get Frank Schulte. them. If you stand at bat and don't pull all your strength into your swing it's amazing 10 see how many get past the infielders. I've made a lot of ex tra base hits that might have been four-basers if I had hustled a little more at the start. Because sometimes the fielder fiddles around with the ball when he gets 4t in his hand, giving you a chance to get all the way home on a ball that doesn't go over the fence. "The longest ball I hit last year was at the Chicago park against Pitcher Ames of New York. I didn't put any more muscle into the drive than I do in some grounders which are easily fielded by the infielders. But I judged the ball was going to be an out curve, and I walloped It right on the heart. It not only cleared the high bleacher board, but would have gone a hundred feet farther if a building hadn't stopped it." Baseball Season Promising. Thomas J. Lynch, president of the National league, is suitably opiimistic regarding the baseball season. "It will be a close, hard fought race," he says In a statement given out, adding: "Every club in the j league is stronger this year than last. | Some of the second division clubs are ; so much stronger that I look to see j them in the first division for the great- j er part of the new season. The pen- | nant race will be a sustained and hard fought battle, holding the Interest of the fans until the final days of the sea- | son. I predict the most successful se,<i- j son In baseball history." Paddy Livingston Nervous. Paddy Livingston shudders when he thinks how close he came to miss- I ing a share of the proceeds of two i world's series. When a telegram ! came from Connie Mack in the spring ; of 1909, offering Paddy a job at a good j salary, Paddy's wife was on the verge : of tearing it up. Needless to say, she ! is glad now that the telegrum wasn't destroyed. Wants Extra Benches. Manager Jimmy Callahan of the White Sox suggests that extra bench es be placed on every Amerl<%an league field for extra pitches*. STORIES OR I OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR Edmund Ruffin of Virginia Fired First Shot at Fort Sumter—Story Told by Judge Pryor. "The first shot fired In tliC Civil i war." said Judge Roger A. Pryor the ; other day, according to the New York Herald, "was fired by the hand of Mr. Edmund Ruffin of Virginia. It may be recalled that Virginia stood out long against Recession. At the Vir ginia convention a majority opposed | taking the state out of the union, and the secessionists knew that without ; the border states, of which Virginia | was the leader, the cotton states would speedily be crushed. Wa all felt. I In particular, that the one way Ito get Virginia to unite with her southern neighbors was to strike a blow against the Union. "After consultation with Mr. Jeffer son Davis and others of the secession leaders I went down to Charleston, and from the porch of the Mills hotel delivered a speech to practically the entire population of Charleston. In that speech I urged the southern | troops to strike the first blow, and as sured them tkat once the conflict was | on Virginia would secede 'within an hour by Shrewsbury clock.' "The next meeting I was deputed l>v General Heauregard to demand the J surrender of Fort Sumter. We knew, of course, that surrender was impos sible, but I was instructed after sur render had been refused togo at once to the nearest battery aud order the commandant to open Are. "When I got to Battery Johnson and was met by the young captain in charge I presented my order, and he with much emotion, embraced me and said that it was my impassioned speech of the previous evening that | had made war possible, and he of | feted me the chance of fame by firing : the first gun at Fort Sumter. It was \ an honor I could not well refuse, and i yet I was not anxious for it. ! "Hack there in Virginia where the ; flglit for and against secession had The First Gun of the Civil War Went Off With a Roar. been prolonged and bitter I had known Edmund Ruffin, a gentleman of considerable estate and owning many slaves. When the Virginia convention voted against secession Mr. Ruffin was so incensed that lie shook the dust of his native state from his feet and became a citizen of South Caro lina. Then, old as he was.he prompt ly enlisted as a private at Charleston. It was while I was in the midst of my quandary with the captain of Battery Johnson that I saw Mr. Kuffin, musket on his shoulder. "To the commandant I said: 'Sir, I appreciate the honor you would do me, but I could not think of depriving others more worthy than myself. Here is the man whose devotion to the southern cause makes him worthy of the honor.' I introduced Mr. Rffln to the commandant and explained the circumstances, and when I left th& fort to watch, from the front, the ef fect of that first shot Mr. Ruffin had the lanyard of the gun In his hand, preparatory for firing. "Scarce had we got outside when the gun—the first gun of the Civil war —went off with a roar. We could fol low quite distinctly the flight of tlyo shell, and we watched it in its course until it burst with terrific force right over Fort Sumter. "That was the first shot! Virginia seceded at once, when, the first blow having been struck, President Lincoln called upon her for her quota of troops. Mr. Ruffin, as soon as the state had taken the course he deemed right, went back to Virginia and re sumed Ills citizenship there. He lived during the rest of the war. He was on a large estate of his 'n Amelia county when the news came to him of the surrender of Eee at Appomat tox and the loss of the southern cause. "'1 cannot survive the liberties of my country," be said, with a resolution as firm as that of Cato. He loaded a double-barreled gun. and. pulling the trigger with his toes, blew the whole top of his head off. "Those were his first and his last •bots in the Civil war."
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