Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-11-01
Benjamin FrdnkIln'S Stoves
New Principles of Heating Discovered by Him


gases from the fire to escape up the
chimney only after they had been
long in contact with thin plates of
metal and had parted with all their
available heat.
The Franklin stove is the great
grandfather of all American heating
apparatus. The principal of the down
draft appears in most parlor stoves
The hot air box, enlarged and fur
nished with door, becomes the oven
of the cooking range.
Nj st important of all, the PniladeI.
phia fireplace set up In the cellar
and connected with the rooms above
becomes hot-air furnace. Junk deal.
ers and collectors of antiquities have
claimed its body, but it's soul goes
marching on.
Franklin, therefore, made the first
real stove; the first stove that is 10
say which was anything more than an
IRON box with door at one end and
a stovepipe at the other. His was the
first heating apparatus not built per.
manently into the dwelling and
which brought in cold air from ouf-
side warmed 1t in passage by the
waste heat of the escaping smoke,
ana passed 1t on to the apartment:
and the first practical contrivanoe of
any kind with a down draft.
The era which followed was one in
which ingenious persons took to in
venting improved stoves, as 10 years
ago they were inventing bicycles and
to-day are struggling with automobiles
The change from wood to sowt coal and
then, at the beginning of the 10th
century, from soft coal to hard, brought
out a host of devices which have final
ly reduced themselves to half-dozen
types of modern stoves.
Among others were schemes for
passing the hot gases from the fire
back and forth under the floor and
warming the room from that. One m.
genious Frenchman had revolving
CRATE, which, with the chimney In the
partition between two rooms, could
be turned so as to heat either one
thus the inventors fire as he shifted
from chamber to study, followed him
back and forth like dog.
Franklin himself, year or two be-
fore the Revolution, took up a prob.
lem which he was apparently the first
man to attack, but which has not
even yet been satisfactorily solved.
Inc trouble with all our stoves rs
That the fresh coal has to be put on
top, where 1t blankets the fire and din
ills up the chimney without burning.
instead OF underneath. as 1t should be.
Ihere is now upon the market
furnace which works on this latter
principle, the fuel being pushed IN
underneath the fire by a piston work.
ed by lever. To accomplish this
highly desirable result there are but
Two other possible devices; with botn
these Franklin experimental.
While he was In France he used a
crate for open fires of soft coal in
which the bars surrounded the FIRE
above and below and formed q sort Of
basket.
The whole thing was mounted like
searchlight, so that the philosopher
could turn IL fiat side up to heat his
tea, on as ne sat negotiating treaties
could point 1t at the cold place in his
back.
Franklin's other device was more
radical. He ran his fire continually up-
side down. The fuel and the air were
supplied above. the draft was down
ard through the fire. the burning coal
was at the bottom and the flame
streamed out below. Nothing, there
fore, could go up the chimney IN.
burned.
The single limitation Of the device
Is well stated In the inventors own
words The studious man who is
much In his chamber and has pleas
ure in making his fire will soon find
this machine most comfortable and
delightful To others who leave their
fires to the care of ignorant servants
do not recommend 1t. They will vito
difficulty acquire the knowledge nee
essary, and will make frequent blum.
ders that will fiji your room with
smoke. II Is, therefore, by no means
mt for common use in families"
The stove was probably the most
nearly perfect apparatus ever con.
triyed for burning any sort OF fuel but
1T required fellow OF the Royal so
ciety to run II. Nevertheless, there IS
an idea here that somebody should be
hJa IN utnrl, ,,,t