Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/892

 868 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. ground. The ladders were slid past one another in the manner of a pocket telescope, and could be elevated to any angle, or projected horizontally. There was also a plat- form formed by a frame five or six feet square, filled in with wirecloth, which worked on pivots, and could be elevated or projected at any angle with the greatest rapidity ; the wirecloth platform, or frame, in consequence of turning on pivots, being always in a horizontal position, for the purpose of receiving those who had no other chance of escape than by jumping on it. These apparatus were invented by a gentleman of the name of Hastie, a Scottish Architect and engineer in the service of the Russian government. Similar, and various other fire engines will be found described hi the Mechanics' Maga- zine, and in the very excellent work of Mr. Braidwood on Fire Engines, published at Edinburgh in 1830. 1794. The Chimneys, in this Design, Mr. Varden observes, " are all brought pretty much into the centre of the house, and are arranged in two lines, in pairs, at equal dis- tances, with the view of making them ornamental ; for, where they cannot be concealed (and it is doubtful if that attempt should ever be made), the only alternative is to make their appearance as agreeable as possible. Our modern Architects have long been endeavouring to do this, though but few of them have succeeded in the attempt ; and hence it is, that, in buildings of the present day, the chimney-tops are generally the most unsightly parts of the edifice. This often arises from their terminating too abruptly, and being treated as pots, not as shafts. There are no remains of antiquity that give us any hints on the subject of chimneys ; we are, therefore, left to our own ingenuity, which has hitherto, in most cases, proved insufficient. In the old English country-houses, the chimney shafts form one of the most prominent and agreeable features of the style ; and there does not appear any reason why the chimneys of modern buildings should not be equally conspicuous and ornamental. Of course, the form must be in some degree altered, in order to assimilate with the style of Architecture ; and, whenever there is any attempt at classical effect, perhaps an adaptation of the elegant Roman candelabra would be more suitable than the diminutive altar-like forms we are in the habit of seeing employed for chimney-tops. In the present Design, it has been a-ttempted to exemplify the above principles. The chimney-tops of this villa are to be of cement, of baked earth or artificial stone, or of real stone. Of these inaterials, cement is the least to be de- pended upon ; as it is generally found to crack, and scale off, after having been exposed to the weather for a few years. Figs. 1531 to 1537 are patterns of chimney-tops, from which a choice may be made. In the elevation, fig. 1515, the first flue from the left hand is the air-shaft from the wine-cellar, that passes up the corner pier of the portico : the second flue is for ventilating the hall and staircase ; the third shaft is from the chim- ney of the morning room ; the fourth is an air-shaft from the beer-cellar ; the fifth is the drawingroom flue; the sixth is the bed-room flue; the seventh an air-shaft from the servants' hall ; the eighth is the dining-room flue ; the ninth, the dining-room air-shaft; the tenth, the bed-room flue; and the eleventh and twelfth, the flues of the library and the footman's bed-room, both of which pass up the piers of the portico. In the elevation of the north end, fig. 1516, the first shaft from tlie left hand is the