hours. In such emergencies,
it is well to have a stop gap, such as an inexpensive two-burner oil
stove. It may not be used more than twice a year but it is there when
needed.

The devotees of the tank gas method of cooking are many. It works the
same as gas from city mains except that your supply is piped in from
an individual tank which is installed outside the house and
replenished monthly by the company supplying such fuel. The initial
cost plus installation and operation about equals that of electricity
but no cataclysm of nature will cause it to fail.

Cheapest of all is the kerosene oil stove. These range all the way
from the modest two-burner table stove to the pretentious six-burner
type with insulated oven and porcelain finish. Gasoline burning ranges
are also to be had on this order. The initial cost of even the most
elaborate oil or gasoline stove is considerably less than for one
designed for either electricity or bottled gas and the expense of
operation is also less. But they have certain disadvantages. With the
best of management there is a slight odor. If out of adjustment they
smoke or go out and they are unpleasant to clean. Further, although we
struggled with one for seven years, we never found any satisfactory
means of broiling meat with oil as a fuel.

No family relishes the idea of having porterhouse or sirloin steaks
taken right out of their lives, so some other device is necessary,
such as a charcoal broiler or the old-fashioned, long-handled broiler
held over the fireplace coals or, in winter, those of the furnace. One
may argue brightly that meat cooked by these primitive methods has a
superior flavor, but it is definitely veering away from the assembly
idea and most certainly does not make for harmony in the kitchen. If a
charcoal broiler is employed, somehow it never reaches the proper
state of incandescence at the right time. If the fireplace is the
scene of operation, it is invariably a roaring inferno at the time the
steak should be cooked. One waits for the desired bed of coals, of
course, while ominous head shakings and rumblings from the kitchen
proclaim that the rest of the dinner is done, is dried up, is ruined.

Twenty years ago coal or wood burning stoves were usual in country
homes. They were disagreeable to tend and in summer made an
uncomfortably hot kitchen. But that same heat was most acceptable in
winter weather. For a kitchen not too well heated by the main house
system,