April, 1906 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 263 
The Kitchen 
IV.—The Refrigerator and Sink 
By Sarah Adams Keller 
HE refrigerator, it need hardly be pointed 
out is not, in a strict sense, a part of the 
kitchen furnishing. The kitchen is the last 
place in the house in which to keep a refrig- 
erator. But it is an essential part of the 
s equipment of the kitchen department. In 
city houses its place will generally be in the pantry; in coun- 
try houses it will stand under a porch just outside the kitchen 
door, or in another convenient spot, where it may be 
easily reached from within and be as cool as_ possible. 
Special provision for a refrigerator should be made in every 
newly built house. It should never be exposed to the south 
or west, or stood against walls in those directions. If a 
north wall is unavailable, as being without sun exposure, the 
eastern wall may be used, as that receives less sun during the 
day than the south and west walls. A refrigerator so placed 
that the ice can be put in through an outside window or 
opening is a vast convenience. 
There are so many kinds and types of refrigerators that 
the expense permitted is apt to be the standard to be ob- 
served in the choice. ‘he latest types of porcelain and glass 
refrigerators, which speak aloud their sanitary value and 
cleanliness, are at once the envy and the despair of those who 
regard them as too high priced for their means. ‘They rep- 
resent the best modern sanitary ideas in refrigerator con- 
struction and are beautiful and refreshing to look at as well 
as very admirable household conveniences. 
Of refrigerators in general it should be pointed out that 
whatever the kind selected it must be of a size proportionate 
to the necessary requirements. ‘That is to say, it is quite as 
bad to have a refrigerator too large as one that is too small. 
A large refrigerator is costly in consuming ice, a small piece 
of ice that is quite sufficient for a moderate sized refrigera- 
tor being totally inadequate to a large one. In a small re- 
frigerator the contents are apt to be piled together indiscrim- 
inately, whereas the careful housekeeper is fully alive to the 
necessity of keeping many kinds of foods separate, especially 
milk and butter, which quickly absorb odors from vegetables 
and other foods. 
The refrigerator must be kept scrupulously cleaned. It 
should be washed out with scalding water and washing soda 
at least once a week; this washing should be literally thorough 
and should extend to every part. The shelving should be of 
smooth woven wire, as offering the least obstruction to a free 
circulation. If a stale odor should be detected at any time the 
shelves should be taken out and boiled for at least twenty 
minutes. The waste pipe must always be thoroughly washed 
when the refrigerator is cleaned, and under no circumstances 
whatever should it be directly connected with a sewer pipe. 
A refrigerator is intended for service, and is often sub- 
jected to much harder service than it was designed to with- 
stand. As a rule it has no ornamental aspects that need be 
considered, highly finished refrigerators having no special 
utility, and it is seldom possible to place them where any ex- 
ternal splendor is an advantage. 
A sink is an indispensable and necessary adjunct of every 
kitchen. It includes the water supply and the chief waste 
pipe, and it is in almost constant use as a work bench or table. 
It should be placed where it is well lighted, so that it can 
both be seen and readily used. A position immediately below 
a window is undesirable, as the window is difficult to open 
and clean; moreover, a sink 
often great conveniences and these would not be desirable 
over a window. It should be given as much space as possi- 
ble and not be crowded. It is often placed in a corner, and 
corner sinks are one of the standard commercial forms. If 
possible the two ends should stand free; this permits the 
sink to be approached from three sides, and allows two drain 
boards, one at each end, if desired. 
Sinks are made of a considerable variety of materials, in- 
cluding iron, enamel, stone and porcelain, the porcelain sinks 
being the most expensive and the most attractive because of 
their inherent apparent cleanliness. The material is likely to 
be determined by the cost, and the selection is rather to be 
subordinated to the form which must provide for open space 
below. ‘The enclosed sink is one of the most vicious of un- 
sanitary devices, and is not only contrary to all good modern 
uses, but should be immediately removed when found in old 
houses. The amount of dirt and vermin that the enclosed 
sink harbors surpasses belief. High grade sinks sometimes 
include a drain board—a useful article of kitchen furniture— 
at one end; other types include a division of the sink into 
two parts, one for ordinary kitchen or w ashing purposes, the 
other for rinsing; in others the drain board is separate and 
movable and is added to one end. Vegetable wash sinks are 
small porcelain sinks used for washing vegetables only. 
Butler’s sinks properly belong to the pantry: they are made 
of copper, German silver or other metal enclosed within a 
hardwood box. 
Sink plumbing, as in all plumbing work in the kitchen, re- 
quires great care and skill. It should, of course, be of the 
best “‘exposed” plumbing type. The pipes should be of the 
best quality, and only the finest kind of joint work should be 
permitted. There is a wide range of choice in the matter of 
faucets and other fixtures. 
In many houses the laundry is a department wholly apart 
from the kitchen. The washing and ironing are greatly 
facilitated by this division, but it is not always possible te 
arrange it in houses of small size and cost. The wash tubs 
may, therefore, be referred to here as a part of the kitchen 
department, although they need not necessarily be consid- 
ered as being placed in the kitchen. If there is a separate 
laundry it will have its own stove, a small round affair in- 
tended exclusively for laundry purposes, and which will 
enable the heavy work of washing and ironing to be carried 
out without interfering with the necessary daily work with 
the cook stove. 
Stationary wash tubs are too well known and too widely 
recognized a boon to the modern housewife to call for com- 
mendation in this place. They have greatly lessened the 
fatigue of a necessary part of household work and are among 
the most valuable of recent household devices. Like the 
sinks, they are made of various materials and can be had at 
various prices, the most expensive again, being the most at- 
tractive in appearance. The wash tub is, however, an article 
of special utility, and if well made of good materials, well 
connected, and supplied with a plentiful supply of hot and 
cold water placed at a convenient height above the floor and 
connected with high grade plumbing, the special kind of ma- 
terial becomes of somewhat secondary importance. 
one or two shelves above 
