Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1862-04-10
OLD FASHIONED COMFORTS.


From the Scientific American.
Our ancestors were a frugal, self-denying
people, Injured to hardship from the cradle
they we're content to he without almost all the
Injuries of life, but they enjoyed some of its
comforts, TO which many OF us are strangers
(Od fashioned comforts. as we may say y ana
amongst these, the old fireplace, as 1t used to
be termed, held no mean rank. How wildly
the picture of one of those spacious kitchens of
the olden time comes to our mind, with its
plain furniture and painted floor; innocent Of
paint, but as white as the neatest ofhousewives
could make it In one corner stood the clock
its very face wearing an aspect OF good cheer,
and seeming 10 smile benignanlly upon min
ialure moon over its head which tradition said
had, at a remote period, followed the rising anG
setting of its great prototype in the heavens
though its days of active service were long ago
over.
But the GROWING glory of that kitchen was
not its sanded floors nor the high desk, with
its pigeon holes end secret drawers, which no
vcnturesome youngster ever dared to invade !
nor vet the old clock ticking so unsteady in
the corner but it was the old fashioned fire.
place, with its blazing embers, huge back logs
and IRON fre-doYs, that she'd glory over the
whole room, gilded the plain and homely furni
ture with its bright light, and rendered the
place a type of true New England homes in aye
tlden times"
Never were there such apples as those which
swung round and round upon strings before
the bright fire of winters evening, never such
baked potatoes as those buried in the ashes
upon the hearth, never such corn stalks as
those which caught golden hue from the baz-
ing embers, or turkeys like those turned upon
spit, filling the room with savory odor so
suggestive of dainty repast
Rnioro tho fro was q woo1 n spttle and herp
the children were wont to sit out the long eve
nings, telling stories, cracking nuts comm Z
their lessons for the morrow, or listening in ST.
lence TO he words of wisdom that fell from
the lips of their superiors, and anon gazing in
silence into the bright fire. and conjuring up
all sorts of grotesque ftnciful images from
among the burning Goals. No tabled geni
with their magic lamps of enchantment could
build such gorgeous palaces, o create such
gems as the child could discern amid the blaz
ing embers of the old fashioned fire place.
And we must not forget the chimney-corner
where sat our grandfather in his accustomed
seat, his hair silvered with the SHOWS of many
winters-a venerable man, to whom old age
had come "frostily but kindly" and whose last
days were like those of an Indian summer, Sc
| rene and beautiful, even till the stars appeared
| in heaven.
How pure was the air in those days The
huge fire place, with its brisk draught, carried
off the impurities of the atmosphere and left
the air pure, life-g giving and healthful. Now
we crouch around hot cooking stoves, and think
it strange that we feel so stupid and drowsy Of
an evening; or we luddle about alright stoves
! and wonder that the air seems burning ant
impure or we sit down in chilly rooms heated
| by furnace. and marvel that with all our cost
| ~ furniture, soft carpets, bright mirrors ant
damask curtains, they are cherries places-sC
unlike our ideas of New England home.
/ Alas that with all the so-called improve
ments of our advanced civilization, the fire
should be PERM ted to go out forever in ou
old fashioned fire places, thus bur!ng in thu
ashes Of the past so many means of health
home comfort, good cheer and happiness.