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all traceable to the original. His name is usually given the 

 variety provided with open grates, but there can be no doubt 

 that the original embodied also the principles of the now 

 widely used " air-tight" stoves to which his directions are per- 

 fectly applicable. One of the advantages claimed for the stove 

 was that it was a refuge from the nuisance of smoky chimneys. 

 At that time the true principles of chimney construction had not 

 been worked out so that a perfect chimney was the exception 

 and open fire-places not an unmixed luxury. To beguile the 

 tedium and discomfort of a seven weeks' voyage across the 

 Atlantic, Franklin set down his observations and recommenda- 

 tions and gave them to a suffering world as his famous pam- 

 phlet on the " Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys." Having 

 applied his accurate eye and judgment to these common-place 

 things and having made scientific publications of mark con- 

 cerning them, he had the satisfaction of knowing that by his 

 plans for perfecting chimneys, for getting the most heat from 

 fuel and for securing wholesome currents of air in close apart- 

 ments, he had dispelled much ignorance and enhanced the sum 

 of human comfort. 



That Franklin was foremost in all public measures, for found- 

 ing a hospital, advancing popular education, lighting and 

 paving streets, and organizing fire companies, is generally appre- 

 ciated, but it is not so widely known that he took steps in his 

 will to improve the water supply of this city. Haying noticed 

 the tendency of well water in old cities to grow gradually un- 

 fit for use, he foresaw that in time a change to a better pro- 

 tected source would be necessary to the public health. In his 

 last will he provided that at the end of a hundred years, if not 

 done before, the corporation of this city should employ a 

 bequest in bringing by pipes the water of Wissakickon creek 

 to the town. After a hundred years, his beloved city is con- 



