Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-29
REVIVAL OF THE HEARTH.
The Renaissance Of the Open Crate,
the AndirOns and the Log.


the AndirOns and the Log.
From the New York Sun.
With each succeeding winter the open
fire place is coming more and more into
fashion and use. Not only the CRATE,
wherein one may build a heaping fire of
sea coal and then sit and watch the glow
steal steadily from lump to lump, but the
open hearth on which may burn a good
Yule log and almost roast an OK. There
are plenty Of make-believes yet. of course.
gas logs and fires Of colored spar. but the
open fireplaces to which reference is made
as coming more and more into vogue are
the real things
The custom Of laughing at coal fires as
old-fashioned, and as q system of heating
that treated one to a touch Of the tropics
on his face and gusts from Greenland at
his back, has passed, and all the modern
houses are built with fireplaces. They are
so cozy and so quaint, we are told, and
small fortunes are spent on curiously de-
signed tongs, pokers and shoveis; gor-
geously nozzled bellowses are hung up by
the mantclpiece. and cunning arti6cers are
employed to work out brazen Tenders on
the old models. Photographers have been
at work getting pictures Of chimney pieces
that have inclosed the ashes Of centuries.
and the marble pillars and slabs which the
builders some time rejected now occupy the
position Of honor as guardians Of the
hearth.
But ii is in the open hearth that the
money Of the rich New Yorker is being
expended today. The cavernous fireplace
is once more followed out in the thickness
Of the walls. the lofty mantelpieces are
run up to the ceiling, massive andirons are
set In the fireplace, and logs big enough to
last q whole winters night are hoisted on
them and set blazing. Some of the and
irons that are displayed are certainly mag
nif1cent reproductions of classic models.
lille the iron castings that surround the
hearth are rich with castings and repousse
work
There is a distinct leaning. too toward a
revival of Dutch tiled fireplaces and settles,
and ingle hooks are as much the height
of fashion as big sleeves and Napoleonla.
In one store that deals in these things is
to be seen the old sliding pole screen that
was in use when the "Casket of Gems and
Friendship'sOfering'' were read behind its
rosy shade; and there has been an appre-
ciable influence upon the price of brass and
copper coal scuttles. The whole movement,
indeed, has it's curiously mingled senti-
mental and financial aspects.
1t Is true that there Is a little spice Of
humbug about the thing, for while many
cheerful and jolly things are said anent
the flashing freight and the glorious
cracking of the back log, the fact re-
mains that the shrewd architect and
householder have quietly agreed that
be a very good thing to have in the base
ment for heating the halls and for turning
on in the mornings when the wet log Is
sputtering and the coal fire Is showing
more than a suspicion of a rebellious in
clnation to smoke. But the revival Is an
admirable one anyway, and 1t puts some
real meaning into the sentiment of Hearth
and Home" which somehow Is lacking
when the hearth is a register or a steam
radiator.