Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/232

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158
The Practical Boy.
[Dec.


A Desk-chair

The front posts of the chair shown in the illustration are twenty-three inches high, and the rear ones thirty-four, and all of them are two inches square. They are placed twenty-one inches apart at the front and back, and eighteen
Fig. 6. A Desk-chair
at the sides, and are connected by two side-rails, four inches wide and seven eighths of an inch thick, let into the posts so that the top edge is sixteen inches above the floor. Four inches above the floor a three-inch rail is let into the rear sides of the front and rear posts, while near the top and behind the leather back another one is placed to brace the top of the rear posts. The seat and back are of leather of any color desired, and attached to the rear posts and side-rails by means of large-headed wrought bellows-tacks, or tacks with lead mock heads, as shown.

On both sides and rumning from the upper part of the front legs to the lower part of the back legs should be placed diagonal braces, as shown in the illustration.


A Book-nest and Writing-desk.

The book-nest and writing-desk shown in Fig. 7 is a simple but useful piece of furniture attached to the wall, and in which a multitude of things may be kept. It is made of seven-eighths-inch boards ten inches wide, smooth on both sides and edges, and preferably with a pretty grain that will show well if properly stained some weathered tone and coated with thin varnish. It is thirty inches wide and five feet high, with two compartments and three ledges for books and magazines. At the top a lock compartment is made with two doors, each fourteen inches wide and ten inches high, hinged to the side boards.

Six inches below this closed cupboard another division is made with a cross-shelf for books, and fourteen inches below the book-shelf the ledge to which the drop-shelf is attached is placed so that it will be about thirty inches above the floor. Under this main ledge two more shelves are arranged, and below the bottom one the side boards are cut away to a narrow back leg not more than two inches wide. At the back of the side boards, just under the cap or top board, but not shown in the illustration, a cross-rail is made fast, and through this screws are passed into the wall to hold the nest securely.

A drop-ledge twenty-eight inches wide and fourteen inches deep is hinged to the shelf, as shown in the illustration; and, to keep it in a horizontal position, chains are made fast to it at
Fig. 7. A Book-nest and Writing-desk.
both sides, as the illustration shows. The front of the drop-ledge and the compartment doors are decorated with sheet-lead, binge-straps, escutcheons, and large-headed nails. The interior of the desk part can be arranged with pigeonholes and a drawer to hold small things. The cap or top board is twelve inches wide and thirty-four inches long, making an overhang of two inches at the front and ends.
Under side of Drop-ledge.