IN erecting the fireplace for your cabin the stone work should extend into
the cabin itself, thus protecting the ends of the logs from the fire. The
stone over the top of the fireplace (_A_, _B_, Fig. 274) rests upon two
iron bars; these iron bars are necessary for safety because, although the
stone _A_, _B_ may bridge the fireplace successfully, the settling of the
chimney or the heat of the fire is liable to crack the stone, in which
case, unless it is supported by two flat iron bars, it will fall down and
wreck your fireplace. The stone _A_, _B_ in Fig. 275, has been cracked for
fifteen years but, as it rests upon the flat iron bars beneath, the crack
does no harm.
Fig. 274. Fig. 275.
[Illustration: Fireplace in author's cabin, and suggestion for stone and
wood mantel.]
In Fig. 274 (the ends of the fireplace) the two wing walls of it are built
up inside the cabin to support a plank for a mantelpiece. Another plank
_C_, _D_ is nailed under the mantelpiece against the log before the stone
work is built up. This is only for the purpose of giving a finish to your
mantelpiece. The hearth in Fig. 274 is made of odd bits of flat stones
laid in cement, but the hearth in Fig. 275 is one big slab of bluestone
just as it came from the quarry, and the fireplace in Fig. 275 is lined
with fire-brick. The two three-legged stools which you see on each side
were made by the woodsmen who built the cabin to use in their camp while
the cabin was being erected. The stools have occupied the position of
honor on each side of the fireplace now for twenty-seven years. The
mantelpiece in this drawing is made of puncheons with the rounded side out
on the two supports and the flat side against the wall; of course, for the
mantel itself, the rounded side must be down and the flat side up. This
fireplace has been used for cooking purposes and the crane is still
hanging over the flames, while up over the mantel you may see, roughly
indicated, a wrought-iron broiler, a toaster, and a brazier. The flat
shovel hanging to the left of the fireplace is what is known as a "peal,"
used in olden times to slip under the pies or cakes in the old-fashioned
ovens in order to remove them without burning one's fingers.