tread will be ready to receive the baluster. The mortise is dovetailed, and, of course, the tenon in the baluster must be made to suit. The tread is finished on the bench, and the return nosing is fitted to it and tacked on so that it may be taken off to insert the balusters when the rail is being put into position.

Fig. 247 shows the manner in which the wall string is finished at the foot of the stairs. S shows

the string with a moulding wrought on the upper edge. This moulding may be simple ogee, or may consist of a number of members, or may be only a bead, or the edge of the string may be left quite plain; this will be regulated in a great measure by the style of finish in the hall, or wherever the stairs are placed. B shows a portion of the baseboard, the top edge of which has the same finish as the

top edge of the string. B and A together show the junction of the string and the base. The dotted line shows when a piece of stuff has been glued on to the string to make it wide enough at the junction to get the ease-off or curve. F,F show the blocks glued in the angle of the steps to make them firm and solid.

Fig. 248 shows the manner in which the wall string S is finished at the top of the stairs. It will be noticed that the moulding is worked round the ease-off at A to suit the width of the base at B. The string is cut over the floor horizontally and vertically or plumb against the joists. The plaster

line under the stairs and on the ceiling is also shown.

Fig. 249 shows the cut or open string at the foot of the stairs, and the manner of dealing with it at its juncture with the newel post K. The point of the string should be mortised into the newel two, three or four inches, as shown by the dotted lines, and the mortise made in the newel

should be made near the center, so that the center of the baluster will be directly opposite the central line of the newel post. The proper way to manage this is to measure the central line of the baluster on the tread, and then make this line correspond with the central line of the newel post. By a careful attendance to this matter, much trouble will be avoided where the turned cap is used to receive the lower part of the rail. The lower riser, in a

stair of this kind, will be something shorter than the ones that follow it, as it must be cut between the newel and the wall string. A portion of the tread, as well as the riser, will also butt against the newel, as shown at W. If there is no spandril or wall under the open string it may run down to the floor, as shown at O. The piece O is glued on to the string, and the moulding is worked on the curve.

If there is a wall under the string S, then the base B, shown by the dotted lines, will finish against the string, and it should have a moulding stick on its upper edge the same as the one on the lower edge of the string, if any, and this moulding should miter into the one on the string. When there is a base, the piece O is dispensed with.

The square of the newel should run down by the side of the joist, as shown, and be firmly secured to it by iron knees or other suitable devices. If the joist run the other way, try and get the newel post against it, if possible, either by furring out the joist or cutting a portion off the thickness of the newel. The solidity of a stair, and the firmness of the rail, depend very much on the rigidity of the newel post.

How to Lay Out a Gothic Ceiling. Fig. 250 is a sketch of a Gothic ceiling over a pulpit in a church, 12 feet wide and 8 feet in depth. There are two hips, seven main arch rafters, and many cripples. The diagrams show how to develop the shape of the hip, also the shape and length of the cripples.

The plan simply shows the number of rafters contained in the roof and would show the same for ogee or any other shaped rafters, or for any pitch given the rafter.

In the elevation we have the Gothic effect. This should be laid out full-size, on a level surface or floor-though it is only necessary to draw one-half of this diagram, as that part enclosed by A-B-C. Then A-B will be the shape of the main or common rafters. Now, the cripples or jacks are simply a part of the common rafter; and their lengths are as from A to D for the first jack, A to E for the second, and continue on to the line C-B, which is a common rafter and consequently is the same as A-C. The dotted lines across the side of the common rafter represent the distance apart the plumb lines will be for the side cut of the jack, which, in the case of a square corner, is the width of the jack.

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