There is no need of getting up at five o’clock in the morning to turn the draft on in the furnace so that the house will be warm by breakfast. An electric thermostatic control can be made to do this, and in fact it can be regulated to keep the house in good temperature all the day. It is not necessary to light a fire to have hot water if an automatic gas-heater is next to the boiler, which lights the gas with a pilot-light when the faucet is turned on or when the temperature gets below a predetermined number of degrees. One does not need to worry about burning the roast in the oven if an automatic clock-timer is on it, which turns off the gas after the meat has cooked the correct number of hours. Food in a fireless cooker never worries the housekeeper, for it will not burn, and she knows it will be ready to serve when taken out. She does not have to stay home to let the delivery boy in with the vegetables, for he can put them into a small metal box built into the wall, which has a door that permits him to put his goods in, but does not permit any one getting an arm into the house, and the ice-man can deliver ice without calling her to the door. And so it goes; each new invention along this line removes the need of thinking of the small things about the house and of being continually on hand and a slave to them. _Machines to Simplify the Toilet_ We often forget the elegance of the modern bathtub, but think of the labor of our forefathers when the bath night came around. The water had to be heated on the stove, the tub gotten out and filled with cold water from the pump, and then warmed up with the water in the teakettle, and after all was finished the water and tub had to be removed. It was quite an event, and there is no wonder that a bath was taken only once a week. But what is it to have a bath to-day, with plenty of hot water, a thermostatic control of its temperature, a fine shower, and a warm bathroom. But such things as a bathroom with its modern lavatory, water-closet, and bathtub and tiled floor and wainscot are commonplace things, and are always expected to be installed in a house. One does not question the advisability of spending money on this equipment, and so it will be in the future with much of the machinery which we hesitate to buy to-day on account of the additional cost in the construction of the house. [Illustration]