Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/273

 COTTAGE DWELLINGS IN VARIOUS STYLES. 2i'9 may, in the living-room of each dwelling, be what may be called a liot plate, connected with it ; that is, a brancli i)ipe may rise from the pipe in the Hoor, and terminate at top in a piece of cast iron, say of a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, like a small table, or like the raised hearths common in the kitchens abroad. The temperature of the upper iurface of this table, when the apparatus was at work, would be between 250" and 300- ; and, consequently, it woidd boil water, broil meat or fish, toast bread, and perform every office of cookerj'," with the exception of roasting. Tliis table would be most conveniently placed in a closet or cupboard, which might correspond in situation with the ordinary fireplace of a kitchen, so that it could be shut up at pleasure, and especially during sum- mer, when the heat escaping from it might render the room too warm. In the roof of this closet there should be an opening in the ceiling, coimnunicating with the open ail- through the roof, by means of a tile or slate with a hole, as shewn fig. 434, § 490, to permit the escape of steam and smell. 501. Supply of Water. From a cistern thirty feet long, and five or six feet broad, over the water-closets, a lead pipe should be conducted along the bottom of the same channel which contains the steam or hot-water pipe ; and from this, in each house, a branch pipe may rise, and terminate in a cock over a sink, either in the cooking closet, or in the entrance lobby adjoining, as at p, in fig. 433. In order that this cold-water pipe may not receive any heat from the hot-water or steam pipe above it, it should be laid at least a foot deeper, and covered with soil. 502. Water-closets, Manure Tanks, and Drainage. The situation of these is at the four angles of the quadrangle ; and each is arranged, as shown in fig. 442 ; in which / is the range of closets for women and infants, and g the range for men and boys : h h indicate the situations of two tanks communicating with the cesspool, common to both ranges of closets. By means of a hole, v.-ith a stopper, at one side of the roof of each tank, it may be emptied by one of Shalders's pumps. There are drains directly under all the channels containing the steam or hot-water service pipes and mains, which convey the waste water from the public offices, and fi-om all the sinks of the private dwellings, as well as aU the water which falls on the surface, in equal parts, to the four cesspools of the water-closets. Thus an immense quantity of liquid manure will be formed. Wherever the surface water is allowed to enter one of these diains, a stink-trap must be used, to prevent the rising of smell. Of these there are many sorts very cheap ; one of terro-metaUic earth, made by Peake before mentioned, 443 is of great strength and durability, and costs only 9d. ; another, fig. 443, made in the tile-works about London, and veiy suitable for the sides of gravel walks, as the top lifts off, to admit of cleaning out the sand or rubbish which may have lodged in the bottom of the trap, costs only 6d. Over and adjoining each manure tank there is a place, i, for rubbish convertible into manure ; and another smaller space, k, for broken crockery, &c., and such other kinds of rubbish as can be only useful in repairing roads, filling up pits, or making drains. 503. 77(6 Plan of each Dwelling we propose to be the same as that already detailed in fig. 433, § 487, for our smaller working-man's college, Design LXXIX. 504. Construction of the Divellings. The walls and partitions of the whole of the private dwelKngs may be of earth, plastered over internally and lined, and coloured in imitation of stone externally. For this purpose the outside and party walls are shown eighteen inches in thickness, and the partition walls a foot. As no chimneys are required, and no second story, nothing can be more simple and economical than the construction of these walls. The floor maj- be formed of loose stones, gravel, or ^'hatever material of the kind may be most conveniently had ; and its upper surface may either be paved, or covered with a mixture of lime and gravel, mixed while the lime is yet hot, and spread out over the rough materials, and immediately beaten perfectly smooth. This mixture is called by London builders concrete, and, when covered with a thin coating of cement, forms an excellent flooring for either bed-rooms or sitting-rooms. The roof, as there is a central wall, need not be expensive ; strong tie-beams may be dispensed with, by having the ceiling joists of somewhat larger dimensions than usual, so as to project three feet at the eaves ; and by carrying up the central walls so as to serve as king-posts. The covering may be thatch, or whatever is cheapest ; and unless the rain water be an object, there need be no gutters to the roof, as without them the water will drop on the slope of the terrace, which may be paved with pebbles, below which there may be a gutter, and under it a drain coramimicating with the main drains. The windows may be iron casements of the simplest kind, and without either inside or outside shvitters ; curtains, as before observed, § 490, where there is perfect security and an abundant supply of heat, forming a very good substitute.