FIRE-CLAY AND ANTHRACITE. 319 



duces no "blacks," no grimy dust, and if it were generally 

 in use throughout London one half of the house-cleaning 

 would be saved. White curtains, blinds, etc., might hang 

 quite four times as long, and then come down not half so 

 dirty as now. The saving in soap alone, without counting- 

 labor, would at once return a handsome percentage on 

 the capital outlay required for reconstructing all our fire- 

 places. 



Let us now look on the other side, and ask what are the 

 disadvantages of anthracite, and why is it not at once 

 adopted by everybody? There is really only one disadvan- 

 tage, viz., the greater difficulty of starting an anthracite 

 fire. Practically this is considerable, seeing that laziness 

 is universal and ever ready to find excuses when an innova- 

 tion is proposed that stands in its way. To light an an- 

 thracite fire in an ordinary fireplace the bellows are required 

 unless a specially suitable draught or fire-lighter is used. 

 Some recommend that an admixture of bituminous coal 

 should be used to start it, but this is a feeble device calcu- 

 lated to lead to total failure, seeing that the sole originator 

 and sustainer of our ordinary use of bituminous coal is do- 

 mestic ignorance and indolence, and if both kinds of coal 

 are kept in a house a common English servant will stub- 

 bornly use the easy-lighting kind, and solemnly assert that 

 the other cannot be used at all. The only way to deal with 

 this obstacle, the human impediment, is to say, " This you 

 must use, or go." This is strictly just, as a simple enforce- 

 ment of duty. 



At the same time some help should be supplied in the 

 way of artificial modes of creating a draught in starting an 

 anthracite fire. This may be done by temporarily closing 

 the front of the fire by a "blower," or better still by select- 

 ing one of the grates specially devised for burning anthra- 

 cite, of which so many now are made. Another and rather 

 important matter is to obtain the anthracite in suitable 

 condition. It is a very hard coal, too hard to be broken 

 by the means usually at hand in ordinary houses. For do- 

 mestic purposes it should always be delivered broken up of 

 suitable size, from that of an egg to a cocoa-nut. For fur- 

 naces, of course, large lumps are preferable. 



