133. _Fire Balls._--Mix one bushel of small coal, or saw-dust, or both, with two bushels of sand, and one bushel and a half of clay; make the mixture into balls with water, and pile them in a dry place, to harden them. A fire cannot be lighted with these balls; but when it burns strong, put them on above the top bar, and they will keep up a strong heat. 134. _To prevent the ill effects of Charcoal._--Set over the burning charcoal a vessel of boiling water, the steam of which will prevent danger from the fumes. 135. _Method of sweeping Chimneys without employing Children, and the danger attending the old Method pointed out._--Procure a rope for the purpose, twice the length of the height of the chimney; to the middle of it tie a bush (broom furze, or any other), of sufficient size to fill the chimney; put one end of the rope down the chimney (if there be any windings in it, tie a bullet or round stone to the end of the rope), and introduce the wood end of the bush after the rope has descended into the chamber; then let a person pull it down. The bush, by the elasticity of its twigs, brushes the sides of the chimney as it descends, and carries the soot with it. If necessary, the person at the top, who has hold of the other end of the rope, draws the bush up again; but, in this case, the person below must turn the bush, to send the wood end foremost, before he calls to the person at top to pull it up. Many people, who are silent to the calls of humanity, are yet attentive to the voice of interest: chimneys cleansed in this way never need a tenth part of the repairs required where they are swept by children, who being obliged to work themselves up by pressing with their feet and knees on one side, and their back on the other, often force out the bricks which divide the chimneys. This is one of the causes why, in many houses, a fire in one apartment always fills the adjoining ones with smoke, and sometimes even the neighboring house. Nay, some houses have even been burnt by this means; for a foul chimney, taking fire, has been frequently known to communicate, by these apertures, to empty apartments, or to apartments filled with timber, where, of course, it was not thought necessary to make any examination, after extinguishing the fire in the chimney where it began. 136. _To revive a dull Fire._--Powdered nitre, strewed on the fire, is the best bellows that can be used. 137. _Fires, Stoves, &c._--It is wasteful to wet small coal, though it is commonly thought to make a fire last longer: in truth, it wastes the heat, and for a time makes a bad fire. A close stove intended to warm an apartment should not have a polished surface, else it will keep in the heat; whereas, if of rough and unpolished cast iron, the heat will be dispersed through the room. Long, shallow grates, are uneconomical, as the body of the coal in them is not soon heated, and requires to be oftener replenished to keep up the fire.