Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-11-19
THE STOVES HISTORY.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE WONDER
Full IMPROVEMENTS MADE.

country fifty years ago A good many
people are still alive who will remember the
1rst introduction of the stove to an American
audience 1t is true there were stoves in
this country even in anterevolutionary
times, but they were imported from Europe:
they were clumsy and unsatisfactory, &C
cordtng to our notions of today, and they
were few and far between Just about fifty
years ago stoves-cooking and heating stoves
first began to be generally used That was
when Americans began to make stoves for
the home market, And how modest were
these beginnings! The cooking stove first in
vogue was sort of pot, covered, and hot
ashes were used to fill the pan, and thus the
baking and the roasting was done. The
Dutch ovens of that time were certainly
simple enough Then came the ''step Stoves
having two steps on them, very free-and
easy affairs.
The first parlor stoves, too, came into use
about fifty years ago, The first and largest
sale made of these were so called surface burn
ers- They continued to be popular for about
a score of years, and were then thought the
acme of perfection in stove construction
Then they began to be displaced by theSself
feeding burners, first introduced thirty years
ago Dennis Littlefeld in Albany, n Y,
took the initiative in this respect He called
them railroad heaters and they were, for
spell, mainly used in railroad depots and on
trains. Littlefeld got big reputation on
the strength of this stove, and made, what
was even of more Importance to him, a big
pileo money by their manufacture. 1t was
thought at that time, and for years after,
that this stove (which was a rather clumsy
affair at best was his own invention, and he
got much credit for it, But one day young
man in Albany, employed i'll a rival estab-
hshment, when searching through the libra
rles, came across a foreign book in which
were drawings of a stove similar in construc-
ton, only more perfect and handsome than
Littlefield's. He told his employers about it,
and they, quickly and without letting any
body become the wiser, set about manufac-
turing better and more perfect stoves than
Littletield's. They were sued and in court
they told of their discovery They went on
making their stoves then without let or
hIndrance. The firm made big fortune
From that time on one small Improvement
after another has been made in stove build
ing, but in the main the stove of today is Just
what it was thirty years ago.
The genesis of the modern stove goes back
to the days Of Sir Humphrey Davy. Coal
was something new and untried then Ex-
plosions with deadly results in the collieries
were things of daily occurrence. Only soft
coal was known as fuel, and several big com
panies had bankruEted themselves in the
vain endeavor TO introduce hard coal as fuel
Then it was that the English parliament
made liberal appropriation for the
purpose of having Sir Humphrey Davy,
the eminent chemist and inventor, ascertain
the exact properties of coal His safety
lamp, to be used in mines for the prevention
OF explosions, was one result and the parent
of the stove of today was another
The gas stove is as Vet in its infancy. The
theory Of scientific men is, of course, that
fuel reduced to gas and then used for heat
ing purposes is really the most economical
way Of utilizing fuel But, practically, this
theory has not yet been demonstrated The
gas companies make the gas and charge
much more for it than it is really worth.
Again, many of the gas heaters are bad in e
sanitary sense, as they constantly rob thu
air in the room Of its oxygen, a most indis
pensable element, without replacing it il
any way. Thus, practically, the gas stove is
still thing of the future
But what a variety OF coal stoves there
are! The ware rooms on Lake street which
the reporter visited contained alone about SOC
varieties, and there are hundreds more
which were not there represented. Begin.
ming with the best and most high priced the
self feeders, they are now made so as to suit
all tastes and nearly all pocket books. When
first introduced, about thirty years ago,
they were round in shape Then the back
part Of the stove began to swell out, so as to
put ascending and descending flues III and
to fit them with double bottoms. In this
way the radiating surface for the heat was
increased and the heating capacity of the
stove heightened Some five or six years
ago the square stoves of the same pattern
were introduced. They first came out in
New England. They were square in shape
and had square chamber. This style seems
TO have originated so as 10 correspond with
the change i'll fashion in furniture. This
class Of stove had, however, but a short run.
Il was followed by modification in style
leaving the stove itself still square, or nearly
So, but making the fire chamber again ova
| or round.
Another kind of stove is the Surface
| burner" 1t is not self feeding, but bass
heating and surface burning stove. In New
England, where people practice economy
/ more Sc 1tifically and consistently than W,
| people OF the west, this stove is considered
the most economical-i. e, giving the great
est heat for the amount Of fuel consumed
This style of stove is usually made with {
cast iron base, square, with rounded corners
double bottom, the upper part of sheet iron
| lower part lined with cylinder brick, maxim,
the fire part very strong and durable, ant
| giving much radiating surface
| A cheaper kind of stove is made, known t.
the trade as the cylinder stove The bottom
and ash pot of this stove are made of cas-
iron, while the body of the stove is formed O
sheet iron in cylindrical shape The bottom
is used for fire chamber and is brick lined
This stove is cheaper, because there is n
diving flue and no double bottom-simply
direct draught. This stove, though cheape
in cost, is not 80 economical it is, however
very good ventilator, and is, perhaps. O
that account the most appropriate stove 70
places where many people usually assemble
such as depots, public halls, saloons, etc. TIL
cast iron cylinder or cannon stoves are use
in the west mostly for soft coal They hes
very quickly and are durable, besides bein
cheap. Then there are the wood heater
which are made in great variety and at ever
price. Chicago Herald.