Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1872-02-17
The Heating of Our Houses.

Entering the door of one Of our
" comfortable modern houses, what
meets us? A puff Of seorched air
from a register, redolent OF burning
iron, or Of boiled air from q steam
heater. The thermometer is standing
at about "A. We Rdvanceto the parlor.
There matters are even worse, for the
outside cold has entered with mo-
mentary freshness. The plants In the
window look yellow and forl0rn;
Ominous cracks are visible here and
there in the furniture-nay, a strip OF
ornamental veneer has actually spit
Oft from the piano and lies on the
carpet. Our hostess coming forward
to meet us, is wrapped in a little
shawl, and remarks that is an awful
day that she hasn't been out, OF
course, but even in the warm house
has felt the cold. In effect, she looks
blue and pinched. Whereat we won
der, for the room feels insufliciently
hot; but we place ourselves beside
her where she sits covering over the
register, and conversation goes on with
W a. spirit it may under these circum-
stances.
Al the end of an hour we are sur
prised to find ourselves a little chilly
That is, our head is hot enough-a
little too hot, perhaps-but both
hands and feet are cold, and we are IN
clined to agree with our friend when
she opines that " the girp' must nave
let the fire go down. But glanclng at
the thermometer, we stare to see that
the mercury has risen instead of fall
ing. 1t is now at 500. And after all
why should we wonder? Nature is
inevitable in her retributions, and we
suffer the penalty Of a deranged cir
culation when we violate her laws OF
temperature.
Bad enough, if this were ali One
can live and be useful under the
tritling discomfort of cold extremities,
as our worthy forefathers sufficiently
proved. But how much Of life and OF
lite's best energies, OF thought, of wit,
of good-humor, of aspiration, goes
down through those holes in the floor
into neither silence? AS from some
Kobold's cave, the invisible gn0mes OF
the furnace climb, emerge and steal
flom us the choicest, finest, most in
tangible part of ourselves. NO mar
v e lived and worked his best in 8
room heated over 6So-a sentence We
should like to engrave in letters o.
gold on the iron plate Of every regis
ter and the front of every steam
heater in the land from this day forth
and forever.
The time may come when a perfect
system OF house. warming, Il com
bining healtnfulness, comfort, AM
economy, shall be introduced. Blu
certain it is, we have none such now
The hot-water furnace, in which
a large chamber well supplied witt
fresh air Is heated by coils Of pip'
filled with boiling water, and thu
warmth taken thence and ditfuset
over the house, approached NOR
nearly to the ideal than any other il
all respects save one it is SO costlyltha
only the most luxuriously-built man
sions can afford to enjoy it. Opel
fires are not sufficient, except il
the most moderate winter cold, t.
supply the Observation-Disclosures de
mand for heat made by the human
race to-day and even in the case o
that cheapest of fuels, coke, the.
cost more than the furnace. Tn.
big base-burning hall-stoves, which
make many OF our farm-houses 81
comfortable, take room which canno
be afforded in city entries, where eacl
inch of space is precious. In the air
tight yariety-warranted, by a goo'
deacon who dealt in the article in tn
days of our youth, to burn up ever!
bit of a noxious gas which, as he wa
informed, abounded in the air, an'
the name of which was-Oxygen !
what can be said in its favor? 1t i
best left to silence, and that necessit,
on which 1t bases Its sole claim to hu
man liberation.
There remains, then, for the averag
house, only the hOt-air furnace AM
the steam heater. Both have insep
arabic evils connected with them, boil
advantages equally inseparable. Il
one, abundant moisture is provided
in the other an unfailing supply, bar
ring accidents, of outer air. AM
either can be made tolerably comfort
able and sufficiently wholesome onl.
by intelligent watchfulness, by stric
regulation of heat, by observation o
thermometers, by periodical care o
evaporators and water-pans, by renew
ing the air of rooms through opel
windows, and that perpetual vigilsnc'
which is the price of the good thing
we enjoy, and, above all, of tina
healthful food which we consume will
our lungs, and without which we car
enjoy nothing. Home and Society
S%cribner'S for February.