TABLECLOTHS FULL OF ELECTRICITY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXiX, Issue 7727, 22 February 1909, Page 1

TABLECLOTHS FULL OF ELECTRICITY.

If the early Victorian great-grand-mother of the present fashionable hostess could assist at a modern ,dinner party, she would assuredly think sue was aiding and abetting the practice of "black-magic." The "electric tablecloth" sounds like one of Maskelyne and Devant's mysteries, but it is no such thing. It is merely the latest addition to the "smart" dinner table. It looks harmless enough—a .simple table-cover of grey felt, covered with an ordinary damask tablecloth.. The " regulation " silver candlesticks are placed on the table—an unusual brilliance streaming Jrom under their dainty shades, and the uninitiated may wonder how candles can produce such a dazzling light. ; But there is no more in it than meets the eye, for running down the "side of each candlestick is an almost! invisible wire with a tiny pronged end. This prong fastens itself into the) tablecloth and as it touches the cloth the electric connection is complete, and the electric candles are lighted. Wherever the candlesticks are placed, as soon as the prong touches the electric cloth a brilliant light streams forth. | This magical cloth can only be a luxury at present, but, judging from the progress of the times, it may be within the means of hostesses who do not possess princely incomes before very long.