puncheon _A_ at the other end of the mantel before the
mantel is put in place between the two puncheons _A_ and _B_. In Fig. 279
the reader may see that it will be necessary to cut the corners out of the
mantel-board in order to fit it around the puncheons _A_ and _B_; also,
since _A_ and _B_ have rounded surfaces, it will be necessary to so bevel
the ends of the puncheon (_C_, Fig. 277) that they will fit on the rounded
surfaces of _A_ and _B_. Fig. 280 shows the end of _C_ bevelled in a
perspective view, and also a profile view of it, with the puncheon _A_
indicating the manner in which _C_ must be cut to fit upon the rounded
surface. This makes a simple mantelpiece but a very appropriate one for a
log cabin.

XLV

FIREPLACES AND THE ART OF TENDING THE FIRE

ONE of my readers has written to me asking what to do about a fireplace
that smokes. Not knowing the fireplace in question, I cannot prescribe for
that particular invalid, but I have a long acquaintance with many
fireplaces that smoke and fireplaces that do not--in other words, healthy
fireplaces with a good digestion and diseased fireplaces functionally
wrong with poor digestion--so perhaps the easiest way to answer these
questions is to describe a few of my acquaintances among the fireplaces
which I have studied.

There is an old fireplace in Small Acres, Binghamton, N. Y., of which I
made sketches and took measurements which furnished me data by which I
built the fireplaces in my own houses.

In Binghamton fireplaces the side walls are on an angle and converge
toward the back of the fireplace, as in Fig. 274. The back also pitches
forward, as in Fig. 282. The great advantage of this is the reflecting of
more heat into the room.

Fig. 281 shows the fireplace before which I am now working. The fire was
started in last November and is now (April 1) still burning, although it
has not been rekindled since it was first lighted. This fireplace is well
constructed, and on very cold days I have the fire burning out on the
hearth fully a foot beyond the line of the mantel without any smoke coming
into my studio.

Fig. 282 shows a diagram with the dimensions of my studio fireplace and
represents the vertical section of it. I give these for the benefit of the
people who want to know how to build a fireplace which will not smoke.
But, of course, even the best of fireplaces will smoke if the fire is not
properly arranged. With smoke the angle of reflection w