The charm of the house is quiet. Don’t you unconsciously gage the dignity of the homes that you visit by the quiet of them? The weather strip keeps much of the street noises out. It dulls and reduces the raucousness of the clang and clatter. Every housewife knows that the hangings next to the windows get very dirty. She also knows that the room gets full of dust whether the windows are closed or not. A certain amount of dust will get into the room no matter what precautions are taken, but there will be less of it when weather stripping is applied to the windows. This is a consideration worthy of notice, as the servant problem to-day makes all effort in the home more arduous and the less cleaning there is to be done the better for all concerned. Weather strips are not a luxury. They save money and give comfort by maintaining an equal temperature and humidity, and by permitting more quiet, less drafts and a minimum of dust. Finally, the weather strip is a good investment and, although not intrinsically a thing of beauty, is a thing of duty and lasts forever. But remember weather strips are easy to make--cheap ones. There are many mushroomic dealers--born to-day and dead to-morrow. Beware of them and buy the best. CHAPTER XXXIV BEAUTY AND THE BATH Probably no development of the home has mirrored human accomplishment to such an extent as has the bathroom. We have prided ourselves on our sanitary bathrooms; on the devices for comfort and idyllic perfection in this, the smallest, yet the most important room in the home. We have developed it to such a point that in new homes everyone has a bathroom to himself with comfortable additions to fit the individual whim. For a few decades this room has been a replica of hospital efficiency and that has sufficed. But to-day, the artist in home-making is bringing the bath room back to the luxury and ease seen in the boudoirs of ancient days, the days from which we take our beautiful drawing rooms, chambers and general schemes of decoration. This reversion toward bathroom luxury has come about because the ordinary bathroom has been too cold. It lacked warmth, well-being and coziness. Then, too, bathrooms are always the smallest rooms in the home, and for that reason can be more easily dressed in glorious sheen and kept in harmony with the color scheme and general plan of the home. A FRENCH BATH A few years ago no one would have thought of having wood panels in the bathroom--we proudly felt that we had gone beyond that stage. Yet to-day in the elaborate combined dressing-bathrooms we find white wood panels giving a feeling of warmth, together with almost as rich an effect as when marble itself is used.