CELLAR.--FUEL DEPARTMENTS.--FURNACE
CONVENIENCES.--COAL-BINS.--CEMENT FLOORS.--LIGHT IN THE CELLAR.--A
CELLAR-CLOSET.--OUTSIDE CELLAR-DOOR.
The cellar was originally a hole in the ground. In the modern house,
that is arranged to please the house-keeper, it is well lighted;
provided with a smooth cement floor that is easily cleaned; is not open
as one room, but has apartments--one for a laundry, another for fuel and
furnace, and still others for fruits and general stores. In the matter
of fuel there is no reason why the entire winter supply should not be in
the basement. It is certainly a great deal worse to go outside of the
house in winter time from a hot, steaming kitchen, than it is to go into
the basement for the fuel. However, there is some objection to storing
wood in the cellar, for the reason that it brings bugs, ants, and vermin
into the house.
Coal-bins should be constructed with hopper bottoms,--with bottom and
sides slanting from level of outside grade-line to cellar floor,--where
the location will admit of it. When there is not a cellar under all of
the house, it is generally possible to arrange the coal-bin under the
part without cellar, and slanting down to the part so used. This is
illustrated in plan No. 11, Chapter XX. There the coal is put through
the windows into the bins, and slides down to the opening in cellar. For
each shovelful of coal taken away from the lower opening, another will
take its place. This is particularly true with crushed coke, or
anthracite coal, or nut and egg sizes of other fuel. The lump sizes
require a larger opening than the usual twenty-inch-square opening for
the coal mentioned. These bins should be lined on the bottom preferably
with bricks laid in cement. If this is not used, two-inch oak boards
will do. Partitions of the same material should be used to separate the
various bins. With an arrangement of this kind a large amount of storage
capacity can be provided. Under some circumstances this plan cannot be
adopted. In such a case the ordinary bins may be used.
As houses are now planned, the first tier of joists are placed from
twenty to twenty-four inches above the grade-line. Where it is not
possible to secure that height for cellar-windows, areas may be built of
brick or stone, and additional light provided. Light is the enemy of
disorder and uncleanliness; where there is exposure there will be less
disorder.
It is not necessary to have the cellar under the whole house, for
reasons as mentioned, and on account of the cost. It is sometimes
important that savings of all kinds be made. The furnace may be set in a
pit with its face directed to the cellar. It is best that the opening
from the hoppered coal-bins, above described, be close to the furnace.
If it can be opened at the side, so that one can stand in the pit and
throw coal in the fire-box, it is better than any other arrangement.
The ordinary cellar is seven feet in the clear, and, for this reason, it
is nearly always necessary to pit the furnace. This is done by digging
an extra depth, and lining the area and opening with brick.
Near enough to the furnace to be warm, should be a closet for canned
fruit, made of flooring-boards, if not of more substantial material, and
provided with a door and lock. It should be shelved with board about
seven inches apart. Other winter stores, like potatoes, cabbage, etc.,
should be kept in a dark cellar with an earth floor. It is the opinion
of farmers and others that vegetables keep best when lying next the
ground. The cellar-involving arrangements here outlined may be seen in
plan No. 11. The outside door, which leads into the cellar, should bolt
on the inside, and the upper cellar door on the outside. There should be
doors provided to separate the different rooms. Where cost is an item,
they may be made of two thicknesses of flooring. Cellar-windows should
be hung on hinges, and provided with bolt fastenings; catches are not
secure.