SEATS AND CHAIRS IN SPECIAL FORMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 69

SEATS AND CHAIRS IN SPECIAL FORMS.

FOR HOME, OFFICE, OR OUTDOORS

A chair is eminently one of those tilings that we term everyday articles. Nevertheless one chair may, of couri-e. be very different in appearance from another. Not long since a catalogue of chairo was published that showed no fewer than 600 varieties, though these, naturally enough,

differed one from another mostly m mere detail of internal de&ign. Hore we notice a few specimens of chau.s and be't> tliiit have some real claim to be cohoideiei out of the way. First let us" glance at the "'S" chair, in which the two persons using it sit side by side, but facing in opposite dnectionv Below we see another "S" chaii of somewhat different pattern, and can at once understand how it gets its name. The top

of the back of this double chair foims a perfecfe letter "S " Chairs, met with nearly all over the world in some form or other, vary in height not according to the stature of the people ; who use them, but according to the average i length of those people's legs from knee j downwards, the usual height of the seat I of a chair being about that of the lower | part of the human knee joint. I For taking a short rest there are not j a few persons who favour that piece of I furniture that is known as a lounge. But j as a piece of furniture the lounge is a j comparatively large on?, and, in a room

already well filled, may prove to b* rather in the way when not in use. But here we discover how a very comfortable lounge may be formed with three other quite tisual items ot dTawing-rooin furniture, that have, however, been specially manufactured in a foim that lends itself to siich adaptation. From quite early times tha makers have been exrecised to find the kind of chair or seat that takes up the least possible amount of floor space. Here we behold the problem solved. This seat — which came in with the cycling boom of some

v-ars ago, and which is still to be seen in uae in some crowded offices — consists of a cycle saddle mounted on an upright stem fitting Into a stout vertical tube, having rross pieces at the flooi end to give stabiIttv. As the st-eai on which the saddle l.s mounted can he nude to slide up or dawn in rhe vertical tube, the seat can be e,isiiy adjured and fixed at any height d\sired. tNing such contrivances, the number of persons ■* ho can be seated in quite a small rcom is Mirpiising.

New we come to what is a genuine curiosity, an appliance known by the name of a "-entry's rest." Some years,.* go a certain ('intinental military geniu«, imprpsspd by the fact that soldiers performing sentry lUtty for ionar periods became much fatigued, set to work to devise a seat for them. Here we witness the result. An English ''Tommy" has taken his- teat on the ' re-t"— a few of them are still pre-

served — iv.d shows us bow. with feet wide apart, a change from continuous standing 1- obtained. But. as irom the construction of the sect will at once be understood, the moment the tired sentry relapses into 40 winks, and no longer maintains his balance, he is rudely awakened, for to the ground lte topples, as the seat will not stand upright by itself. Finally, mention may be made of that form of" portable seat for use by tourists, shooters, fishermen, etc., that, when not being used for sitting upon, is carried as a walking-stick. On the left we here see a portable seat being thus carried. The stick, however, is a split one, and it and its "handle" can be opened out, as indicated by the centre diagiam, forming a seat. a« we see to the right. The spike of the stick > prevented from entering too far into the ground by the flat disc that

is above the spike. These walking-stick rfeats weigh from 20 to 30 ounces ; and, without the spike, are also used by ardent playgoers who wait for long periods outride theatre doors, and by some frequenters of public galleries. — Oassell's Saturday Journal.

Of Queen Elizabeth we read— " Cold made that monarch croak." To save the Queen from catching one, Sir Walter spoilt his cloak. But had sh? ruled us now, you know. For very trifling payment, A bottle of Woods' Gsfat Pepfebsuxt Would save poor Raleigh's raiment.