/etc/network/interfaces

iface eth1 inet static
address 192.168.1.143
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1

auto eth1

~$ ifconfig -a
eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:14:c1:32:4b:8c  
          inet addr:192.168.1.143  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::214:c1ff:fe32:4b8c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:168 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:78 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:17575 (17.1 KB)  TX bytes:9740 (9.5 KB)
          Interrupt:16 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:10696 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:10696 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:536676 (524.0 KB)  TX bytes:536676 (524.0 KB)