COUNT KUMFORD'S COOKING-STOVES. 49 



Linen-closets may also be warmed by this residual heat. 



The fifth rule is also violated to an extent that renders the 

 words uttered by Rumford nearly a century ago as applicable 

 now as then. He said, " Nothing is so ill-judged as most of 

 those attempts that are frequently made by ignorant projectors 

 to force the same fire to perform different services at the same 



Note the last words, ' ' same time. ' ' In the uses above 

 mentioned the heat does different work successively, which is 

 quite different from the common practice of having flues to 

 turn the flame of one fire in opposite directions, to split its heat 

 and make one fireplace appear to do the work of two. 



Every householder knows that the kitchen fire, whether it 

 be an old-fashioiied open fireplace, or a modern kitchener of 

 any improved construction, is a very costly affair. He knows 

 that its wasteful work produces the chief item of his coal bill, 

 but somehow or other he is helpless under its infliction. If he 

 has given any special attention to the subject he has probably 

 tried three or four different kinds without finding any notable 

 relief. Why is this ? I venture to make a reply that will 

 cover 90 per cent, or probably 99 per cent, of these cases viz. 

 that he has never considered the main source of waste, which 

 Rumford so clearly defines as above, and which was eliminated 

 in all the kitchens that he erected. 



Let us suppose the case of a household of ten persons, but 

 which in the ordinary course of English hospitality sometimes 

 entertains twice that number. What do we find in the kitchen 

 arrangements ? Simply that there is one fireplace suited for the 

 maximum requirements i.e. sufficient for twenty, even though 

 that number may not be entertained more than half a dozen 

 times in the course of a year. To cook a few rashers of 

 bacon, boil a few eggs, and boil a kettle of water for break- 

 fast, a fire sufficient to cook for a dinner party of twenty is at 

 work. This is kept on all day long, because it is just possible 

 that the master of the house may require a glass of grog at 

 bedtime. There may be dampers and other devices for regulat- 

 ing this fire, but such regulation, even if applied, does very 

 little so long as the capacity of the grate remains, and as a 

 matter of ordinary fact the dampers and other regulating 

 devices are neglected altogether ; the kitchen fire is blazing 

 and roaring to waste from 6 or 7 A.M. to about midnight, in 

 order to do about three hours and a half work i.e. the dinner 

 for ten, and a nominal trifle for the other meals. 



