172 



/■///•; i;.4A'j)j-:.\/:h'\s momiii.v 



[line. 



iim by a briok kiln in Trotp, which was fired with Idtfr.s l.c._'iriiis lor ruitluT I):lrti<•ul!^r^«, not 

 up with inal. Tlnv n'in:irkf<i to im- that only tVoni various Stales hut from al)roa(l, and 

 tlu'V could burn lirick svithoiil cither coal or ^.y,.]) lioni New Zealand. These letters I eould 

 wood. not answer, even with a manifold letter-writer, 



Their report on their return to Europe was :,nd I have therefore, prepared the present 

 sueh :i.s to brini: a thousand of tlieir eo-reli^'iou- cireular, which the post olViee ran scatter like 

 ists into Nebraska. And while a larj^e number snow-flakes. 



ofthe.se people have <i(>ne into Manitoba, Miu- Tlie -.Mass furnace or stove is nothin-_' costly, 

 nesota, Kansas and Dakota, it is true, I think, or complicated, or likely to fret out of order. ()n 

 that tlu' best class have made their homes in the f>ther hand it is a contrivance so simple that 

 >'ebraska, and in that Slate are to ])e found the ninny will say of it a.s one man did when he lirst 

 ^lost prosperous colonies. Two of their settle- saw a railroad track : "Nobody but a fool could 

 ments there I chanced to visit last autumn— one have thought of so simple a thin;;." In a word, 

 near Beatrice, on the Bis; Blue, and the other as the Irishman made a camion hy takinu a 

 •farther west in York county. Mindful of my larjjje hole and pouriiiLj iron around it, so the 

 conversations four years before, my lirst iiujuiry ISIennonite mother of food and warmth is de- 

 was recardini^ fuel, and the mode of usiiij^ it. In veloped by pilm.i: brick or stones round a 

 every house I enter(Ml, my curiosity was grati- j hollow. 



fied. The fir.st dinner I ate cooked with gra.ss,I | Aware that such generalities are too vague, I 

 set down as a novelty in my experience. A few | will make my description more specific, and 

 words of mine concerning the Mennonite device ' since the eye catches in an instant what the ear 

 for cooking and heating were inserted in a letter ' cannot learn in an hour, I have also had a 

 which appeared in the Chicago Txmes last Octo- diagram ])rcpared which will render the whole 

 ber, and in a pamphlet eiitilled a ''September mystery plain and level to the lowest capacity. 

 Scami)er."' This notice has overwhelmed me (See diagrams.) 



SIDE VIEW OF THE 



" MENNONITE GRASS - BURNER." 



rroTvTs - 



(A) Fiiruiici- I)<"ir to Fire-Bo.\. 



(B) Draft. 

 (O Pipe. 

 (F) Chamber with Iron Shutter (hinged) to let 



out huat. This ( huinhcr has (ioors on l)oth 

 sides ()(' Furnaco. 

 (Cr) Oven or cooking place on Kilcben side of 

 Furnace. 



The material used for th(> Russian 

 furnace seems unimportant. Some 

 employ common brick, others stone; 

 one builder told me he preferred 

 to mix one part of sand witli two of 

 clay. In his judgment this mixture 

 retained heat longest for radiation 

 through a house. The po.sition of 

 the furnace is naturally as cen- 

 tral as possible, because heat 

 tends to diffuse itself on all side.s 

 alike. 



Furnaces will, of course, vary in 

 size with the size of houses. A 

 good model is that shown in the 

 diagram. Its length is five feet, its 

 height six. and its width two and a 

 half. The bricks employed are 

 about six hundred, unless the walls 

 be of extraordinary thickness. The 

 .structure may be said to have six 

 stories. 1, the ash-box ; 2, the fire- 

 box; 3, tlie oven; 4, smoke jiassage; 

 5, hot air chamber ; 0, smoke pass- 

 age either to a chimney or to a drum 

 in an upper room. 



Many questions have been a-sked 

 me as to the size of the fire or fuel- 

 box. Its length is about four feet, 



