CURE FOR SMOKING FIREPLACES 319- 



possible, or at least to hard pan in this case having cement and 

 rubble foundation and below frost line. The chimney breast should 

 be furred out with fireproof lath before plastering to avoid damp- 

 ness and discoloration of walls and decorations. Thimbles and stop- 

 pers in cellar and garret and far away rooms are sometimes a con- 

 venience. 



In pointing up, excellent exterior effects can be obtained by the 

 use of gray, red, black, or white mortar, or raked-out joints of one- 

 half an inch in depth and thickness between the bricks, as preferred. 

 Coal efficiency is lessened when heating flues, especially in thin chim- 

 neys, are allowed to hug exterior walls too closely. 



To so locate a chimney as not to clash with roof lines requires 

 skill, but when well done adds much to the beauty of the house, and 

 he w T ho studies chimney contours and makes a wise selection in design 

 and color will be well repaid. 



The rough stone, dust collecting chimney is frequently a dismal 

 failure, except in appearance, and is suitable only for porch room, 

 bungalow, and possibly billiard room or den. It can be made useful 

 and ornamental. Flues should be from ten to twelve inches in 

 diameter, and all crevices thoroughly filled with cement. It is espe- 

 cially necessary to use tile flues in stone chimneys. 



In fireplaces width, height and strength in design and material 

 were the ear marks for generations until the discovery of coal in the 

 Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries dwarfed and narrowed their 

 beauty as the era of grate, stove, and furnace dawned. 



It is a convenience if fireplaces are provided with iron covered 

 ash flues and connected with the cellar, but the outlet must be care- 

 fully guarded from rubbish, which increases fire hazard. An ash 

 flue, in itself a convenience, was the cause of one of our most disastrous 

 fires. The man of all work carelessly left the iron cellar flue door 

 open, and live coals reached inflammable debris. A cellar fire is the 

 worst kind of a fire, and when fairly started leaps under favoring 

 conditions to the roof-tree in short order. Chimney flues should be 

 provided with iron throats and dampers. Building a fireplace hearth 

 above the level of the floor increases fire risk, even though protected 

 by a fender. A brick partition centreing a fireplace is a novelty. 



In forming hearth arches, the skew-back, made from 4x6 joist, 

 halved to form a triangle, should be nailed against the two long sides 

 of the hearth. This will prevent any displacement of the brick arch 

 through shrinking of wooden floor beams. 



Cure for Smoking Fireplaces. 



Chimneys can be made to draw by having a narrow opening at 

 flue ingress, and providing a smoke shelf, not less than six inches 

 wide the full width of the fireplace, projecting just below the flue 

 edging the fireplace opening. If the back of the fireplace is curved 

 outward three or four inches at the top toward the room, air thus 



