Even where no cold air can leak into the kitchen flue, the draught of the stove may be interfered with by obstructions in the stove itself. As the smoke and heated gases from the fire circulate around the oven, they carry with them, at times, fine ashes, which fill up the narrow spaces between the shell of the oven and the body of the stove, so as to choke the current. All stoves have provision for access to these spaces for cleaning, and they should be well cleared out at proper intervals.

Where the draught of a kitchen stove is unsatisfactory, without being affected, apparently, by any of the conditions mentioned above, it may often be improved by carrying the iron smoke-pipe of the stove nearly to the top of the room, before connecting it with the chimney, instead of making the connection just above the stove. Although the long, vertical smoke-pipe contributes to the uncomfortable heating of the kitchen in warm weather, the opportunity which it gives to the hot gases to gain a certain upward impetus before entering the chimney often enables them to continue their journey properly the rest of the way.

Although the matter is, perhaps, more strictly connected with plumbing, it may be well to consider here the conditions under which a kitchen stove is most efficient in heating water by means of the water-front.

The principle on which this heating is effected is that of circulation of the water from the bath-boiler through the water-front, or the coil of copper tubing which sometimes takes the place of the water-front, and back again; and this circulation should be as rapid as possible. As hot water rises, it is, or should be, evident that the more freely it can rise, the more rapidly it will do so; and, in order to obtain a rapid movement, not only should the brass pipes which is made in the kitchen stove when the pipes leading from the water-front are frozen; and many an unfortunate servant has been killed, and many a kitchen wrecked, by the terrific explosion which is sure to follow carelessness in this respect. If there is any reason to suppose that these pipes, or, in fact, any of the pipes of the hot-water system, are frozen, a very small fire should be made at first, just sufficient to thaw the waterfront and the pipes, if they need it. If they are clear of ice, the warm water will in a very few minutes be felt flowing through the upper pipe from the stove to the boiler, and the fire may then be cautiously increased; but it is very dangerous to make a fire hot enough to generate steam in the water-front while the upper pipe leading from it remains cold, or until water flows freely from the hot-water faucets in the house.

Heating water.

The direction of the lower pipe between the boiler and the stove, which brings the cold water from the bottom of the boiler to the stove to be heated, is not so important as that of the upper pipe, but it is desirable to have it descend for at least a portion of the way from the lower coupling of the stove to the boiler. If, like the pipe from the upper coupling, the lower pipe ascends toward the boiler, or is laid level, some of the water heated in the water-front will try to escape through it, and will meet the incoming cold current on the way, checking the general circulation. Plumbers usually put a "sediment cock" on the lowest point of the cold-water pipe between the boiler and the water-front, in order to drain the water from the whole hot-water system, in case of need; and it is desirable also on this account to have the pipe descend decidedly from the water-front, in order that the latter may be completely drained when necessary. If the pipes between the water-front and the boiler pass behind the stove, as is frequently the case, or are carried for some distance on the kitchen wall, they will probably be laid for a part of their course nearly level, for. the sake of what the plumber considers to be neatness, and the circulation will not only be slow in consequence, but the hot water, in its flow through a considerable length of exposed pipe, will lose some of its heat, particularly at night, when the kitchen is cold. If the hot-water supply is scanty from this cause, the upper pipe should be changed so as to rise directly from the stove coupling to the boiler. The lower pipe may be left level, or nearly so, if it would be troublesome to change it; and both pipes may with advantage be wrapped with asbestos paper, or some other non-conductor, to prevent loss of heat. The boiler itself, and such other hot-water pipes as can be reached, may be wrapped in the same way; and, as a last resort, a waterfront with a diaphragm may sometimes be procured, or a coil of pipe substituted for the water-front. Any of these devices will to a certain extent improve the hot-water supply, but it must be remembered that water cannot be heated without fire, and that the better the circulation, and the more abundant the hot-water supply, the more coal will be needed to provide for the other duties of the stove, and the stronger the draught must be, as a rapid circulation of water in the water-front, almost in contact with the coal, withdraws heat so fast as to chill the fire very materially.

The water-front of the kitchen stove is often an object of apprehension to housekeepers, who imagine that it has a mysterious propensity to "blow up" on various pretexts, but more particularly when the water is drawn off from the boiler and a fire is made in the stove before the water is turned on again. Although it is not advisable to make a fire in a kitchen stove when the water-front is empty, on account of the probability that the iron shell of the water-front will be warped or cracked by the heat, or the couplings injured, it may be reassuring to know that there seems to be no authentic account of the "blowing up" of a water-front from the sudden admission of water to it when heated. That the water-front would be very likely to crack under such circumstances is true, and a great deal of steam would be generated, and probably find its way into the kitchen; but anything like a dangerous explosion is hardly to be feared. The contrary is the case, however, where a fire Blowing up of waterfronts.