St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-21
AMERICAN STOVES IN SPAIN.
Consul Marston Relates His Ex-
perieuce in Introducing Them.

perience in Introducing Them.
United States Consul III. c. Marston
writes thus from Madrid, Spain: 1.-THE
kitchen arrangements in Spain for
cooking are of the most primitive char
acter. In all Spanish kitchens there is
built at one side or end formation of
brick and mortar, in the top of which
are a series of round holes about nine
or twelve inches i'll diameter, with an
opening below, each made upon the same
principle as brick kiln, in which only
charcoal is used as fuel, the fire being
made to burn by tanning in front of the
lower opening, causing current of air
to flow through as draught to the fire.
When | mentioned to my friends that [
was thinking of ordering an American
cooking stove l was told. that L would be
unable to hire a cook who would be
willing to remain i'll service where it
was used; besides none would use stove
coal, as it caused headaches and other
injurious effects, which Malaga cooks
would not put up with. However, in
October. 1886. ordered one with full
set of stove furniture. and had it shipped
via Gibraltar for Malaga. UnfOrtu-
nately, Oh his arrival here, having been
badly packed, it was broken i'll many
places. l, however, found an English
man here who, by making some thin
iron bands succeeded in rivetlng the bro
ken pieces together, and it was made
Serviceable for a time, the cost for re-
pairing being almost as much as the Or
iginal price of the stove. l wrote to
New York, claiming that the breakage
had occurred through bad pack
ing. and asking the firm to re-
place the broken plates. This they
refused to do, but under compromise
furnished the necessary pieces at the
cost price for east iron, and in due
season the box arrived in Malaga, but
the freight and charges equaled those
originally charged upon the stove itself.
At first my cook looked with disdain
upon the newcomer, and made every
objection to its use, but it was not more
than month before it was the wonder
and envy of all the cooks in Malaga.
. WI EN- it. became necessary to clean
the chimney, stove and pipes we
ordered our cook not to light the
stove the following morning, but to
use the 'hcrnillos.' To this the woman
protested, saying she could not now use
anything but the 'EStua Americana
Even in the heat of the past summer
nothing could induce our Spanish cook
to give up, even for day, the use of
time the fame of this stove was the sub
iect of conversation with all the friends
and acquaintances of our 'cOcinera,'
and in October ;:,st two other families
here ordered stoves from the same firm
that shipped mine. | sent the order
myself, reminding them of the disas-
Gus plight in which mine arrived, in
structing item to spare NJ pains or eX-
pense in packing. When they were
received in Malaga they were in
a much worse condition than mine was,
being all broken to pieces. They had
beel paid f3r, and there was no re-
dress. The stoves are almost worth
less, aud the parties who made the pur-
chase feel that it is 'forlorn hope to
attempt to have them delivered in good
condition at Malaga. Two or three
other families here have expressed de-
sire to buy and use these stoves, and
have been waiting to see the condition
in which the last two orders should ar
rive. With the results as stated above,
they now decline to order. Instead of
packing them as these were. put to-
gether complete for transportation, they
ought to be packed each part separ-
ately."