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perly done, will require renewing but once in seven years. A cheap process is to colour-wash the walls, with the same arrangement of tints. This is fairly effective, but in the impure air of London or of a manufacturing town, distemper work will need renewal annually. In the country it may stand two years or more. The appearance of a coffee-room is much improved by a few good prints on the walls, and pictures of any kind are seen to much better advantage upon a wall coloured as described than against a paper with coloured designs. Whether painting or papering be decided upon, the arsenical greens which are injurious to health should be avoided. Where a highly decorative effect is desired mirrors may also be introduced. The public rooms should be well lighted so that newspapers may be read with ease at any of the tables.
The ground floor of the house should be as nearly as possible on a level with the street. The entrances should be fitted with swing doors, to be kept wide open in summer, and ajar at other seasons. A few steps from the door should bring the customer to the bar, on the fitting and arrangement of which as much care should be bestowed as a shopkeeper gives to his front window.
The fittings of the bar in a house of considerable size in a large town, where an extensive trade is looked for, may be on the following scale:—
The counter should be of sufficient size to admit of three or more persons serving behind it. The top may be zinc or marble; the difference in cost is from 15 to 20 per cent. The counter is hollow. Underneath are convenient shelves and troughs with hot and cold water laid on for washing crockery, &c. Upon the top is placed a range of urns to contain coffee, tea, cocoa, and milk, all kept hot by rings of gas jets below. The urns consist of an outer jacket holding water which is heated by the gas, and an inner vessel of stone, containing the coffee or other beverage. The capacity of the urns may be from four to ten gallons, and the milk urn need not be larger than half the size of the others.
