The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-16
T,,o 11eottng Of our aIo.ases.

r,+or,np fine door of one OF our eo.n
,.aa,,,aw modern houses, what meets US
IN nc scorchcd mir from reglster, leuo,
1an, If burning iron. or Of boiled ar irSr
n In ~ heater The thermometer u s'IIunis
.. abnrt "A. We advance to the palIso,. =,
a. ,o," Walters arc even worse, for no ouusns'
i,Ii Sas entered with momentary iresI.le'
NV ,,Sn" ,iarts in the window look veho" aMu
.ue p.'''o n,;no,,s cracks are visible nei. =.
loi 1870 In the frirniture--nay, SUI -,
al1a 49,. W., yenecr has actually split on l.or'
vi ", ,'a,,o and lies on the carpet. our nost ~
VI. 49, 30 Onward to greet us, IL "iappeu ,c !
ro,s ia1, and remarks that 1t Is an W. ~.
.,.,.. chat she hasn't been out, OF eouS3 tn
ua. T., tho warm house has felt tne TUu. =.
eseli . ~ ah , Looks blue and pinched. Mhetea.
s. Guy n,onIar for the room feels lnsuneiao.s
W. t,,t we Mace ourselves pesiue me-
not, w sh. s;ts covering over the register,
W. VIZ lnsonversatIon goes on with what spille II
nov mnder these circumstances
4. tne end of an hour we are surprised
e, ~ o , a little chilly. That Is, our
h hau Is hot enough-a little too hot, perhaps
Inf hoth hands and feet are cold, ana we ale
;nrlned to agree with our friend when she
nnncs that 1.-THE girl" must have let the nre
90 down. But glancing at the Thermometer
we stare to see that the mercury has risen III
stead of falling. It is now at 81 degrees
snd after ali, whv should we wonder? M
tnre il inevitable in her retributfons, ana we
No less than the Door geranium IN the WIN,
dow must suffer the penalty OF a derangeo
";-c,,,at;on when we violate her laws OF Tenn
Rad enough, If this were all! One car
Two ond hc Useful under the trlaing dlscom'
fort of cold cxtremities, as our worthy lore
fathers sufficiently proved. But how mucn
If life and of life's best energies, OF thought,
of wit of good humor, of aspiration, goes
down thr,i1gh those holes In the floor into
neither silence? AS from some hobolds cave
the invisible gnomes Of the furnace ciimD,
emerge and steal from us the choiccst, hnest,
most Intangible part Of ourselves: No man
| ever lived aud worked his best In room
heated over Gs Degrees sentence we
shou)d like TO engl7ire IN letters OF gota on
the iron plate of every register and tile 1ront
of every steam heater In the Land from TINS
day forth and forever. FL
The time may come when perfect system
of house-war1ring, one combining nealth1ui-
ness, comfort, and economy, shall De lntro-
duced, But certain it is we have none such
now. The hot-water furnace, in when q large
chamber well supplied with fresh air Is heat
oil by coils Of pipe filled with boiling water,
and the warmth taken thence and dlhused
over the house, approached more nearly 10
the ideal than any other in NIL respects save
one. it il SO costly that only the most luxll-
rio,lsly-built mansions can afford TO ENJOY IL.
Opcn fires are not sufficient, except Id the
most moderate winter cold, to supply the
ort;Gcialy-stimulated demand for heat made
bv the human race to-day; and even Ii Inc
case of that cheapest Of fuels, coke, they cost
more than the furnace.
The big base-burning hall stoves which
make many Of Our country houses so com.
Portable take room which cannot be afforded
in city entries, where each inch OF space IS
precious. And the alright yariety-War-
rantcd by n good deacon who dealt in the
article in the days Of our youth to burn up
every bit of noXiolls gas which, rs he was
informed, abounded in the air, and the name
of which was oxygen what can be said IN
its favor? It is best left to silence and to
that necessity on which it bases its sole claim
to human liberation.
There remain, then, for the average house
ONLY the hot-air furnace and the steam heat
err Both have iuseparablc evils connected
with them--both advantages equally lnsep'
arabic. In one, abundant moisture is pro-
vidcd; in the other, an uniailing supply, bar.
ring accidents, of outer air. And either can
be made tolcrably comfortable and sufficiently
wholesome only By intelligent watchfulness,
by strict regulation Of heat, by observa-
ton of thermometers, by periodical care of
evaporators and water-pans, by renewing the
air of rooms through open windows, and that
perpetual vigilance which is the price Of most
of the good things we enjoy, and above al, OF
that hcalthful food which we consume with
our lungs, and without which we can enjoy
nothing.-Rome and Society, Sc716ner's for
HoIlnInrN