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radiators under the windows throughout the house. In addition, he in-
stalled a huge steel tank that must have held 300-400 gallons of water
in the basement. A pipe ran from the tank down to the furnace and back
so that the furnace provided an unlimited amount of hot water in the
winter (We had a gas hot water heater that did the job in the summer-
time). When we were small kids, big lumps of coal heated the furnace.
In the 1930s, automatic stokers came into being which had a bin about
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ably cheaper than buying big lump coal. The stoker had a worm gear at
the bottom that fed coal into the bottom of the furnace. Each day it was
necessary to remove clinkers that were the remnants of unburnable coal.
Dad’s heating system was superb. Despite our large family, no one ever
ran out of hot water for baths or showers.
In those days it was considered healthy to have a window open
for ventilation, but it was even better to have two windows open. Some-
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been driven through the screen on the window onto the interior window-
sill. We would hop out of bed, brush the snow towards the outside, and
close the window. Then we would open the valve on the radiator to al-
low the hot water to circulate through the radiator. We would get dressed
while warming our bottoms on the radiator. In the early 30’s Dad also
installed a thermostat in the living room so the stoker would be con-
trolled by a thermostat from there. In most other families, especially in
older homes, “pot-bellied” coal stoves were used to warm rooms. Dad’s
system was great and far ahead of its time.
In my life story, I shall refer to streets as we knew them. In 1970
or so, the streets west and north of the Temple Block were renumbered
rd
nd
so as what we knew as 2 West is now 3 West and our 4 North is now
th
th
R൶FLDOO\ North in Salt Lake City.
The area west of the Temple Block was commonly referred to,
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and had been built up early in the city’s history. It contained the major
railroad tracks including track switching yards and repair shops. Indeed,
Grandfather Samuel Holmes had completed his apprenticeship in boil-

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