Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1918 — First Fireplaces. [ARTICLE]

First Fireplaces.

The earliest fireplaces had no grates and the flue Instead of extending up Into a chimney merely terminated In a narrow slit which was cut through the wall not far above the fireplace. These fireplaces were far from being things of comfort. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Investigators began to realize that most of the heat went up the chimney, and attempts were made to conserve it by building air passages on either side of the chimney. From this gradually developed the Idea of our present-day radiators.