USING WOOD IN FIREPLACES TO CONSERVE COAL 



753 



ural color. In this English type the fire- 

 place opening is in itself rather small in 

 comparison to the scope of the whole de- 

 sign. A very much stronger and more defi- 

 nite note is struck by the picture and carv- 

 ing over the mantel which are, in them- 

 selves, important and necessary parts of the 

 composition, making the mantel frame and 

 the "over mantel" together form the entire 

 and distinct feature of design. 



In the fireplace and paneling in Mr. 

 Baer's house, on the other hand, an entirely 

 different scheme, and different theory of 

 design is found. In this latter type the 

 overmantel is subordinated in importance 

 to a large and ample fireplace opening. In 

 this case it will be noted that no decoration 

 whatever is found in the place occupied by 

 the picture and the carving in the Belton 

 example, and the fire opening is in this 

 way emphasized and made the important 

 element of design. This emphasis upon the 

 opening itself is further accentuated by the 

 absence of any mantel shelf and the use of 

 a single bold and emphatically simple 

 molded frame. This is a good example of 

 early Colonial work and illustrates a type 

 of wall treatment that deserves the care- 

 ful and earnest consideration of the home 

 builder of today. 



"The paneling shown in this room," 

 writes the architect, "was taken out of an 

 old house of about the same period as that 

 of my own residence and dates, approxi- 

 mately, from the year 1750. It was deliv- 

 ered at my house in absolutely original 

 condition, and, as antique buyers say, 'in 

 the rough.' Built of local pine, it had in 

 the course of years received coat upon 

 coat of paint, some good and some of ex- 

 tremely poor quality. Much of this had 

 been chipped off and in order to finish 

 the woodwork properly after it was set 

 up in the room, it was necessary to burn 

 off a large part of this paint and to care- 

 fully scrape off the remainder. After thij, 

 the woodwork was given two and th<"r, 

 three coats of paint which I selected as be- 

 ing without any doubt the best for the pur- 

 pose. Finally a coat of flat enamel was ap- 

 plied. The importance of the selection of 

 proper paint cannot be over-emphasized. 

 Between each coat, to make a good job, 

 the paint should be properly sandpapered." 



The last of the three types occupies a 

 middling course between the two extremes 

 already discussed and is found illustrated 

 in the mantels most frequently found in 

 later Colonial and English work and 

 which may be illustrated by the mantel 

 heading this article and by an interesting 

 one in Salem, designed by Samuel Mcln- 

 tire and erected in 1799. This latter type 

 is more often used than the earlier Colo- 

 nial one and perhaps is justly the more 

 popular scheme. Certainly it fits better in 

 the unpaneled room and it suggests a cer- 



tain informality and homelikeness which, 

 though making its use impossible in the 

 formally arranged or decorated room, 

 makes its use advisable in a far greater 

 number of conditions than is possible in 

 the case of either of the previous types. 



While the Salem example is an authen- 

 tic antique and probably built, also, of 

 some local wood, the illustration which 

 appears over the verse on the first page 

 is quite modern in erection, but is an ex- 

 act reproduction of an old mantel now in 

 the possession of Mr. Arthur Todhunter, 

 of New York city, who has done much to 

 further art appreciation in the home by the 

 many splendid products of his business. 

 Such mantels and fireplace furnishings 

 from well designed antique models are 

 within the reach of every house builder at 

 a cost very often far smaller than would 

 be necessary for the purchase of consider- 

 bly inferior designs elsewhere. 



It will be noted that this third type of 

 mantel is designed quite independently of 

 the surrounding wall. And while it is 

 found both in paneled and in plastered 

 rooms it has no more actual decorative re- 

 lation to one than to the other. While the 

 first type, to be successful, must be designed 

 with an equally important overmantel, and 

 the second type derives its entire success 

 from the absence of the same, and loses 

 much of its, effectiveness if the space above 

 it is not left severely unornamented. The 

 space over this third type is left to be deco- 

 rated as the house furnisher wishes. An 

 old pictorial paper makes decorations im- 

 possible in the Salem example, but the 

 other illustration shows the scope left to 

 personal taste in the matter of mirrors and 

 mantel shelf decorations. 



The structural materials selected for the 

 work, and the manner in which these are 

 finished is important. When the decora- 

 tive scheme calls for woods left in rich 

 natural colors materials must be selected 

 with care both with regard to their color 

 and wearing qualities. In recent work 

 many interesting results have been ob- 

 tained with practically every domestic 

 wood. Much work could be illustrated in 

 which results of the greatest interest and 

 merit have been obtained in the use of 

 American oak, red gum, walnut, cypress 

 and many others. For work which is to 

 be finished with heavy coats of paint or 

 enamel (which must be selected with care 

 and in the light of the conditions tha' 

 maintain in the paint market at the present 

 day) the favorites seem to be, to name only 

 a few, pine, spruce, maple, cypress and 

 others. 



And finally, when all is said and done 

 and we have had our artistic appreciation 

 and all the homelike coziness that an open 

 fire will give, we need in no wise look upon 

 our enjoyment as a selfish extravagance or 



a self indulgence, but rather as a sacri- 

 fice that our brothers and fathers^ may 

 thereby be furnished with those things that 

 will assure for them safety and some de- 

 gree of comfort and a final happy issue 

 out of this present great conflict in which 

 they, in far distant lands, are fighting so 

 bravely and so unselfishly for the protec- 

 tion of our homes and of the lives of those 

 who are dearest to them and to us. 



In itself the contribution to the grand 

 total seems a pitiful and an insignificant 

 one, but it so happens that from our seem- 

 ingly unimportant economy in this one 

 particular, and from our saving of coal 

 that follows as a result of this use of wood 

 fires, we have a positive assurance that we 

 are making possible the production of 

 materials for the final and complete crush- 

 ing of that hideous and monstrous and al- 

 most unspeakably degraded and cruel 

 enemy that comes to our very doors threat- 

 ening our lives and menacing the continu- 

 ance of our best traditions and those ideals 

 for the establishment of which our fore- 

 fathers laid down their lives long yearS'igo. 



Those who are: now at the front, and 

 those who will soon be there, will be most 

 in your thoughts this Christmas Day and 

 they will be glad to know that you at home 

 are helping in all, even in these apparently 

 unimportant ways. ' j, 



Through all the long months that they 

 must spend on foreign soil and during 

 which they must contend with the neces- 

 sary privations of wa*, it will inspire tbem 

 to greater and nobler efforts to know that 

 you are comfortably established at horn?, 

 out of the way of harm, and keeping up 

 those traditions and conditions to which 

 they hope, after their final, glorious vic- 

 tory, to return. 



And, in doing this, in lighting your fire- 

 place, you have the satisfaction of knowing 

 that every wood fire, every additional cord 

 of wood and every ton of coal saved in 

 home use means almost untold protection 

 to your soldiers in the form of the possible 

 additional production of ammunition for 

 their use. Every cloud of smoke ascend- 

 ing from our chimneys, where it comes 

 from a wood fire, means just so much fuel 

 saved to prevent the ghastly conditions 

 caused by a shortage of ammunition that 

 brought about those horrible catastrophes 

 in Russia and more recently on the Italian 

 front. ', 



Victorious advances will require far 

 more munitions than defensive campaigns 

 and in the future as victories increase the 

 need of straining every energy to supply 

 these munitions will be necessary. You, the 

 government knows, will assist in this by 

 using less ai:d less coal at this time and 

 by substituting for it comfortable fires of 

 wood. A small sacrifice, surely, even at 

 its very worst, for so good a cause. 



