The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-11-01
THE STOVES HISTORY.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE WONDER
Full IMPROVEMENTS MADE.
The Stove Practically Unknown in This
Country Fifty Years Ago-Littiefeld's
Crude Invention-Davy's Discovery-The
Favorite Styles of Today.

Crude Invention-Davy's Discovery-The
Favorite Styles of Today.
What nowadays appears as a prime neces-
sity of life was practically unknown in this
country fifty years ago. A good many
people are still alive who will remember the
first introduction of the stove to an American |
audience. 1t is true there were stoves in |
this country even in ante-revolutionary |
times, but they were imported from Europe; |
they were clumsy and unsatisfactory, &C
cording 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 homo market. And how modest were |
these beginningsl The cooking stove first in
vogue was a 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 freeand
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
q score of years, and were then thought the
acme of perfection in stove construction.
Then they began to be displaced by the self
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 a
SPELL mainly used in railroad depots and on
trains. Littlefield got a big reputation on
the strength of this stove and made, what
was even of more Importance to him, big
pile of 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 in rival estab-
| lishment, when searching through the libra
| ries, 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
| Littlefield'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 collierieA
were things of daily occurrence. Only soft
coal was known as fuel, and several big COM
panies had bankrupted themselves in the
vain endeavor to introduce hard coal as fuel.
Then it was that the English parliament
made a 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 yet 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 a
sanitary sense, as they constantly rob the
air in the room of its oxygen, most indis-
pensable element, without replacing it in
any way. Thus, practically, the gas stove is
still thing of the future
But what variety of coal stoves there
arel 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 fues in and
to fit them with double bottoms. In this
way the radating surface for tho 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 i'll
New England. They were square in shape
and had a square chamber This style seems
to have originated SO as to correspond with
the change in fashion in furniture. This
class of stove lad, however, but a short run.
1t was followed by modification in style,
leaving the stove itself still square, or nearly
SO, but making the fire chamber again oval
or round
Another kind of stove is the Surface
burner" 1t is not self feeding, but base
heating and surface burning stove. In New
England, where people practice economy
more scientifically and consistently than we
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 q
cast iron base, square, with rounded corners,
double bottom, the upper part Of sheet iron,
lower part lined with cylinder brick, making
the fire part very strong and durable, and
giving much radiating surface.
A cheaper Kind Of stove is made, known to
the trade as the cylinder stove. The bottom
and ash pot of this stove are made of cast
iron, while the body of the stove is formed OF
sheet iron in cylindrical shape. The bottom
is used for fire chamber and is brick lined.
This stove is cheaper, because there is nc
diving fue and no double bottom-simply q
direct draught. This stove, though cheaper
in cost, is not so economical 1t is, however,
a very good ventilator, and is, perhaps, on
that account the most appropriate stove for
places where many people usually assemble,
such as depots, public halls, saloons, etc. The
cast iron cylinder or cannon stoves are used
in the west mostly for soft coal They heat
very quickly and are durable, besides being
cheap. Then there are the wood heaters,