Near it is another closet, five feet and a half long and two wide, warmed also by steam, with sliding doors for china dishes and covers; the top, which is on a level with the delivery window, is of cast iron and heated by the same means, therefore every dish from the time they are dressed up to the time they reach their destination, keeps moving from one place to another in or upon places kept hot for that purpose.
GAS STOVES, ETC.
In the corner next to delivery window is the desk for the clerk of the kitchen, the size is four feet long and three feet wide, with a seat, all the orders are sent from the dining-room by a wooden pipe of communication, and after each dinner is served the bill is sent up in the same way. Every dish is called for by the clerk at the hour ordered. On his left are three voice conductors with bells communicating to all parts of the club where culinary services are required. Turning to the left is the large and principal French stove, fifteen feet three inches long by three feet nine inches wide, beginning with a bain marie two feet and a half square, warmed by steam, with two taps for hot and cold water. This bain marie is for soups and sauces especially prepared for the coffee-room. By the side is a column supporting the ceiling, round it at a proper height are three rows of hooks for fryingpan covers, spoons, forks, skimming ladles, &c. Along the stove at back is the coping wall separating the two kitchens, on which are fixed two grated iron shelves, upon which are placed a number of stewpans and moulds of all sizes. Further on is situated the stoves where entrées, soups, &c., are prepared, being a grate for a charcoal fire in the centre, with one of my new gas stoves upon each side, which afford the greatest comfort ever introduced in any culinary arrangement; each stove is divided into five compartments, (see Plate) each having a separate pipe and brass cock, with a separate main pipe to each stove, which supplies sufficient gas to burn the whole five compartments at once, or only one by not turning the gas into any of the other compartments, or if all burning at once the fire may be regulated to any height you may think proper by means of the brass cocks, turning the gas either full or only partially on. It possesses also the following advantages: you obtain the same heat as from charcoal the moment it is lit, it is a fire that never requires making up, is free from carbonic acid which is so pernicious, especially in small kitchens, and creates neither dust or smell (except the gas should neglectfully be not properly turned off), and by my last improvement it is also now quite free from smoke. With the aid of my new octagonal trivet[21] I can place nine stewpans over without the fear of upsetting either, some only simmering and others boiling at the same time, which is invaluable, as by the gentle simmering you are enabled to extract all the fat from soups or sauces, assisting in the clarification, and causing them to digest more freely. The gas stoves also tend to greater economy, as they are not lit till the moment wanted, then only the quantity required, and may be put out the moment it is done with, I think it a great pity that they can only be fitted in London and other large towns daily supplied with gas, but it is there it is most required, as the kitchens are smaller than in country houses, no heat whatever being created in the smallest kitchens by the use of gas stoves.[22]