The sun., 1895-02-03
OPEN WOOD FIRES.
Htnts 60 Those who wouid Enioy the Ian.
ury In the Highest Degree.

ury In the Highest Degree.
Since tho taste for the open wood fire revived
many new houses have been built with ample
hreplaces, and many old ones have been altered
90 as TO DO supplied with this old necessity and
new luxury, while ancient nndirons have been
brought out from holes and corners to grace the
hearth. But many persons have contented
themselves with the shallow. narrow nreplaces
designed for coal fires aud with the modern
cheap nndirons OF spun brass.
The New York fireplace at best ia apt TO have
an artificial look. for nobody has II wood pile in
his back yard and IL man to chop his frewood,
so tho New Yorker with n fireplace, great or
small, has his wood scut seasoned from the mill
and sawed even at both cads If anything can
destroy the beauty Of m open fire 1t is those
artiiicial-looking logs with their mathematis
Cally parallel ends and their dead, sapless bark.
Tho real log fire should bc of unseasoned
wood, 40 that one may hear tho sap stow
and smell the aromatic, sacritcial odor Of the
trees living tissues, which, in tho case Of seas
soned wood, are consumed In advance by the
slow combustion involved in the seasoning. The
seasoned log is half burned before It comes to
the fireplace and hais the poetry Is dried out %
Its lifeless body. Tho fire Of unseasonod logs IL
to the fire of seasoned lOss as n juicy broiled
steak an inch and n half thick is to the thin
beaten steak fried to n crisp aud dry as punk
1t is well to have few seasoned logs TO make Q
sudden heat, but for lasting, picturesque fire 70
Keep n mans BODY warm OF u long winter oVenN
ing and to nourish his imagination, the propeH
thing Is unseasoned wood, ;tll redolent OF the
Utterly unworthy is the trick OF obtaining Q
so-called picturesque fire by having the loga
may simulate the brilliant colors OF the drift,
wood fires that burn III great ireplaces along
the coast ,o The only proper wood fire is that 06;
rich in sap clothed with living bark, and not
too often split; Two split loss Of generous size
and two smaller round logs mako an admirable
fire, and 1t is all the better II tho fireplace be
large enough to take them from thirty inches 70
three feet long. IL Is q mistake to suppose thAe
green wood burns badly. Lous from tree lesd
than twelve hours fellcd wlll burn brilliantly,
though they do not consume with the unseemly
haste of seasoned wood.
Hickory is considered the best wood for open
fires Even seasoned hickory will carry fire fot
long time, and log of green hickory may bN
buried in ashes at bedtime, uncovered the nexs
bellows blown into lively hame, II covered
deep enough 1t will waste but little In all the in-
tervening hours. Oak makes brilliant hot fire,
but being less dense than hickory will not last
80 long: One hickory log four inches In diamI
Maple, round green logs Of the pin oak. sassaS
fras. and three or four other of the native woods,
burn well, though most OF them rapidly. 1t is q
sin to burn ems, but an elm butt with part
OF the root makes lnsting FIRE. The tulip tree
is to be had, for it burns ill when green, goes
like tindcr when dry, and in either case snaps
received from deacon twenty cords Of white
ksa nor m twenty hays oEo to To
wood, unless Connecticut white birch of carly
days was different from that Of the Adirondack
REGION for up in the New York wilderness white
birch makes good fire. Chestnut Is another OF
the light, snappy woods hot to be depended
upon for the hearth.
The man that is not too poor to have the right
kind Of wood fire and not too busy to enjoy IL
should now and then drop all else and give himS
self UP to this indulgence. Nobody ever saw
two wood fires alike, and nobody ever saw .
successful one that was not beautiful. 1t is .
proper and commendable late saturday night
indulgence to turn down the lights and see the
logs shoulder and slowly fall into embere. This
operation may well last AN hour. and whom the
silent observer IL brim full of revery, tho tima
has come to cover the fire and go to bed.
Covering the fire IL an almost forgotten art in
these parts. because too many uneasily neat
housewives sanction the sacrlege Of sweeping
from the fire of the night before. Then there
some cautious persons that extingush the
embers at night with water. an act that seems
almost like taking life. If, however, the ashes
have been spared for three four nights and
the inmates OF the house have no nervous fears
touching live Goals left 10 Themselves, the cere-
mony of covering the fire may appropriately
end Saturday nights revery. A deep bed
should be scraped until the bricks of the hearth
fired brand should be rolled. Over this should
be poured the embers and ever them the warm
ashes. till not spark or giimmer shows In the
darkened room. Half dozen pats OF the shovel
on the mound Of ashes will complete tho task,
and the life of the fire IL prolonged until Sunday
morning. No good man should per nit his hearth
fire to die the winter through, and all the train
of legendary house fairies come to bless Tho
hearth that is warm from midnight to dawn