A house may be heated by a furnace, by stoves, or even by open fires in the fireplace, as in old days. Heating the house makes the chimney necessary. This must be carefully arranged for in planning your house. Heating by stoves is the most common arrangement. In the large city or town, the furnace is used. This is merely a big stove in the cellar or basement, so planned that its heat is distributed through the house. By this means one big stove does the work of many little ones, and warms the whole house. The furnace may use its heat to turn water into hot steam, which is sent through all the house through the iron pipes and radiators. Or the water in the boiler may be made quite hot, though not turned into steam, and sent through the house in the same way, by means of pipes. Or hot air from around this big stove or furnace may be sent through big pipes directly to the various rooms. This means dust and dirt, and we are learning to use steam and hot water instead of the hot air system. The fireplace is almost a luxury. It is found oftenest in country houses where wood can easily be got and stored. The town or city home may have its open fire, however. Everyone loves an open fire; and when you plan your own house, you must manage to get one if you can. The hearth is the heart of the house. Labor Saving The housekeeper must learn how to do her work in the least possible time; she must save steps. Look at the house that you have planned and see whether everything you need to use is within easy reach. Look carefully at the closets where you keep things. Are they big enough? Are they in the right place? Suppose your water comes from a well which is a long way from the house. What difference will it make? What would you do about it? The Water Supply The water supply of every home should be carefully guarded. If the water is defiled or contaminated by germs of typhoid fever, diphtheria, or other diseases, whose bacteria may be carried by water, the disease may be spread wherever the water is used. No earth closets or human or animal waste should be in the neighborhood of the well. Water should come from high ground and clean places with no possibility of gathering infection on the way to the house. Great pains should be taken to keep drinking water absolutely clean. All drinking vessels should be washed and scalded and the rims should never be handled. In the country every home has a private water supply and takes pains to guard it. In the city there is a common water supply and everyone is responsible for keeping it pure. Where does the water come from that supplies your city or town? How is it kept clean? Who takes care of it? Whenever there is any question about the purity of common drinking water, the table supply should be boiled, for safety. Boiling will destroy any bacteria that could produce disease. This boiled water should be used for rinsing dishes as well as for drinking.