Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-01-30
THE FIREPLACE AND ITS HIS.
TORY.

conjecturing as TO what we should have
oil done if there had been no water in the
world; but it is not probable that many
give a thought as to how society could
have existed, or, indeed, ever have been
formed, without the aid of fires and FIRE
places
Say what we may of The many benefits
which have been conferred on humanity
tendi1g to make them more civilized, il
is certain that there would have been
very little of the domestic feeling-of the
love Of cheerful society and " neighborly
visits IF it had not been for the fire.
place. A cheerful open wood fire, or a
CRATE, filled to the brim with the btu
minous," presupposes a lively company
present, and good supply of humor and
kindly feeling generally. Sidney Smith s
receipt for happiness is pretty generally
KNOWN a cheerful fire, kettle sim
mering on the hob, a paper of sugar
plums on the mantlepiece, and novel
in his hand" 1t will be seen that the
cheerful fire" comes first, and well it
may, for what would the sweetest sugar
plums, the brightest kettle, or the most
interesting novel be, unaccompanied by
a blazing fire to shed cheerfulness and
warmth around the apartment
The early record Of all ages refers to a
time when fire was unknown. When Ma
gellan visited the Marian Islands in 1921,
the inhabitants believed themselves to
be the only persons inhabiting the
globe; were without everything which
we regard as necessaries, and had never
heard of fire. On the occasion Of their
huts being consumed, they believed it
was alone through the agency Of an ami
NAL who had devoured them. There is
an old legend as TO the origin of fire,
which is pleasant to believe, though, of
course, not true. 1t is said that Vulcan,
coming upon some burning trees one
day (which had been fired by a thunder
bolt. invited his friends to draw up by
the fire." that they did so, and thus was
held the first social meeting of mankind.
The earlier races of mankind lived in
caves, making fires in the middle Of them,
the smoke going out of hole in the top.
The Egyptians had hearths in the center
of some of their rooms, on which they
made fires; to warm the others, they car
ried around lighted charcoal from one
room to another During the wander
ings of the Jews they built fires in the
middle of their tents, letting the smoke
20 out of an aperture above. Chimneys
we're not known, and Baruch, in speak
ing of Mount Zion, makes mention of
"the faces that were blsckened by the
smoke that cometh out Of the temple "
The fuel most generally used among the
Greeks was green wood; on days of GER
emony they burned fragrant substances.
The Romans made fire-places, but could
not get rid of the smoke nuisance. The
principal fireplace in Roman house,
was in the caldarium or sweating,room
of the bath. 1t was something like a
furnance, called hypocaust, and had
pipes connected with it, which led into
The upper stories, giving warmth to them.
These pipes had covers over them while
the green wood was burning; when it
had burned to charcoal the covers were
removed, and the warm heat allowed to
escape. Those rooms which could not
he heated in this manner, had charcoal
burning in the middle of them on bra.
zier. Some of these braziers displayed
very fine workmanship. There is ore at
the present time in the museum at Ma
ples, twenty-eight inches square, which
has four towers, one Mt each angle, fitted
with a lid, that can be raised by a ring.
When the Romans landed in England
tbey found the inhabitants living in huts
or caves. without chimneys to them, and
half tho time stihed with the smoke from
their Gres. The Welsh historian Gyral-
aus. gives US the following amusing fire
side picture of life in that line;
Families inhabit large hut or house,
which. having a Ere in the midst, serves
10 warm them by day and to sleep round
by night" He describes the bands OF
Young men who followed no profession,
visiting families TO whom they were al
ways welcome, and passing the day with
the most animated cheerfulness. At
night, Striking into repose on a thin
covering of dried reeds, spread round
the great fireplace in the middle, they
Law down promiEcuOusly, covered only
by a coarse made cloth, called 0ryehan,
and keeping one another warm by lying
close together; and when one side lost
its genial heat, they turned about, and
ave the chilly side to the fire. The
Sreat men endeavored to improve on
tb;s eustom during the day. A Welsh
n~ince had an officer in his court, called
\ fast.bearer," whose dpty i was, at
meal times. when his master was seated
AZ table. to sit with his back to the tre,
and keep the princely feet warm and
comfortable By cherisbing them IN his
bosom." During this period the major