Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-02-04
Keening Warm.

In this part of the world large part
of our energy is devoted to Keeping
warm. For a portion of the year we
have heat from the sun that puts us al
most on par with the tropics, but for
the rest of it we have to hustle to
keep a comfortable heat in our bodies
and to prevent ourselves from freezing
to death. Aside from the diseases that
are traceable to cold, there are man.
deaths during he winter season due
to the actual chilling of the fluids OF
the body to such an extent as to stop
all vital processes. With proper cloth
ing and sufficient food it is possible
for any of us to maintain the heat OF
the body without any artificial means
of raising the surrounding tempera-
ture, but in practice all of us rely on
fire in some shape, and every dwelling
makes some pretense at being heated.
We expend millions in this way, and
the supplying of artificial heat is the
foundation of innumerable great in
dustrial enterprises, while it occupies
a vast deal of individual attention in
millions of homes. Whether we dwell
in a favored region like this, where
gaseous fuel flows from the ground
and where almost every square foot OF
the earth is underlaid with rocks that
will burn and give forth heat, or
whether our lot Is cast on the vast
western prairies where corn and straw
are the only heat-producing agents,
the fuel question is all important.
Here in Pittsburg we are perhaps as
favorably situated as any people oil
the face of the globe. There never was
fuel so convenient as natural gas, and
there is no other region where coal is
so easily procured But even here,
with all of our advantages, we go about
the business of keeping warm, for the
most part, in a very crude way. We
talk about the wasting of gas in the
past and of the spendthrft dissipation
of this great gift of nature; but,
though we have quit allowing it to es-
cape in the air, as formerly, We still
fail to utilize aught but a small frac-
tion of its heating power. In the case
of both gas and coal we get a small
percentage of the heat and send the
rest up the chimney in the vain at
tempt to warm the clouds.
On cold days, such as we have been
having lately, we complain of the
small flow of gas, and yet, perhaps, we
are burning in single room, without
raising the temperature to a comfort
able height, enough gas, if properly,
utilized, to maintain a pleasant
warmth throughout the whole house.
There is, perhaps, more of the same
sorL of waste and inefficiency where
the fuel is coal or wood. OF the many
millions that we eXpend for heat the
major portion goes to warm the outer
air and only triflng portion remains
to give warmth to our living rooms.
Though it is known that our houses
must have artificial heat for more
than one-hah of the year, there are
very few of them built with a view to
having this done thoroughly and eco
nomically The fues are all planned
somewhat after those of the settlers
log cabin, and the object seems to be
to send the heat to the outer air as
soon as possible after it is created by
the consumption of the fuel for which
we pay such a considerable portion of
our incomes. We have improved
stoves and heaters of all sorts, but of
whatever variety or pattern they are
they are all, with few exceptions, so
set up that the heat shall go anywhere
but into the house There is a tre-
mendous field for the inventor who
will show us how to keep warm with
out wasting nine-tenths of the fuel we
buy and burn.-Pittsburg Times.