“ In multitude of counsellors there is safety.” A 
noticeable feature of our symposia is that writers dis¬ 
agree. As we believe in fair play, this is necessary. 
But there is another point to be considered ; we are 
always able to strengthen our arguments when we 
know what the opposition has to say. So we would 
invite a more general response to the questions sug¬ 
gested in this column from time to time. It doesn’t 
make any difference which side you are on. 
? § s 
Mrs Crkveland is a most devoted mother, and so 
much of her time is given to the care of her children 
that society has felt itself somewhat ignored and has 
scarcely been able to refrain from open criticism of 
the first lady of the land. It is not likely that Mrs. 
Cleveland neglected her duties as mistress of the 
White House ; but if those duties did at any time con- 
fiict with her duty as a mother, all honor to her if 
she chose to do the God-given task rather than to con¬ 
sider herself amenable to a mere law of etiquette. 
5 ? S 
When men go through a course of training in doing 
housework, our kitchen arrangements will be im¬ 
proved. Mrs. Mary Wager-Fisher in a recent article 
said : “ The assumption by woman of so much of the 
work that men formerly did, must of necessity, oblige 
men to take up the work abandoned by women.” If 
domestic economy is to be put on a better basis, it must 
be through one of two ways: Women must become 
the architects and builders of the homes; or men must 
be graduated from the kitchen and other branches of 
housework before they undertake to make the houses 
and the tools with which the work is done. 
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE KITCHEN. 
WHAT SHALL BE THE HEATING POWER? 
Charcoal, gas, and electricity discussed. The kitchen range 
must he reconstructed with regard to hot weather 
demands. 
Cooking by Electricity. 
In Germany it is pretty generally conceded that 
woman belongs to the realm of domestic economy, 
and it is gratifying to see that science is making inno¬ 
vations in the kitchen for its betterment. The follow¬ 
ing account was translated from a Vienna periodical 
for The Literary Digest: 
The present system of cooking with wood, coal, or 
oil, or even gas, has many insurmountable disadvan¬ 
tages, and it was with the object of providing an effi¬ 
cient substitute for them that electric technicists were 
led to construct the electric kitchen range which we 
are about to describe. Before going into details, it 
will be well to direct the attention of the general 
reader to the fact that every conductor of an electric 
current opposes a certain measure of resistance, 
whereby a portion of the electric energy is transmuted 
into heat. This results in a heating of the wire, which, 
under certain conditions, may become red-hot. The 
tension of the current must be increased with the size 
of the wire, in order to heat it, and to maintain it at 
the necessary temperature while it is transmitting 
heat to other bodies in contact with it. 
Innumerable experiments have been made with the 
object of determining what metal compositions can 
be employed for the heating apparatus in a cooking 
range. Of course, this is an important matter for con¬ 
sideration, for if the metal melts, there would be an 
interruption of the current, and failure would result. 
Every electric cooking apparatus has a double bot¬ 
tom, supplied with a circular system of metallic 
threads which the electric current must cross. Be¬ 
tween these metallic threads and the part of the ap¬ 
paratus to be heated, there is a plate of mica, which 
performs the double function of insulating the wire 
and conducting the heat to the walls of the cooking 
vessel Between the metallic threads and that portion 
of the cooking apparatus which it is not desired to 
heat, there is a strong layer of a material which is a 
non-conductor of heat, so that there is no waste of 
heat. Among the furnishings of the range, such as 
teakettles, coffeepots, baking dishes, frying pans, 
etc., there are tongs for bringing the above described 
conduction system into the sweep of the current. As 
soon as this is done, a powerful resistance is set up to 
the passage of the current, generating great heat, 
which is transferred to the sides of the cooking vessel. 
The illustration. Fig. 130, presents a complete view of 
an electric range, such as was introduced into the 
United States, where, as is the case with all practical 
innovations, its success has been followed by numer¬ 
ous installations of similar apparatus. The appear¬ 
ance of this range produces a very favorable impres¬ 
sion. Clean and convenient in every respect, it pre¬ 
sents many advantages over the old system of cooking. 
First, there is the perfect uniformity of the heat, 
which admits of shortening the time and also having 
a roast, for example, ready at the required moment, 
without any risk of burning. Further, the teakettle 
or coffeepot, after being heated by electricity, may 
be placed, without danger, on the most costly piece of 
furniture, because it is heated only at the part neces¬ 
sary, the other portions of the vessel remaining quite 
cold. Another advantage is the much shorter time in 
which water can be boiled in this way than over a coal 
fire. Moreover, the electric range has all the newest 
improvements and utensils. On the left of the illus¬ 
tration there is visible a hot-water reservoir with pipe 
attachments, maintaining a constant supply of hot 
water for scullery purposes, etc. Once brought to 
boiling heat, the apparatus maintains the water at this 
heat for 24 hours. Near this hot-water reservoir is 
the roast oven, above which will be observed a funnel 
for carrying off the vapors generated in roasting ; 
alongside of it is the “ buffet,” supplied with all neces¬ 
sary utensils. The kitchen is, of course, lighted by 
electricity. 
Naturally, electric kitchens are, for the moment, 
confined to the homes of the wealthy ; but it is safe 
to say that they will, ere long, pass into general use. 
Apart from the cleanliness and convenience of the 
electric range, the uniformity of results, and the ease 
of their attainment, it offers hygienic advantages in 
the matter of perfect freedom from smoke and heat, 
which must inevitably result in its early triumph. 
Opinions of New York’s Chefs. 
The results of the experiments with gas and elec¬ 
tricity in some of the hotel kitchens are given by a 
correspondent of the New York Press : 
To find what New York, through its best hotels and 
clubs, prefers, I accomplished an investigating tour 
by interviewing the chefs. 
“Yes, I use gas,” said Chef Ranhover of Delmonico’s, 
“but I do not like it. It is going to be taken out 
next month, and I am glad of it. Gas fails to bring 
out the best there is in meat or game. Then it is 
more expensive than charcoal, and it is dirty. Gas 
seems to dry up the surface of any meat that is broiled 
over or under it.” 
Most of Delmonico’s charcoal is homemade. The 
wood is burned down and then compressed. It is 
kept in covered boxes in the cellar. The chef added 
that he did not think artificial gas would ever be used 
as a popular method in cooking. Electricity has 
never been tried there. 
At the Waldorf the great broilers lie over beds of 
charcoal. To my question, the chef simply pointed to 
this fact with a satisfied smile on his face. I found 
this the only hotel where electricity had been used. 
The appliances were put in, but thrown out after a 
few weeks’ trial. 
“They were fine for warming one’s feet—yes; but 
not,” said the chef, “for 
cooking. It took as long 
for water to boll on them 
as to prepare a breakfast. 
That electricity is used to 
perfection in London there 
is no doubt. Strange as 
it seems, they apply elec¬ 
tricity better to these 
things abroad than we do 
in America. When we can 
get the hang of it here in 
cooking as they do, I be¬ 
lieve it will be the ap¬ 
proved way in the kitchen. As yet we haven’t mas¬ 
tered the art. I don’t like gas for broiling ; it is very 
dirty. If we had natural gas here as in Pittsburgh— 
good enough ; but the other clogs up the pipes.” 
“ Gas is the fire that boils and bakes entirely here,” 
the Holland House chef told me. “ I prefer it to any 
other method. The gas is cleaner, prevents noises 
and disorder, can be turned off and on at will, and is 
altogether the greatest of kitchen improvements.” 
“ But do you think it brings out the flavor of broiled 
meats as well as coal ?” 1 asked. 
“ Just as well. I defy any one to detect any differ¬ 
ence in a steak broiled by gas and one by charcoal. ” 
At this hotel the flames come from the top. The 
broilers are regulated near to or far from the jets by 
a series of grooves. 
“What do you think?” I inquired of the chef at 
that eminently French hostelry—the Hotel Martin. 
“ I have never tried anything but charcoal, nor will 
I,” was his emphatic answer. “The old way suits 
me, and I don’t believe any new method will ever do 
as well. I think I could tell a chicken broiled by gas 
anywhere. It would have no delicate taste. I couldn’t 
do justice to any broiled dish if I had to prepare it on 
gas.” 
“When the gas goes, I go,” was the dramatic 
announcement of the presiding genius at the Murray 
Hill kitchen. Lines of great gas ranges were glowing 
in discharge of duty as I entered. The range used 
here needs special mention. It is a homemade affair. 
Baggi, the chef there, invented it and has been using 
it 10 years. He has for it the love of a father, as it has 
for him the obedience of a child. It also has the jets 
above, like the one at the Holland House, but over 
these are laid huge bricks. These bricks become in¬ 
tensely hot, and Baggi claims that the heat they emit 
does the broiling, not the gas. This is the same 
method used to perfection in Pittsburgh. There the 
natural gas is turned on among bricks. This chef says 
that the result is the same as that by charcoal, with 
the means much simpler and cleaner. 1 asked him 
about the dirt. “ We do not have any,” he answered. 
“ An expert manages the blowers downstairs, so the 
jet, when turned on, gives three-quarters air to one- 
quarter gas. Then the expense is equalized. You see 
the great pan under the range ? That catches all the 
grease that drips from the broiling and is sold to soup 
manufacturers. The great advantage is the lack of 
heat in the kitchen. You can hardly grasp what this 
means on a summer day when 60 people are at work 
down here.” 
“And you,” I said to the Plaza chef, “do you use 
the new methods ?” 
“ We have them, but I won’t use one of them. Give 
me charcoal first, then hard coal, but no gas or elec¬ 
tricity. For toast cr waffies I use the gas, for there is 
no delicate flavor to be emphasized. We also boil 
large quantities of vegetables by gas, when we do not 
steam them, but for broiling nothing is so perfect as 
charcoal. We use three bags a day here in our range.” 
Nor did the chef of the Savoy like gas. He said he 
had used a gas range that was upright, but the meat 
stuck to the bars and was not so choice in its flavor. 
He told me that there was not a gas appliance in the 
kitchen, except a small affair for griddle cakes. 
So, until London methods of cooking by electricity 
are successfully managed here. New York seems to be 
old-fashioned and will cling to charcoal. 
Porcelain Stove and Charcoal. 
It seems a pity that people who live beyond the 
reach of gas must either resort to gasoline, always 
dangerous, or be almost broiled alive in hot weather. 
It is strange that no one has ever thought of import¬ 
ing the porcelain stove of the French. With a few 
handfuls of charcoal, a dinner may be cooked, and it 
is as cleanly a fuel as it is economical. We are too 
lavish in our use of fuel, and we do not systematize 
our work as we might. Though ice is generally within 
reach of all, and will keep food fresh for days, we 
bake and broil and roast each day with a calm disre- 
Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U. S. Gov’t Report 
AB^LtlTEEV PURE 
