Slyme was
paid sixpence a roll for hanging it: the room took ten rolls, so it
cost nine pounds for the paper and five shillings to hang it! To fix
such a paper as this properly the walls should first be done with a
plain lining paper of the same colour as the ground of the wallpaper
itself, because unless the paperhanger 'lapps' the joints--which should
not be done--they are apt to open a little as the paper dries and to
show the white wall underneath--Slyme suggested this lining to Misery,
who would not entertain the idea for a moment--they had gone to quite
enough expense as it was, stripping the old paper off!

So Slyme went ahead, and as he had to make his wages, he could not
spend a great deal of time over it. Some of the joints were 'lapped'
and some were butted, and two or three weeks after the owner of the
house moved in, as the paper became more dry, the joints began to open
and to show the white plaster of the wall, and then Owen had to go
there with a small pot of crimson paint and a little brush, and touch
out the white line.

While he was doing this he noticed and touched up a number of other
faults; places where Slyme--in his haste to get the work done--had
slobbered and smeared the face of the paper with fingermarks and paste.

The same ghastly mess was made of several other 'jobs' besides this
one, and presently they adopted the plan of painting strips of colour
on the wall in the places where the joints would come, so that if they
opened the white wall would not show: but it was found that the paste
on the back of the paper dragged the paint off the wall, and when the
joints opened the white streaks showed all the same, so Misery
abandoned all attempts to prevent joints showing, and if a customer
complained, he sent someone to 'touch it up': but the lining paper was
never used, unless the customer or the architect knew enough about the
work to insist upon it.

In other parts of the same house the ceilings, the friezes, and the
dados, were covered with 'embossed' or 'relief' papers. These hangings
require very careful handling, for the raised parts are easily damaged;
but the men who fixed them were not allowed to take the pains and time
necessary to make good work: consequently in many places--especially at
the joints--the pattern was flattened out and obliterated.

The ceiling of the drawing-room was done with a very thick high-relief
paper that was made in sheets about two feet square. These