Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-03-30
WHEN IT WAS REALLY COLD.
Ink Froxe to Pens and Boys to Wet
 Lnpst0nes In Those Days.

Lnpstones In Those Days.
 The ancient art of keeping warm in clustering winter weather was crude as practiced by the forefathers or Judge Sewell would not have com plained that he was slow in recording events in his diary because his ink froze upon his pen. Nor would the colonial shoemakers have many times decided that it was too cold to make shoes, but just right to go hunting The test of temperature was made by allowing an apprentice to sit on a wet lapstone. If he was frozen to it the weather was considered too cold to work.
 Indeed, just how the people of the cold parts of this country got any com fort during the severe winter days is not apparent to the eyes of today that have looked upon the simple and cur- ous heat producers of early times. A rare collection of these ancient fire places, andirons, stoves and other pro- motors of mercurial rises is preserved today in the Essex institute in Salem. Mass, together with much interesting information thereon.
 One of these curios is fireback from the ancestral home of Colonel Timothy Pickering, Washington's friend and secretary of war. It is of slate and looks like gravestOne. It was carved with the Pickering family crest. It was placed in the back of the fireplace, so that the burning logs would not set fire to the house.
 These old fashioned fireplaces were huge affairs. Children could sit iii their corners and watch the sparks chase each other toward the stars. The fireplaces and chimneys were first lined with mud, so that they would not burn, but later they were made of brick. It is a common remark that in trying to get warm at such the faces of peo- pie were roasted from the heat. while their backs froze in the drafts from the cracks in the windows and doors.
 But the early forefathers were a hardy race and endured the cold won- derfully. The Puritans of Salem re- fused to heat their meeting houses, de- claring that warmth therein twas q Snake of ye willy and wicked Satan" The sturdy Puritan sires and their sons kicked their heels together when the cold stopped the circulation of their blood. and the preachers often patient ly paused in their two hours dis courses to wait for everybody to be- come warm and stop kicking.
 Women carried little foot stoves to church. These were perforated tin boxes about foot square. into which hot embers from the family hearth were placed. and the hot stove was then taken to meeting along with the Bible.
 Coal was known as early as 1631 in this country. and it was called '.iron stone" But wood was far cheaper and more convenient and was most used. Peat was also utilized. as it could be obtained from many bogs.
 Stoves were introduced as early as 1852. and in that year the general court of Massachusetts granted to John Clark 10 shillings for every family using his valuable invention. stove. for a period of three years. and this grant was subsequently extended for a period of Clark's lifetime. the general court being deeply grateful for the con- fort derived from his invention. The first open front coal stoves were designed by Benjamin Franklin and were cast by James Byres X Co. in Springfield. Mass. in 11S1. Franklin probably got his idea from the German stoves used in Pennsylvania. These had hot air drum. which extended to the second story and warmed that part of the house. but the doors of Ia1ny of them were outside the house. so that it was necessary to go outdoors 10 feed them with fuel. Franklin's invention marked the beginning of stoves for burning coal and wood which are in general use today.
 These early stoves were as great blessings to the forefathers as arc steam heaters today. Even the poet. sung of their virtues. referring to them Gas stoves which autumn of winter 1 could make
 But today the practical man wants summer of winter made. and the vari. ous simple devices of the forefathers- the firebacks. andirons. open fireplaces and crude stoves-have been thrown in to the junk heap or into the museum to make way for the modern hot air l and sf<<ana hoato-r -Rn<*c., CIcl.a