No. 6. 



Orr^s Air -Tight Stove. 



173 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Orr's Air-Tight Stove. 



Mr. Editor, — I approve of the rule to ex- 

 clude advertisements, as such, from the pages 

 of the Cabinet ; but when a real advantage to 

 the community can be made known by men- 

 tion of it in the course of its publication — par- 

 ticularly when the recommendation comes 

 from one who has tested its pretensions, and 

 found them in every respect what they pur- 

 port to be, and who is, moreover, in no way 

 interested in the sale of the article, either 

 directly or indirectly — it would appear to be 

 doing general service to point it out as a thing 

 to be desired, and not as a thing to be adver- 

 tised. 



In the Philadelphia Ledger of this morn- 

 ing, is an article on the burning of anthracite 

 coal in stoves, in which the writer remarks, 

 that great use is made of iron vessels for 

 evaporating water to regulate the atmosphere 

 of the apartments thus heated by coal fires; 

 and recommends the substitution of earthen 

 vessels for this purpose, renewing the water 

 every day and rinsing out the bowl; water 

 evaporated in iron vessels being very offen- 

 sive, rendering the atmosphere of the apart- 

 ments impure as well as disagreeable ; advis- 

 ing, for parlours where the atmosphere is 

 desired to be pleasant and agreeable, a small 

 quantity of Cologne water to be added to the 

 clean water, which will diffuse itself in the 

 atmosphere of the room, and make it plea- 

 sant ! The writer adds, " The heat produced 

 by hard or anthracite coal, is very different 

 from that produced by bituminous coal, and 

 is injurious to persons in delicate health ; 

 rooms in which hard coal is burnt, require 

 more ventilation than where bituminous coal 

 is used." 



Now, having myself been long subject to 

 the inconvenience and injury arising from 

 burning anthracite coal in close stoves, and 

 having suffered considerably in my health 

 from the cause above alluded to, I have at 

 length been induced to substitute in their 

 place the air-tight stove invented by Orr, for 

 the burning of wood ; and if it were possible, 

 would describe the difference experienced 

 from the change — but words are inadequate, 

 and therefore I need not attempt it. The 

 price, $10, will be saved in the difference in 

 the cost of fuel the present winter ; while the 

 convenience, cleanliness, comfort, and conso- 

 lation, arising from the circumstance of hav- 

 ing at all times, by night as well as by day, 

 just so much heat and no more, as you desire 

 and in an instant, merely by turning off or 

 on the draught by the finger and thumb, are 

 just inconceivable, and not to be appreciated 

 except by experience. It may be added, the 

 fire is made up in the morning by supplying 



half a dozen short billets of wood, and no 

 more will be required, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, for twenty-four or perhaps thirty- 

 six hours, the stove being perfectly closed on 

 retiring for the night, during which the pro- 

 cess of charring goes on, but no flaming. 

 I am tempted to say, I closed tight the door 

 of my stove at ten o'clock last night, and hav- 

 ing occasion to rise at three this morning, pre- 

 paratory for a journey, I found the atmosphere 

 of the room 70 degrees of heat by the ther- 

 mometer, at the farthest part from the fire ; 

 and by raising the draught half an inch, I in- 

 creased it to a degree that quite surprised me. 

 It is not too much to say, I calculate that one- 

 tenth part of the wood required to heat a room 

 by burning in an open chimney, will be more 

 tlian sufficient to keep the same room at the 

 same temperature by means of the air-tight 

 stove ; and then, the convenience of having 

 to light the fire but once in the season, and 

 taking from the stove in the morning suffi- 

 cient charcoal to light all the other fires in 

 the house, will render it the most profitable, 

 as well as desirable, of all the numerous con- 

 trivances that have come down to us in the 

 shape of about five hundred varieties of 

 stoves, of all sizes, shapes, and prices. I am 

 now quite convinced that the expensive appa- 

 ratus for warming houses by hot air is no lon- 

 ger necessary, for by means of the air-tight 

 stove, all that is desirable can be obtained far 

 more certainly, quicker, and incomparably 

 more pleasant in its effects, at a tenth of the 

 expense ; and by which, also, the very preva- 

 lent complaint of bronchitis will, I am satis- 

 fied, be avoided, the cause of that disorder 

 being the inhaling of air that has passed over 

 a red-hot body of metal, thus having been 

 rendered unfit for respiration — at least, this 

 is my firm conviction, in which I am justified 

 by the effects of the last few days, since I 

 have discarded the iron cylinder coal-stove^ 

 and obtained one of the air-tight wood-stoves. 

 For the sick-chamber it is peculiarly adapted, 

 as it emits no unpleasant smell, creates no 

 noise or dust in managing, diffusing a gentle 

 heat, or rather glow, that can be regulated to 

 a degree by means of a thermometer at any 

 moment, keeping it up to that point which 

 might be recommended by the physician — a 

 point which, in many cases, is of vital import- 

 ance ; while to the medical practitioner him- 

 self, whose office-hours are uncertain to a 

 proverb, and whose nights are so often bro- 

 ken in upon by professional calls, the use of 

 this stove is most desirable; for on leaving 

 home, he can regulate the draught by closing 

 the door, and in an instant, on his return, 

 raise the heat to the degree he might choose, 

 and that, after the absence of twelve hours, 

 or even double that time. And the student, 

 also, whose hours of recreation are so often 



