Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-02-01
The Heating Of Our House.

Portable" modern houses, what meets us
A pull OF scorchcd ail from repiste
redoIent OF burning iron-or of boile
ar IRON steam heater The thermom,
ter IS standing at about 74o. We a(
vance to the parlor There matters az
even worse, for no outside cold Las Ell
tered with momcntary freshness TIL
plants in the window look yellow on
lorlom. Ominous cracks are visible her
ID the iurnltllre-nay, Il strip of orna
mental veneer has actually split off fror
the piano and hes ON the carpet. On
hostess, coming forward to greet us,
wrapped in the shawl, and remarks tina
1t is an awful day that she hasn't bee,
out, of course, but even in the warn
aouse has felt the cold. In effect. sh
looks blue and pinched Wheroat W
wonder, for the room feels insuftarabl
not; but we place ourselves besides he
where she SITS covering over the reois
ter, and conversation goes on with villa
spirit it may under these circumstances
AT the end ofan hour we are surprised
to find ourselves little chilly. That is
our head is hot enough-a little too hot
perhaps--but both hands and feet ar,
cold, and we are inclined to agree will
our friend when she opines that "tht
girl must have let the fire 60 down
But glancin8 at the thermometer, W,
stare to see that the mercury has risel
instead Of fallen. 1t is now at $40
And, after all, why should we wonder
Nature is inevitable in our retributions
and we, no less than the poor geraniun
IN the window, must suffer the penolt,
ota deranged circulation when we VIC
late her laws Of temperature.
Bad enough, if this were all On,
can live and be useful under the tri6ipa
discomfort of cold extremities, as ON
worthy forefathers sufficiently proved
But how much Of lICe's best energies, OF
thought, OF wit, of good-humor, of rs.
Piratlon, goes down through those holes
III the floor into neither silence As
from some Kobold's cave, the invisible
guomes Of the furnace climb. EMERGE
and steal from us the choicest, finest
most intangible part of ourselves, Nc
man ever lived aud worked his best in A
room heated over SOo--a sentence we
should like to engrave in letters of cold
ON the iron plate of every register and
the front of every steam heater in the
land from this day forth and forever.
Inc time may come when n perfect
system OF house-warming, one combining
healthfulness, comfort, and economy,
shall be introduced. But certain it is,
we have none such now. The hot-water
furnace, i'll which Il large chamber well
supplied with fresh air is heated bv coils
ofpipe filled with boiling water, and the
warmth taken thence and dilfused over
the house, approaches more nearly
to the ideal than any other in all respects
save one it is so costly that only the
most luxuriously built mansions can af-
ford to enjoy it. Open fires are not
sufficient, except in the most moderate
winter cold, to supply the artifciallv
stimulated demand for heat made by the
human race to-day; and even in the case
of that cheapest of fuels, coke, thew cost
more than the furnace. The bic base
burning ball stoves, which make many
of our country-houses so comfortable.
take room which cannot be afforded in
city entries, where each inch of space is
precious. And the air.tight variety
by good deacon who dealt
IN the article III the days of our youth.
to burn up every bit of noxious cas-
which, as he was informed, abounded in
the air, and the name of which was
oXygen!-what can be said in it's favor ?
1t is best left to silence, and to that me-
oessity on which it bases its sole claim TO
human federation.
There remains, then, for the average
house only the hot-air furnace and the
steam heater. Both have inseparable
evils connected with them, both advan-
tages equally inseparable. In one. abrln-
dant moisture is provided in the other
ar. And either can be made tolerably
comfortable and sufficiently wholesome
)nly by intelligent watchfnlness. bv
strict regulation Of heat, by observation
)t thermometers, by periodical care of
ayaporatorS and water-pans, by renewing
5he air of rooms through open windows,
md that perpetual vigilance which is
lhe price of most of the good things we
,njoy, and, above all, of that heaithfuI
God which we consume with our lungs.
and without which we can enjoy moth
ng. -Scr1Jner's for FeJr"my