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Continued from front page: • The Royal Monastery of Our Lady of the Wheel, founded in 1202 on the Ebro River in Spain, contains an excellent example of a type of central heating. The Cistercian monks used river diversions combined with indoor wood-fired furnaces to heat the large building.
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• Fast-forward a bit in history, and Benjamin Franklin, a famous American of many talents, invented the Franklin Stove in the 1740s. His stoves heated double the space using less wood than fireplaces and were equipped to take in fresh air and minimize smoke. Another inventor, David Rittenhouse, improved Franklin’s design with an L-shaped exhaust pipe. The stoves became popular all over America and Europe.
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• The Franklin stove and other wood stoves helped heat homes more efficiently since the stoves generated heat all around their iron bodies. They typically used one quarter as much wood for twice as much heat. They did present a safety challenge though; touching the stoves had disastrous effects. Today, many efficient wood stoves are being sold with modern safety features.
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Last week’s Answer On page 1:
•Also developed in the 1700s was the first hydrological system; as the word implies, it used water. The system was installed in Peter the Great’s Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Q: I have a stamp collection that I am interested in selling. I understand that unless a stamp is rare or unique, it is not worth much more than face value. Do cancelled stamps have any retail value, and will I get a better deal with a small, local trader versus a larger commercial dealer? -- Curt, via email A: I will partially answer your question by sharing a personal experience. My mother was a stamp collector, and when she died several years ago I inherited three of her albums. She specialized in U.S. commemoratives and firstday issues. After showing her collection to several dealers, it was determined that her stamps were not worth much more than face value. As with most collectibles, there are always exceptions to the rule. In mother’s albums were several Civil War cancellations, and they were somewhat valuable. To make a long story short, I am using most of her stamps for personal postage since they are not likely to increase in value. My advice is to get some of the better price guides and carefully examine your collection. I realize this is time-consuming, but an educated consumer is better prepared to make decisions. An Internet site I have found helpful is www.theswedishtiger.com/ID.html. You also can order price guides from this company. Q: I have a wire recorder that was originally made for the military. We have taken it to the “Antique Roadshow,” and they had no idea of how much it is worth. Can you help me? -- Anita, Albuquerque, N.M. A: Wire recorders were once an example of cutting-edge technology, and many of the early models were made by two companies, Webster and Silvertone. The early recording devices were, indeed, used by the military during the mid-1940s; most sell in the $45 to $100 range.