House and Garden 
surpass the effect of the big blazing logs, 
usually lound in the mountain bungalow on 
the breezy hill slopes, on cool summer even¬ 
ings and in the early autumn. Usually the 
burning of logs proves the least expensive, 
and the most convenient, in such surround¬ 
ings; but when for any reason the bungalow 
is so situated that it becomes necessary at 
times to burn coal, ingenious contrivances may 
be arranged that will produce old-timey 
effects. One especially novel was recently 
admired in a bungalow fireplace. It re¬ 
sembled a sort of iron basket, very long and 
narrow, made to order for the owner. When 
this was filled with coal it was set on and¬ 
irons in the same manner that a backlog 
would be adjusted; and it could easily be 
lifted off at any time that a wood fire was 
preferred. Another quaint contrivance con¬ 
sisted of a genial mass of blazing coals con¬ 
fined in a three cornered basket swinging 
merrily from a crane suspended above the 
hearth. This was found in the bungalow of 
a family where the ancient crane had tender 
associations, and one of special antiquity had 
been inherited. But where it is possible to 
indulge in an abundance of wood for the 
open fireplaces, nothing can ever quite 
fill the place of genuine, cheerful, old-time 
backlogs and fire-dogs—least of all the un¬ 
imaginative modern substitutes of gas-log 
or flaming asbestos. 
Photograph by Mr. IVilson Eyre. 
Cuernavaca, Mexico 
220 
