56 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



wood is hidden ; then light a detached piece of pa- 

 per with a match and place it under the grate, hold- 

 ing it close to the paper already there, let that pa- 

 per fairly catch, put on the blower, and in about 

 five minutes the coal will be ignited ; then add one 

 or two shovelsful more and replace the blower, and 

 soon you will have a glowing fire without one fail- 

 ure in a whole winter ; and it will not consume five 

 minutes' time, after the gi-ate is cleaned out. 



But you must know the philosophy of all this, or 

 you will not remember the details five minutes. 



The wood must be small and inclose proximity to 

 the paper ; for before anything burns, it must be 

 saturated with caloric, it must get hot, and the 

 smaller the piece of wood is the sooner it will get 

 hot, and the less heat, or caloric, will make it so ; 

 and as paper gives out but little heat, unless the 

 wood is small and close, it will be scattered, and 

 thus fail to ignite. The same is particularly true of 

 anthracite coal; it must be thoroughly heated be- 

 fore it takes fire, and it is easy to see that it requires 

 a less amount of caloric to heat a small piece of 

 coal than a large one, and less time, too ; — thus it 

 is, that the most effectual way of putting out a 

 "poor" coal fire, is to fill up the grate with fresh 

 coal ; for there was enough caloric to have heated 

 a few small pieces to the kindling point ; but when 

 distributed to a larger amount, none of it was rais- 

 ed to the degree requisite for ignition. Therefore 

 always put on a little coal at a time. 



In this way, as much wood four or five inches 

 long as may be grasped in one hand is abundantly 

 Rufiicient for kindling one fire promptly of anthra- 

 cite coal, and certainly thus we have kindled a fire 

 two seasons with one load, that is, a third of a cord 

 of pine wood. P'amilies will economise by having 

 the "lengths" theoretically four feet, practically, 

 three and a half scant, cut six times ; it gives more 

 shillings to the sawyers, but fewer dollai's to the 

 wood-man. It will be of additional economy and in^ 

 terest to know, that in cleaning out the grate in the 

 morning, you will have a good substitute for coke, 

 if after se])arai.ing the ashes, the pieces of partially 

 burnt coal are thrown into a pail of water to be 

 used next morning. They thus derive a new sup 

 ply of oxygen from the water, and kindle easily 

 with a bright flame. Whereas, if placed on the 

 fire without having been soaked in water they 

 smoulder av.'ay, giving but little light or warmth 

 Only the black-looking pieces in the water are fit 



On one occasion, however, a "builder had got too 

 much weight on the centre of an arch, and that cen- 

 tre being supported by the wooden arch, and the 

 masonry having shrunken so that the feet of the 

 arch did not rest very firmly on their foundations, 

 they began to spread out. On seeing this the 

 workmen became alarmed and started to run, ex- 

 pecting a crash; but the master-builder, wiser than 

 the rest in respect to the principles of the arch, 

 seized a sledge-hammer and knocked out the wood- 

 en support which had sustained the arch, and which 

 was now destroying it, and this allowed the whole 

 pressure to come equally on every portion of the 

 arch, when it Instantly became fixed and self-sup- 

 porting, and the more burden was then put upon it 

 the stronger it became. 



Does any young man detect in this a moral, ap- 

 plicable to his own character and the training to 

 which he has been subjected ? Has he been reared 

 in luxury and ease, and sheltered and protected by 

 his parents and friends ? Does he lean on his friends 

 and feel inclined to avoid responsibility, and live 

 under the guidance of others, and be secured from 

 danger in his course ? If so, let him knock out the 

 supports and leave the arch to settle down upon its 

 own bearing, and become self-supporting. 



Nearly every man of note, who stands self-poised, 

 independent, and influential in community, was ear- 

 ly thrown upon his own resources. The youthful 

 Cass, with his entire property tied in a cotton hand- 

 kerchief and hung over his sftoulder on a rough 

 stick, crossed the Alleghanies and buried himself in 

 the western wilderness. Daniel Webster worked 

 his way to fame and the courts of kings, from hav- 

 ing "but two red cents," as he said in a letter to 

 his brother, and being among strangers and un- 

 known. Henry Clay was the poor "mil! boy of the 

 slashes," and became a peer of the ablest statesmen 

 and greatest orators of his age. Jackson was a 

 poor ophan boy, and by dint of unconquerable en- 

 ergy and self-reliance made himself master of a 

 signal position, and swayed for years the destiny of 

 his age and nation. Napoleon was a jjoor soldier, 

 and carved out for himself a name, and taught the 

 whole of Europe to fear him. Roger Sherman 

 was a shoemaker, but feeling the spirit of greatness 

 struggling for distinction, he took the hint and 

 signed the Declaration of Independence. 



But why enumerate ? Everywhere In the differ- 

 ent walks of life we find those most effective and 



