SOLON ROBINSON, 1847 49 



Warming Houses with "Hot Air" and Stoves, 



[Chicago Prairie Farmer, 7:85; Mar., 1847] 



[February ?, 1847] 



I conceive to be "one of the inventions of the devil for 

 destroying human life." "What! stoves? the old cur- 

 mudgeon ! not allow us any stoves ! we should freeze to 

 death !" I hear a thousand tongues exclaim. All of which 

 I don't believe a word of ; for when I was once a little boy 

 there were none of these abominable inventions in that 

 part of Yankeedom where I was warmed into existence 

 by one of those good old-fashioned christian fireplaces, 

 with the "old settle" in one corner and oven in the other. 

 And who ever heard of folks freezing to death in those 

 days. 



"But the stoves save so much fuel." Granted ; but it is 

 at the expense of human life! Rooms are made almost 

 air tight, and then the atmosphere, or what little remains 

 shut up, is roasted with a red hot stove, then breathed, 

 then roasted again, and so on, without the least chance 

 of renewal, until the occupants of such rooms become so 

 enfeebled that they are in danger of freezing to death 

 whenever they encounter such a blast as our ancestors 

 would have considered only a healthy breeze. As for 

 cooking stoves, in a large well ventilated kitchen, I don't 

 object to so much; although the steam and smoke from 

 them, under the most favorable circumstances, is any 

 thing but comfortable or healthy. 



In a room warmed by a fire place, there is a constant 

 current of pure fresh air kept up, by the draft of the 

 chimney. Besides, who can forget those healthy, happy 

 hearths of auld lang syne, where we spent the long cheer- 

 ful winter evenings of our youth, building "castles in the 

 coals" of a great wood fire. 



But I have done. I am aware that I am in a heathen 

 land, where stoves are worshipped, and to avoid "burn- 

 ing my own fingers" I must bow my knees to the national 

 idol. I remain your frozen friend, Solon Robinson.^ 



' The editor entered a firm defense of "air tights," but admitted 

 that ventilation should receive more study in house construction. 



