Fireplace history, from the earliest home life to the present time, shows many changes and improvements, the most radical being the inclosure of the chimney between the walls where formerly there was a simple opening in the roof. An example of this primitive style is still in existence in this country at Newburgh, N. Y., in the little old stone house which Washington made his headquarters in Revolutionary times.

The fireplace opening in colonial days was of great size in the kitchen, but smaller in the other rooms. The fire on the hearth was the only means of warming the rooms, and the chimneys were always placed where they could accomplish the most service. We wonder now, with our comfortable furnaces to assist our open fires, how our forefathers endured the winter cold with a fireplace alone to give warmth.

From the point of utility the open fireplace is of Less importance in the winter months in houses heated by hot water, hot air or steam, than in the intermediate seasons when the furnace is not kept running regularly. Even in the Southern States a small wood fire ready laid for lighting is acceptable for occasional use during eight months of the year. A damp day in early spring, a sudden change of temperature in midsummer, or a windy evening in late autumn makes the presence of the fire on the hearth welcome.

The open fire is desirable from more than the heating point of view. In a room, says an authority, twenty feet square by twelve feet high, heated by an open grate, the air would be removed four or five times an hour with a moderate draft from the chimney, and six or eight times with a blazing fire.

Open fires are delightful in every part of the house; in the hall, where they give hospitable greetings to the incomer, in the sitting room of the family, for the enjoyment of guests who are received in the parlour or reception room, and in the dining room, where a cheerful blaze adds to the pleasures of the table. Sleeping rooms that are provided with an open fire have an increased capacity for everyday comfort, and a helpful dependence for the exigencies of illness. In the nursery the fire on the hearth or in the grate may be called into requisition at any season of the year, and in luxurious homes even the bath room now has an open fire specified.

A chimney place in every room in the house, however, is beyond the possession of the family of moderate income. Often it must be a single choice of situation, in hall, library, dining room or parlour. While each room makes its own claim the chief living room of the household should rule the decision.

After the fireplace has been chosen for the living room its precise situation may be thought of. It should not be opposite a door, or where the fireside enjoyment will be interrupted by every one coming in or going out of the room; nor should it be flanked on either side by windows that will bring in currents of air. The best help in planning the situation of the fireplace is gained in careful study of other people's attempts in the same line, and in avoiding their mistakes.

The construction of the fireplace is an interesting part of house building, for each detail may then express the specific taste of the owner. In a rented house only the andirons and fire-pieces may be a matter of choice. In the better class of houses - those designed to meet the particular requirements of the family - the architect employs his skill in making the fireplace the central point of interest in the room. In the building of other houses a certain sum is apportioned to the mantels and fireplaces and the owner makes a selection from the manufacturer's samples. These naturally follow the popular taste, and the present tendency of simple lines on the mission idea without carved or applied ornament, and the return to the "chaste simplicity" of colonial days have greatly influenced the ready-made mantel. Cumbersome wood-work cheap decoration, extrinsic brackets and pedestals are less and less seen and better things are taking their place.

The most successful mantel is the one designed especially for its position, fitting so harmoniously into the lines of the room that its presence is never obtrusively felt. It should be perfect as an ornament, for more attention centres upon it than on any other part of the room. For this reason also every detail of its equipment, permanent and movable, should be tasteful and attractive. Some of the most artistic mantels in modern house building are close copies of those found in colonial mansions.

Mantels of slate are no longer used. Brick or stone work is sometimes employed instead of wood, especially when an expression of solidity greater than a combination of wood with stone or brick, is sought for. These all-Stone or all-brick fireplaces are favourites in country homes or buildings of imposing dimensions, but in planning a colour scheme for such work the fact that brick or stone massed together declares its colour more insistently than when either is broken up with woodwork must be remembered. Light terra-cotta and buff-coloured bricks take their places more easily with other colours than the dark red ones. Bricks or tiles are adopted to face a fireplace with wood mantel and side supports. In Puritan days smooth blue-and-white tiles were brought over from Holland and placed around the opening, some with scriptural scenes painted on the surface. Tiles are made in innumerable designs and colours at the present time by high-class potteries, and an exclusive colouring and pattern will go a large way towards individualising a fireplace, and the colour of the tiles may enter into the scheme that is introduced in the room without being an item by itself.

Fireplaces lined with brick have a more homelike, cosy appearance than those lined with iron, but the latter will stand more heat and harder wear than the former. The iron firebacks were so much a part of our early settlers' furnishings that they were often brought over from England with the family crest or shield wrought into the sheet of iron, and, in the event of another move being made, the fireback was taken along with the other household gods.