II
But in the ideal labour-saving house (ideal, mark you, from a labour-saving point of view), there are no fires, no chimneys, no grates, no coal-devouring, dirt-making range, always requiring coal and yet more coal and returning you evil for good in the shape of soot and dirt.
Have you ever watched a sweep at work? Have you ever cleaned the flues of a coal range?
In our dream-house we have no such horrors. We save the cost of chimneys, sweeps, grates, fenders, fireirons, coal-boxes. We need not provide coal cellars, in which a cold, cross, sleepy girl must grovel in the early morn before the house can be warmed and the breakfast cooked.
Make a mental picture of all the heavy coal-boxes which are dragged up steep stairs in this country of ours.
Ann was right when she said, "It's 'ouses like this wears girls out."
PLATE IX
A GAS FIRE IN THE ENTRANCE HALL OF A SMALL TOWN HOUSE