The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
TIE EVOLUTION
 OF TIE FIREPLACE Rooms Ere 9ada Cheerful By
 Electricity HISTORY OF THE STOVE This Article of Home Necessity Has Been Largely Reeeated In Favor
 of the Most Modern
 Conveniences.

Less than 100 years ago the cheerful fireplace was the only source of heat in private or public buildings. The rooms were warmed with open fires and food was cooked on the hearth or in Dutch ovens. Stoves. as we know them, were practically unknown.
 In modified forms stoves have been used for 200 years but it was not until the beginning of the last century that these iron boxes" were so improved upon with dampers, freboxes and ovens that they began to crowd out the time honored freplaces. At first the stoves were but square boxes of cast iron made to burn huge chunks of wood The draft was secured by connecting one end of this box direct with the fireplace and bricking up the chimney close to the sides of the stove. Later the sheet iron pipe was made and the fireplace was closed entirely either with a wooden screen or by brickinB 1t up. It was long time before drafts. grates and circuit flues were invented. Consequently the stove was very slow in coming.
 At first it was deemed impossible to construct a stove which would burn
 
 then president of Union college, Schenectady. N. Y., proved that it could be done by inventing and constructing a cast iron stove which successfully burned hard coal. His inventions so stimulated the stove industry that many practical minds were turned to stove invention with the result that many new patents were taken out and large stove manufacturing plants sprang up in Troy. Albany and other cities. Rapidly the fireplaces were dis carded for heating rooms, except by a few old people who could not get used to the coal stoves and the chim- neys opened for stove pipes. AS soon as the housewives found that the stove made cooking easier the fires died out on the kitchen hearth to burn there no more. The wood stove and the coal range soon had the field to themselves.
 The stove. in its turn, has been dis placed in the past 10 or more years, so far as heating buildings is concerned, by steam and hot air furnaces. It was found that the fires could all be concentrated in the basement and the heat easily trans mitted to the various rooms through heat ing tubes or steam pipes. Even in the kitchen, where the stove is making a valiant fight for existence, it is being threatened with extermination by the new gas and electric heaters. The kitchen stove is handy in a way but 1t Is too dirty and requires too much work and at tention for this age. It is also too ex- travagant with its heat Electricity, which does away with all flame, smoke, ashes, soot or inconvenience is unquestionab bly the best source of heat for cooking pur- poses. The heat is located just where it Is wanted and none is wasted about the room.
 Of late years architects and builders have come to recognize the artistic value of the old fireplace mantel and nearly all the houses built today, whether they con- tain real fireplaces or not are beautified in the principal rooms with wood mantels. About the same time it became quite the thing to open up the long unused fire places to enjoy their chereful fires and welcome heat during the long, cold winter evenings. Of course those who had orna- mental wood mantels could not do this But now an electric freplace has been perfected which is designed especially to be used in such ornamental wood mantels making them useful as well as ornamen- tal
 This electric fireplace" when adjusted fin the "iirebox" of an ornamental wood mantel, gives both heat and light. The same device can also be used as a sum mer Srate In the real nrepace. It con- sists of flat piece of steel heavily cop pered and designed with small recesses to hold the lamps" and radiate the heat into the room. The three or four lamps" are each about 15 inches long and are new product of the general electric lab oratories being specially constructed to give a great amount of heat and at the same time emit a cheerful glow through the ground glass globes Being cleo trlcally operated this fireplace" does not require a chimney and eliminates all the danger of an open fire or gas log The wiring is all concealed and the turning Of q switch gives instant heat and light. These lamps have a life of approxi- mately 1500 hours. The electric fireplace" Is real heater and effectively warns the room on cold days in the spring and fall when the furnace is not running.