Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 18, Number 8, DeMotte, Jasper County, 16 January 1948 — Fireplaces [ARTICLE]

Fireplaces

It is at this time of year the nights come when the fireplace gleams most cheerfully. It. is not just an aid to the furnace; it is a live and glowing symbol of the warmth and security that belongs to a home and are the rightful heritage of a family. It has warmth for the heart as well as for the out-stretched hands. The fireplace itself is a minor matter except that it shfrnta have room for chairs around it and a flue above that does its duty, taking the smoke outside whefe ■t belongs. It is the fire- itself that counts, a slow, steady fife with deep bed of coals, a simmering back-log and the leisurely flame that feeds on the sound ■wood without too much prodding or too many sparks. Ixmg thoughts and leisurely discussion find encouragement beside this fire and there is neither time Bor encouragement for bitter ar-

gument. This is the slow fire of contentment and contemplation, not the flame of fury. Here is the kindling of imagination, and here are the logs of long philosophies. No fireplace was ever built when the fagots of fanaticism. Time to think, time to dream, time to talk and understand, stimulated by the warmth and the flickering flame of an oak-fed fire. Tobacco smoke, if you like it, or cider or wine, or whatever itis that soothes your soul. But a fireplace and a slow fire in it and the mellowing hours of companionship that flourish in the fire’s glow. The winds may rattle the sash and the night be brittle with deep frosts outside, but here beside the fireplace is the very essence of peace.

G. F. Woods