wish a cabinet maker to execute their designs. The Miller Company is one of the few piano companies in a position to undertake this departure. The character of their pianos as superior instruments was established years ago, and every succeeding year has added to their reputation. The fight for a front-rank position as instrument makers has been won. Now they begin to fight for artistic case building, and they deserve the sympathy and encouragement of every American architect. The work of the pioneer is always hard, and it is seldom the pioneer who gets the benefits from this work. Should this move of the Miller Company prove that better designed cases will be appreciated by the public, every piano maker in the country will follow suit, but none seem to have the courage to strike out independently with the same aim. The piano shown on this page is the Wagner Grand exhibited[*] at the World’s Fair, while their Colonial design is shown in their advertisement. They are the two extremes.
One could hardly get a more attractive case for ordinary purposes than the Colonial pattern.
XCIX.
Old Farm House, Lythe Hill, England.
[ SHINGLE STAINED HOUSES.]
In this number we present to our readers a class of advertisement that cannot but prove acceptable, owing to the intrinsic interest of the subjects published in it. The seven pages preceding our first frontispiece show an attractive collection of country and suburban residences by Boston architects. The fact that these residences are stained with Dexter Brothers’ English Shingle Stains, which constitutes the advertising character of the illustrations, adds to rather than detracts from their value, for each subject is remarkably satisfactory for its color scheme, and while a photograph does not give the effect, the selection was made very largely on the basis of good coloring.
No further word concerning the stains is necessary. The fact that they have been used on these houses, let alone thousands of others throughout the country, is sufficient.
[ OPEN PLUMBING.]
The Dalton-Ingersoll Co. have come to the front with an improved style of lavatory, which presents many new features all in the line of open fixtures. A cut is shown in their advertisement where a description of the lavatory is given. The same arguments in favor of the porcelain, or enameled bath, standing clear of everything, apply with equal force to the lavatory.