40 AROUND AN OLD HOMESTEAD. 



The floor is of oak, and has nev^er been renewed, and 

 the hearth is made of large bricks. We can see, in 

 under the edges of the carpet, the ends of the old oak 

 planks, still sound, next to the hearth. A couple of 

 andirons, a foot or so apart, stretch out toward the 

 back of the chimney. The slender iron rods that span 

 the hearth, as parallel supports for the wood, are each 

 elevated a few inches at the rear by a small leg, or 

 pin, which is simply a bent-over extension of the hori- 

 zontal cross-piece itself; and they are raised at the 

 front to an equal height by two side-projecting feet, 

 or stems, apiece, attached to the framework. Above 

 these fore bases are two large metal uprights, which 

 serve to keep the wood from spreading too far, and 

 to uphold the backlog, should it ever fall forward. 

 These erect and prominent standards are generally of 

 brass (or, rarely, of hand-forged bronze), formed into 

 bosses, or scrollwork, or other studded and armor-like 

 devices, which are sometimes very curiously artistic 

 and ornamental; and, when well burnished, they reflect 

 in a dancing flicker the light of the fire. In pioneer 

 days they were used to sustain the ends of the spits in 

 cooking, and answered the purpose as a sort of trevet. 

 Those in front of the old fireplace before us date from 

 close to the eighteenth century, and are composed of a 

 series of brass knobs one above another, and the braces 

 beneath them are also of brass. The fire irons, too, 

 are often wrought in relief, with very attractive designs 

 in the antique. 



It is always interesting to observe the different 

 sizes and kinds of wood thrown on a fire in the making 

 of it. There are few pleasures equal to the building 



