Lord Dufferin added a large and very handsome ball-room,
fitted with a stage at one end of it, and a full-sized tennis-
court. This tennis-court, by an ingenious arrangement, can be
converted in a few hours into a splendid supper-room. A red and
white tent is lowered bodily from the roof; a carpet is spread
over the floor; great white-and-gold electric standards bearing
the arms of the different Provinces are placed in position, and
the thing is done. The intense dryness of the Canadian winter
climate, especially in houses where furnace-heat intensifies the
dryness, produces some unexpected results. My brother-in-law had
brought out a number of old pieces of French inlaid furniture. The
excessive dryness forced out some of the inlaid marqueterie of
these pieces, and upon their return to Europe they had to undergo
a long and expensive course of treatment. Some fine Romneys and
Gainesboroughs also required the picture-restorer's attentions
before they could return to their Wiltshire home after a five
years' sojourn in the dry air of Canada. The ivory handles of
razors shrink in the dry atmosphere; as the steel frame cannot
shrink correspondingly the ivory splits in two.
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