The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-04-29
THE RISE or THE STOVE.
ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS
OF KEEPING WARM.

The Brazler-The First Chimney.
The first step in the development Of
the stove was an open hearth. In some
nations it has never advanced beyond that
stage. The Esquimo to this day, and
the Indian, too for the matter of that,
heat their dwellings by building a fire in
the ceuter of the room or hut, and per-
mitting the smoke to escape through q
hole in the roof. The consideration of
light requires that this hole should be
large enough to give easy egress to the
vapor, and the larger it is, of course, the
more heat will escape.
Warm as Greece and Rome and Egypt
are, stoves were made there in the dim
and misty vistas of the past. 1t was not
Just the pattern used IN Chicago at pres
ent, but was a metal basin in which char
coal was burned. 1t sat in the middle of
the room, and as the resulting smoke was
of the slightest no opening in the roof or
elsewhere was necessary. The same i'm
plement, still called by its old Greek
name of brazier, is still employed in
many portions of continental Europe,
where it is utilized for heating as well as
cooking.
But the progressive Romans improved
on that and made hypocaust. 1t was
the germ of the present furnace.
1t was made under the house, in
little cellar prepared for it, and the
heat was conducted to the rooms and
baths through crevices left in the floor
and lower portions of the wall. Later
fues were provided, conducting heat to
any portion of the house. In some of
the old Roman villas in England the re-
mains of these old-time furnaces are still
found.
The first chimney was built in house
in the fourteenth century. 1t was the
fireplace of to-day with scarcely varia-
ton. In some cases the halls and lodges
of the great lords were provided with
banqueting groom in which one whole end
of the apartment was taken up by the
chimney. This was largely for the pur-
pose of cooking, and whole OK was
often roasted in sight of the table on
which it was later served. Distant por-
tions of the room were cold, but, as the
people were warriors and toughened in
fiber by constant exposure, they were
supposed to get along with an occasional
turn in the warm end of the room while
the feast was preparing. But if a pill.
grim, palmer, a man who had been to
the Holy Land, should come along, he
was favored guest and was allowed to
sit in the palace of honor at the side of
the great fireplace and to regale himself
on the choicest of the viands and the
best of wine, repaying the host for the
entertainment later by singing or chant
ing an account Of his experiences in the
land of the Saracens.
The old Germans themselves almost as
ancient as the Romans, made the first
metal stove. 1t was on the outside of
the house to be warmed. But, while
that may seem like curious place to put
your stove, your smiles may vanish when
you are informed that one end of the
stove pro- jtcted into the room. The fir
ing was done on the outside, and it must
have been a most unwelCome thing in
deed, then, to get up first in the morn.
ing and start a fire in the stove. The
ashes were taken from the bed without
OIlA8 gN0bNOlNh ONNl VIZ NNI DCls anu illG
business end Of the contrivance which
reached into the room did all the good
our present s.oyes can accomplish ex-
ceptIng that they lost more heat than
do these
A little over century ago Mr.. Street,
of London, took up the old Roman idea
of hypocaust and made furnace, which
wGs warranted to warm all parts of the
house, to conserve the heat and save the
fuel and to overcome all the objections
against stoves and braziers. lie must
have had good time fulfilling his
guarantees, for the best furnace makers
OF tnis latter age caunot always accom-
plisn all they desire, or all that Mr..
Street promised. But in any one of
dozen good furnaces the problem Of
heating is perhaps rs well settled as il
ever can be while we get our heat from
burning fuel
But the furnace has by no means
driven the older stove out of use. Never
was the enterprise of stove making
carried on to 50 great an extent us now.
Never were so many stoves made and
sold; never were such skill and art ex-
pended in their manufacture, and never
were they such things Of beauty as now.
The modern parlor heater is a triumph
no less in art than in utility. TO the
very greatest possible extent it controls
the heat generated, reducing and almost
suspending combustion, conveying the
gases away perfectly, and even aiding in
the work OF purifying the atmosphere of
the room And at the same time intense
heat can be produced with the minimum
of trouble.
A comparatively very small proportion
OF the homes in the country are supplied,
or ever will be supplied, with furnaces.
The work OF heating must be done with
stoves. They are less expensive, they
heat a single room, while there is no
economy IN furnace unless il is used
to heat the entire house. And then there
is something in the homeless, wandering
tenant character of our population that
will for many years insure permaueucy
TO an article of furniture that eau he
moved from house to house or from room
10 room
And as the braZier aud stove of the
ancients could al times be used for cook
ing, the development of this implement
took q two-fold direction While the
furnace and parlor-heater provide
warmth, the range discharges all duties
in regard 10 cooking, Fine as were the
rOasts prepared in the chimney of the
barOnial hall, sayOry as WAS the baking