Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/727

 FURNITURE OF COUNTRY INNS ''/OS effects so much with so little fuel, arc, that it is lined with fire-brick, and that the ignited fiiel is protected from the sudden rushing in of cold air by a grating which may be con* pared to that of a safety lamp. The display of the burning fuel through a window of talc is a happy mode of meeting half-way the iirejudices of Englishmen in favour of an open fire. 1472. The general Lighting of an Inn hy Gas seems an improvement suited to the progress of the age ; and perhaps, when the art is brought to a greater degree of perfec- tion than it now is, the consumption of gas in sitting-rooms may be no more objectionable than the consumption of oil or tallow. At all events, it seems highly desirable that the outside lamps, halls, passages, staircases, and public rooms should be lighted by gas; and this by creating a demand for gas for lighting, will lead to its use for cooking also. 1473. The general System of Bells and Speaking-Pipes for an inn requires the con- sideration of the Architect in planning the building. Where the edifice is a cube or a parallelogram, great simplicity, and at the same time efficiency, may be obtained by conducting all the principal vertical wires in one trunk, and all the horizontal ones in another, in the upper part of the house ; but when there is great irregularity in the out- line of the ground plan, and the height of different parts of the elevation, all that the Architect can do is to trust to the ingenuity of the bell-hanger. Speaking-pipes, as we have before observed, are chiefly for the use of the master and his domestics. 1474. In lofty Inns, we have often thought that it might be desirable to have an ascending and descending platform, on the principle of the ascending and descending cupboards or waiters, § 1457 ; not only for the ascent and descent of domestics, but even for guests. Such a platform was constructed by the late General Bentham, in the Panopticon erected for the Empress Catherine at Petersburgh ; and we have ascended and descended it with an incredibly small degree of exertion. The principle might be easily applied to inns, and we leave it to the ingenious Architect to do so. 1475. Water, both hot and cold, may easily be supplied to all the rooms of an inn, by having two cisterns sufficiently elevated, in any part under the roof, where they will be j'rotected from the frost. The water in one of these cisterns may be heated by steam, and there may be a pipe from each cistern into every bed-room, terminating over a wash- hand stand, with a waste pipe attached. It is not desirable, however, to take the supply for the lower rooms from cisterns of a greater height than one story above them ; because, when taken from a greater height, the pressure of the water on the cocks soon occasions leakage. The best mode is, to have cisterns on each story for the use of that immediately underneath ; and one close under the roof, for the supply of the garrets. It is interesting to reflect on the very small amount of manual labour which would be required in an inn where all the roasting was performed in a roaster, or by gas, or in one of Perkins's hot-water ovens ; all the rooms heated by steam, and supplied by hot and cold water pipes, not only over a wash-hand basin, but over a seat, fitted also with a waste pipe, to serve for a water-closet ; all the passages and public rooms lighted by g.is ; and all the heavy operations, such as pumping, churning, washing, wringing, mangling, kneading, mincing, pounding, chopping, Iv ishing, cleaning shoes, knives and forks, &c., done by a one-horse steam-engine. A great step in the progress of civilisation will be gained by dispensing altogether with the out-door labours of females, and diminishing, as much as possible, the severity of their in-door services. No enjoyment, from the sight of a polished parlour grate, can compensate to us for the painful thought of the quantity of female labour which has been employed every morning to maintain its brightness. 1476. One or more Bath Rooms ought to be formed in every chamber floor in a country inn. The bath, which should be placed in a recess, or on one side of the room, for the convenience of having the water-cocks fixed to the wall, should have one supply pipe for hot, and another for cold water, with a waste pipe in the bottom ; and all the three should be of easy access by the bather. The size of the vessel should not be less than six feet long, two feet and a half wide at the top, and two feet wide at bottom. It may be formed of cast iron, in one piece ; of wrought-iron plates, riveted together ; of copper brazed ; or of wood, lined with lead. Of whatever material it is made, the inside should be painted of a light marble colour, and the outside cased with wood, painted and other- wise finished in a style to correspond with the rest of the room. There may be one broad step formed by the side of the bath, to facilitate getting into it ; and over it, about two feet from the head, a cord firmly fixed to the ceiling should be suspended, with a cross piece of wood for the bather to hold by, when letting himself down into the water, or raising himself out of it. The same room should also contain a shower bath, which, by means of a grated bottom, having a pipe communicating with the steam apparatus, may also serve as a steam or vapour bath. 1477. Ainong the Fixtures and Furiiilure for the public Booms of an Inn may be enumerated the Anglo-American stove, which, by projecting several feet into the room, throws out a great deal of heat, and yet shows the fire, and draws well. In the tap-