Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-16
WHEN 1T WAS REALLY COLD.
Ink FrORe TO Pens aud Boys 70 Wet
I.npstOnrs In Those Days.

I.0potOnen n 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
planned 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 so hunting
The test OF temperature was made by
allowing an apprentice to sit on 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 Curl
Gus heat producers Of early times. \
rare collection of these ancient fire
places. andirons. stoves and other pro-
moters of mercurial rises Is preserved
today in the Essex institute in Salem,
Mass, together with much interesting
Information thereon.
one OF these curios is a fireback from
the ancestral home Of Colonel Timothy
Pickering. Washington's friend and
secretary OF war. II Is Of slate and
looks like gravestone. II was carved
with the Pickering family crest. 1t
was placed in the back Of the fireplace
so that the burning logs would not set
fire To the house.
These Old fashioned tlrcplaces were
huge affairs. Children could sit in
their corners and watch the sparks
chase each other toward the stars. The
fircplaces and chimneys were first lined
with mud. So that they would not burn,
hut later they were made OF brick.
1t is n common remark that in trying
to get warm at such the faces Of PEG
pie were roasted from the heat. while
their backs froze in the drafts from the
cracks in the windows and doors.
But the early forcfathrrs 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 was n
snake OF We 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
~ 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 a 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 1877 In
this country, and it was called iron
stone" But wood was Jar cheaper
and more convenient and was most
used. Peat was also utilized. as IL
could be obtained from many boys
Stoves were introduced ms carly 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 period OF three years. ana this
grant was subsequently extended Tor
a period Of Clark's lifetime the general
court being deeply grateful for the com
fort derived from his invention
The first open front coal stoves were
designed by Benjamin Franklin and
were cast by James Byrrs X co. ID
Springfield. Mass, in 1857. Franklin
probably got his idea from the German
stoves used in Pennsylvania These
had hot air drum, which extended tt
the second story and warmed that par,
of the house. but the doors OF many OF
them were outside the house. so that II
was necessary to go outdoors TO fec1
them with fuel. Franklin's invention
marked the beginning OF stoves FOL
burning coal and wood which are IL
general Use today.
These early stoves were a. grea
blessings to the forefathers as ar
steam heaters today. Even the poets
sung Of their virtues, referring to then
as stoves which autumn OF winte
could make"
But today the practical man want
summer Of winter made. and the vari
Gus simple devices Of the forefathers-
the hrebacks. andirous. open fireplace
and crude stoves-have been thrown In
to the junk heap o. into the museum
to make way fes the modern hot al
and steam hsetsrs.-Boston Globe.