d. The boards
then being removed, a wrought-iron curtain or decorative projecting hood
of wrought iron or copper may be fitted permanently to the front.

It is possible, however, that the opening of the fireplace and the flue
area are properly related, in which case it may be found that the
trouble is due to the lack of a narrow throat and smoke shelf. This too
could be constructed in the fireplace without disturbing anything
outside, such as the mantel or chimney breast, unless the fireplace is
not large enough to permit the addition of four inches of brick at the
back. If it is not, it will be well to examine carefully the thickness
of the wall at the back of the fireplace and if this is sufficient, part
of it could be taken away where the slope of the back joins the upright
wall--about a foot above the hearth surface--and the sloping back built
in from there up to form the throat. Or, to make perfectly sure of the
result, the mantel itself could be removed--this is usually merely
nailed to the plaster--and enough of the chimney breast taken down to
permit the introduction of a cast-iron throat damper.

FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES

Just as a turkey dinner depends largely for its success upon the
"fixin's," so the fireplace is in itself incomplete without its andirons
and tools. To begin with the most nearly indispensable appurtenances, we
must name the andirons--or, if the fuel is to be coal, then the basket
grate. I have wondered sometimes why the philosophers have not hit upon
the andiron as a particularly fitting subject for pleasurable
rumination. There are so few things which combine to such a degree the
purely utilitarian with the eminently decorative qualities. Most things
which do combine the two in any real measure have been developed on the
side of one at the expense of the other quality. Take man's dress coat,
for example, the cut-away front of which, with the two buttons at the
back, was designed to permit the gentleman to loop the skirts up to his
waist when he mounted his horse. Or, take the modern lighting fixture
with its little pan still waiting to catch the drip of the tallow
beneath the flame, which has long since been displaced by gas tip or
incandescent filament. How few things there are, after all, which ages
ago--probably through a long evolution--were designed to meet a real
need in the best possible manner and which still meet that need and
combine true beauty with