The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-02-13

Nor Is the time for all good men to
m. Tafne on typewriter!
i ,I.lie var Is being largely fought with
iE.VneWrfters and swivel chairs and the
demand for the former is so great that
81 3 almost impossible to buy one In
Gin Kinkead, manager OF the Fair
mont Rubber Stamp Works, finds ~
tdifffcdlt to secure typewriters Tor ms
PENSIONERS and has sold all he had IN
stock flis week. L. J. Hoffman, agent
Of the Remington, who has his head
0uarterse Clarksburg. IS having a lot
Of trouble in filing orders and says
it takes two or three months to get
machine which has special characters
on st or is out Of the ordinary IN any
resnect. The J.. C<Smfth people calleo
in the man who made this territory
ana it is told that 81 per cent OF the
output of that factory has been solo
ia the government. The Underwood
\ neople are reported to be $1,000 behind
4 "a filling orders for the government
1t is told that in Europe L. G. Smith
rebuilt machines, which sell here for
s55. are commanding $125 and that
underwood rebuiIts are bringing $751;
e is certain that a secondhand ma
shine OF a standard make now has
vaiue never known before. 1t is prob
ably for this reason that there Is so
much repair work around Fairmont-
CITY Kfnkead. manager of the Fair
mont Rubber Stamp Co., says that ne
Is oyerrun and that there are three
machines now in his office waiting his
attention. He has been having re-
-nair man from Wheeling come out
here every three weeks TO help with
the work.
.lgJFnere are about 1900 typewriters in
yaFairmont. according TO Mr.. Kidkead's
s=:imate. He figures that the Watson
interests have as many as 100 ma
chimes and puts the total Of the Con-
solidation Coal company alone at more
tnan so.
There IS a great demand for sterog-
raphers and typewr;ters in Fairnont
as well as for machines. To supply
this demand the high school has
business course open both day and
night, L. c. Minor and Miss Leila Mer-
Ger have night schools for stenography
and typewriting. AS soon as those tax
ing these courses are any way compe-
tent for positions they get work and
there is, a constant demand which is
not likely to be filled in the near fu-
ture.
The cold weather OF the present
winter combined with shortage OF
gaS led to many ingenious schemes TO
7 keep warm and keep the squares going
Fat homes in northern West Virginia.
Many Of the houses were not fitted for
coal fires and depended upon gas.
Some few had both arrangements for
PAS and coal fires in one or two rooms
The gas pressure was very low during
the cold weather and it required some
Echeming for the housewives to do
their work as often times the blaze
was too low to boil coffee and one
/, lady declares that her gas got too low
to ny an egg.
"a method OF warming the beds at
night which came to be very popular
WIS the heating of bricks. Ordinary
clay bricks were heated in ovens or
n front Of CRATES and placed in bags
I which were placed in the beds. One
Of the schemes to do baking when the
gas supply was low was to turn night
INTO day, starting baking and cooking
at midnight for the gas came on bet
ter from eleven at night until six
O'Clock the next morning. Many were
forced to this in order to keep the
eats going.
The use OF bricks in this connection
led TO q disclosure OF Scheme LOT
heating. which was suggested to the
Natfonaf Fuel Administration, and
y came to J. Walter Barnes as sugges-
ton for West Virginians. 1t vas to
huTn bricksi The plan was to acCum-
QIate clay bricks and immcrse them in
kerosene. When thoroughly saturat-
ed they can be placed in a stove and
I, lighted where they Will burn for sew
eraI hours. When they burn out all
the kerosene they come to white
heat. When they have cooled OFF they
can be removed and other bricks which
have been soaking in kerosene in the
meantime may be substituted. The adj
vocates of this scheme claim that five
gallons of OH used in this way will give
greater heat than can be obtained
from lead OF fuel wood containing rs