CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



interruption, it will stop the passage of the smoke 

 for a while, and of course force what rises from 

 the fire immediately into the chamber. It is to 

 be observed, that the further the wind gets down 

 the funnel, the greater strength will be required to 

 repel it ; therefore, the nearer to the top the bend 

 or winding is, the better. Also, if there is a heavy 

 shower of hail, snow, or rain, falling perpendicu- 

 larly, the first bend or turning will, in part, stop 

 the progress of the drops ; but if the funnel is 

 perpendicular all the way down, they will fall 

 freely to the bottom, repelling the smoke into 

 the room ; and if the funnel is foul, great 

 quantities of soot will be driven down. These 

 considerations recommend a bend in some part of 

 the funnel as absolutely necessary. 



Garret-chimneys are more liable to smoke than 

 any other in the house, owing to the shortness of 

 the flue ; for when the composition of rarefied 

 air and smoke has made its way up a high flue, 

 it forms a strong column, and to repel it requires 

 a corresponding force ; but in a garret-chimney 

 this strong column cannot be obtained ; therefore, 

 what cannot be had from nature must be aimed 

 at by art. When smokiness is produced by too 

 short a chimney, it will be necessary to add to 

 its length either by building the stalk higher, or 

 inserting an earthenware pot or iron tube at the 

 summit. The building of higher stalks is an 

 infallible remedy, provided all be right below ; 

 but it is attended with danger to adjoining roofs, 

 and is at best unseemly. Pots or cans are useful 

 both in adding to height, and in causing a free dis- 

 engagement and shooting of the smoke as soon as 

 it enters the outer atmosphere. 



Another very common cause of smokiness is 

 fires overpowering one another. For instance, if 

 there be two chimneys in one large room, and you 

 make fires in both of them, the doors and windows 

 close shut, you will find that the greater and 

 stronger fire will overpower the weaker, and draw 

 air down its funnel to supply its own demand ; 

 which air descending in the weaker flue, will 

 drive down its smoke, and force it into the room. 

 If, instead of being in one room, the two chimneys 

 are in two different rooms, communicating by a 

 door, the case is the same whenever that door is 

 open. The remedy for this is, to take care that 

 every room in a house has the means of supplying 

 itself with what air it requires, so that it does 

 not need to borrow air from other rooms. Back- 

 smoke is only cold air loaded with smoke coming 

 down into a room from an adjoining chimney-top, 

 in order to supply, in the readiest manner, air to 

 that room. Thus fires in the lower part of a 

 house will draw air even from a garret-room, 

 and this garret-room will draw air to supply its 

 deficiency, by taking it in a smoky condition from 

 the adjoining chimney-tops. 



Smokiness is also produced when the tops of 

 chimneys are commanded by higher buildings, or 

 by a hill, so that the wind blowing over such 

 eminences falls, like water over a dam, on the 

 tops of the chimneys that lie in its way, and beats 

 down the smoke contained in them. Sometimes 

 we have seen the droll phenomenon though it is 

 no laughing matter of every particle of smoke 

 all of a sudden pouring into the room, in con- 

 sequence of a gust of wind blowing pertinaciously 

 for several minutes down the chimney. Such a 

 form of smokiness arises chiefly from the situation 



794 



of the house, and the want of a bend in the 

 chimney. The remedy to be applied (a very ugly 

 one), consists in fixing on the top of the chimney 

 a turning cap or cowl, which acts like a weather- 

 cock, and keeps its closed side to the wind. 



Supply of Water, whether for dietetic, domestic, 

 or sanitary purposes, has been fully discussed in 

 a previous number (32). The chief care of the 

 housewife is, that she has a sufficient, pure, and 

 wholesome supply of this indispensable element. 

 Where water for domestic purposes is obtained 

 from open streams and pools, caution is always 

 necessary, and especially during summer, when 

 vegetable and animal impurities are most abun- 

 dant. Pump-wells also require to be looked after, 

 especially if they have stood without being used 

 for a time. Where service-pipes are admitted 

 into a house, care is necessary ist, To see that 

 the stop-cocks are always secure, as frequently 

 great damage is occasioned to furniture and ceil- 

 ings by waste water ; 2d, That cisterns be 

 regularly cleaned, and if of lead, that they be 

 not scoured, but simply sluiced out ; and 3d, 

 That during severe frosts the stop-cocks of 

 exposed pipes be allowed to discharge a little, as 

 the flow of water prevents freezing, and consequent 

 bursting of the pipes. 



To purify Water, a vast number of means may 

 be adopted, according to the nature of the im- 

 purities : i. Water may be sweetened and im- 

 proved by free exposure to the air. Pouring it 

 at some height from a watering-pot into a flat 

 vessel will answer this end. 2. Filtration or 

 agitation with freshly burnt charcoal, animal or 

 vegetable, but especially the former, is an excellent 

 method. 3. An ounce or thereby of powdered 

 alum, dissolved and stirred into a hogshead of 

 putrid water, will precipitate the foul matter in a 

 few hours. 4. Hard water may be softened by 

 the addition of a solution of carbonate of soda or 

 potash. 



To filter Water. One or other of the various 

 forms of filters may be used. A simple and 

 efficient filtering-machine is represented in the 

 annexed cut. The water passes first through a 



sponge, which keeps back the coarser impurities, 

 and then through successive layers of small gravel, 

 fine sand, and powdered charcoal. For informa- 

 tion respecting filtration on a large scale, see 

 SUPPLY OF WATER, VoL I., page 502. 



