As houses are now planned, the first tier of joists are placed from twenty to twenty-four inches above the grade-line. Where it is not possible to secure that height for cellar-windows, areas may be built of brick or stone, and additional light provided. Light is the enemy of disorder and uncleanliness; where there is exposure there will be less disorder.
It is not necessary to have the cellar under the whole house, for reasons as mentioned, and on account of the cost. It is sometimes important that savings of all kinds be made. The furnace may be set in a pit with its face directed to the cellar. It is best that the opening from the hoppered coal-bins, above described, be close to the furnace. If it can be opened at the side, so that one can stand in the pit and throw coal in the fire-box, it is better than any other arrangement.
The ordinary cellar is seven feet in the clear, and, for this reason, it is nearly always necessary to pit the furnace. This is done by digging an extra depth, and lining the area and opening with brick.
Near enough to the furnace to be warm, should be a closet for canned fruit, made of flooring-boards, if not of more substantial material, and provided with a door and lock. It should be shelved with board about seven inches apart. Other winter stores, like potatoes, cabbage, etc., should be kept in a dark cellar with an earth floor. It is the opinion of farmers and others that vegetables keep best when lying next the ground. The cellar-involving arrangements here outlined may be seen in plan [No. 11]. The outside door, which leads into the cellar, should bolt on the inside, and the upper cellar door on the outside. There should be doors provided to separate the different rooms. Where cost is an item, they may be made of two thicknesses of flooring. Cellar-windows should be hung on hinges, and provided with bolt fastenings; catches are not secure.
CHAPTER VIII.
A LOW-COST LAUNDRY.—BLUE MONDAY.—BASEMENT LAUNDRY.—LOW-COST CONVENIENCES.—INEXPENSIVE LAUNDRY FITTINGS.—HOT AND COLD WATER ARRANGEMENTS.—A LABOR-SAVING LAUNDRY.—A PLACE TO DO FRUIT-CANNING.
The term “Blue Monday” probably originated on account of its being general wash-day, and a day in which everybody about the house undertook to do an impossible amount of work with limited resources.
Most of the washings in this country are done in the kitchen. The wash-boiler is on the stove, and the servant or mistress of the house, or both, attempt to wash and do their cooking without seriously disturbing the routine of meals. There is a fussiness about everything pertaining to that day, which creates an atmosphere of blueness which is proverbial. The steamy, crowded kitchen, the almost inevitable wetness or slipperiness, the great physical exertion required, the carrying of water, the lifting of tubs, are all uncomfortable, and the work is done at a great disadvantage. In an expensive house, where there is plenty of money, Monday is not so blue. Immunity is purchased. Possibly the clothes are sent from the house to be washed in somebody else’s kitchen; maybe to be worn by some one else before they are returned, and often to be injured or destroyed by the strong washing-mixtures and soaps, which are made to save rubbing. This kind of immunity is expensive. It is too expensive for the large majority of people. It is annoying to all alike.