The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1953-12-04
THE OLD
WOOD
HEATER
By CARLTON NORRIS

Many writers nave written
with nostalgia of shortenin
bread, hush puppies, the old
rocking chair and the old oaken
bucket that hangs in the well, but
the one thing that has an idivid-
uality all its own has been COM
pletely neglected, namely the old
wood heater.
The name wood heater" is a
miSnomer, for the one that l re-
call best had sides of heavy sheet
iron and had a cast iron top and
bottom. Down through the years,
the sides were burned away
many many times, but always re-
pairs could be made and the old
cast iron top and bottom kept
the heater going.
AS I grew up, the winters of my
youth were spent in deadly COM
bat with that old heater. Wood
and more wood was needed to
feed its greedy nav and l hated
it with all my heart, yet coming
in out of a cold snow, l was al
ways delighted to- huddle up to
its glowing sides.
| Well l recall how the fire must
be banked each cold night with
some of my choice oak wood that
had required much back break
ing toll to reduce to the right
length to fit the old heater. De-
spite all the wood that could be
jammed into it at bedtime, al
ways when 1 crawled shivering
forth the next morning and open
ed the draft hopefully, l would
only find it cold and unrespon-
Sive. And ashes ah, the ashes
that would accumulate from the
hardwood that it burned! AL
though the thing was cold as
ice on a freezing morning, when
I hastily brought in a tub and a
can to dig out the ashes, there
would be a red hot bed of live
Goals that would SINCE the hairs
on my arms and blister my
fingers, to say nothing of leaving
a coat of dust over the whole
household.
Despite my reluctance, each
morning I would break the kind
ling into ragged pieces and shak-
ingly apply lighted match to it.
Easing down into the depths of
the old heater, would build up
the fire little by little until it
reached the point where I could
begin to add on heavy wood
Eventually the old heater would
puff along merrily and I would
back up as close as I dared for
it showed no favorites. 1t would
fry anything that touched it. One
of my biggest problems was
dressing. 1 never could decide
which would be best, to pull on
my icy clothes before building
fire in the old heater or build
the fire and then dress. l tried
both ways, but could never make
up my mind as to which was the
least painful.
1t was beside the old wood
heater that I grew up with my
family of three sisters. There was
Doras, the eldest beside me, who
had the personality for the fam
lily, and Mary who was the quiet
one, and Margaret, the pretty
one. Being the only boy, always
I was the one to feed the old
heater.
AS I grew up the old heater
became a symbol of my growth
and coming manhood for as ]
grew in years and stature, l be-
gan to get the best of the deal. AS
a child most of my spare time
was devoted to cutting wood fol
the heater, but as I grew larger
I could do the work in much less
time, but. the old girl was not
through with me. The last licking
my dad ever gave me was caused
by the old heater.
Doris, the eldest beside me, who
Christmas when my dad told me
l must cut some wood and hau
it home for the heater. Like mos
boys, thought 1 could do it mos
any time and so spent the day!