The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-05-22
TAKING DOWN AND BLACKING.

1AhiNG DONN AND BLACklNG.
AS this is a season when many stoves
are unfortunately taken down and put
away for the Summer, their proper treat
ment becomes a matter of general interest.
Unfortunately, we say, stoves are taken
down the present month, but we might
have used a stronger word, and had we
said recklessly, it would not have expressed
our meaning quite so well as culpably.
There are those housekeepers to whom the
necessity for house cleaning on a certain
day in May has all the force of command
ment-and what house cleaning under these
conditions means, many reader too we'll
knows, and many grave stone stands as a
silent witness. We will not enumerate the
ills it brings-but among the good it sends
away are the stoves-often from every
room except the kitchen. A clear cold
January day with the mercury at 10 to 90
degrees below zero, is absolute comfort in
comparison with damp day in May, with
the thermometer between 32o and 400.
But this is not what we started upon, let
us dispose of this almost vital point by
saying that in none of the Northern States
should the stoves be removed from the
living rooms, if the health, let alone the
comfort, of the family is regarded, before
the middle of June. We have pleasant
days, and warm, in May, but we cannot
remember year since we have given at
tention to the matter in which there has
not been cold spell in the first half of
June in which a fire was absolutely neces-
sary to the comfort of the well, and the
well-beng of the i'll. "Then why take
stoves down at all ?" will be asked by some
inveterate May house cleaner. Exactly so
why? Not only can we not see the
slightest use in taking down the Stoves if
that be the way of heating, but we hold
that in country houses there should never
be day in the whole year in which a fire
cannot be built at a moments notice. In
Summer an open fireplace is preferable to
a stove, but if there is no fireplace, leave
the stove, for there will be but few weeks
in the whole Summer in which a little fire
in the morning or evening will not be
needed to ventilate the room or to dry it,
if not to remove the chill. In malarious
districts this is of special importance; a
few sticks will prevent what much quinine
may not cure, and be vastly cheaper. So
we insist that in the family or living room
of every country house there should always
be fire laid in fireplace, CRATE, or stove,
ready to diffuse comfort when needed, even
if it be in July or August. But in houses
NAV come down without detriment. and
those which remain in place should be
properly cared for. which brings us at last
to TAKING DOWN THE STOVES
If the stove connects by a short, straight
piece of pipe directly with the chimney,
there will be little trouble in replacing it
next Fall: if instead of this there are, as
is more commonly the case, several lengths
of nine and more or less elbows. then too
much precauton cannot be taken. Some
hold the theory that a stove pipe once taken
down can never be put up as it was before
without calling in a filter. Stove pipes
make great havoc with domestic patience,
but a proper foresight at the taking down
will HELM greatly to a felicitous putting I'D.
Wherever two ends of nine. whether sec
tions or elbows. come toaether. thew sbould
he marked. whether Intentionally separated
in taking down ar NOT. If a LARGE nine is
taken down in the fewest possible pieces,
some others Will separate, and all be III
'onio'io"' nono0 'io 0Ni' S"'e'' 10 W
NUMBER EACH JOINT,
that is whenever two lenUths or sections.
inclndinp elbows. come together. with two
numbers. as IL, %. etc. Do this before
disturbing the nine. chalk will answer but
tha marks mist he renewed if blnrred nv
handling before the nine is mt awav for
the season. Where anthracite coal is burn
ed, a simple humping of the pipe will
remove the gathered ashes and dust;
pipe to a bituminous coal stove will show
more deposit, and will need more thor
ough cleaning but in those of wood stoves,
the deposit is often very heavy, and, if the
pipe is a long one, of a highly acid and
corrosive nature. If this be not removed
when the pipe is taken down now, the
work of destruction will 90 on all Summer,
and when it is to be put up in the Fall, it
will often be found completely honey
combed and useless. Hence a pine of this
kind should have every incrustation upon
its interior removed by thorough humping
and a brush of twigs. To arrest the cor
rosion of what deposit remains, the interior
NAV be coated with ordinary lime wash or
whitewash Both stove and pipe should
NC InoiouShiy oiSoAonou oeioA0 'noy "io
THE OBJECT OF BLAck1NG
stove is not solely to improve its looks,
but it is to cover the surface of the iron
with coating that will prevent rusting.
Sometimes kind of black varnish is used,
which makes the stove look very well, but
when fire is built 1t burns OH with most
unpleasant ordor. We know OF nothing so
good as pumbago or black lead, and all
the stove blackings put up in packets under
various fancy names, are some form of
this more or less pure. Black lead is of