HOUSE AND GARDEN 
December, 1911 
399 
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ing edge of the patent cast-iron throat that 
we had decided to use, and this was pushed 
back into position from the front. Ordi¬ 
narily it is simply laid onto the bricks, 
when the proper height is reached, and 
the chimney is carried up around it. 
With this throat in place the work of re¬ 
construction was actually begun. The 
front of it formed the lintel to support the 
brickwork above the opening, and though 
we were obliged to change our original 
segment-top opening into a flat top, we 
were more than pleased with the result. 
The little recessed panel above the opening 
was conceived as the work of bricking in 
the throat was in progress, and was exe¬ 
cuted as an experiment. When the chim¬ 
ney front was plastered it broke up the 
surface space so pleasantly that we left it. 
The inside finish from the throat up into 
the flue, we were cautioned, was of the ut¬ 
most importance. It proved to be the 
toughest part of the job, too, for it had to 
be reached up through the throat after the 
latter had been bricked in, and the cement 
had to be worked onto the brick with the 
bare hands while the operator sat in the 
fireplace and received showers of it on his 
head and down his neck. He was a sight 
—a regular cement man—when he came 
out, but he bore it bravely and did a fine 
piece of work. 
Every bit of surface from the iron up 
into the flue—this being the smoke cham¬ 
ber—was made perfectly smooth and 
worked free from even the slightest irregu¬ 
larities, for even small chunks of mortar, 
we were told, might act as obstructions 
sufficient to impair a perfect draft. 
Our brick chimney breast was of course 
ruined, and some sort of finish had to be 
resorted to, to hide the scars. Tile was 
considered, but we finally decided to have 
the sand-finished plaster of the walls car¬ 
ried right down to the fireplace opening 
and see how it would look. This was, 
therefore, done, and we were amazed to 
find our whole room seeming larger than 
it ever had in the days of our cherished 
red brick chimney front. This is, of 
course, easily accounted for, because now 
there is practically unbroken wall surface 
over chimney and all, but it is one of those 
things we never should have known would 
have this effect, until the knowledge forced 
itself upon upon us. 
All of this was two years ago, and we 
have ever since realized fully all our 
dreams of and about the fireplace. It holds 
its warmth and life through practically 
nine months of the year, in spite of radi¬ 
ators, for it is all that our fancy had ever 
painted it as being, and every individual 
who comes into the house makes straight 
for it — including the dogs. 
I should like to say a word, finally, about 
building wood fires, and taking care of 
them and of the fireplace. Do not take out 
the ashes more than two or three times 
during the winter and do not take them all 
out then. They should lie, a soft gray bed, 
beneath the andirons, to hold heat and to 
aid in the regulation of the draft under¬ 
neath the logs. They are indispensable for 
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