[Mears]

I’m old-—I remember shoveling in the coal,opening he bottom door,shaking down the ashes and shoveling them out,and turning the dampers until we had plenty of steam heat in our apartment.

Them I turned the dampers back and shut the bottom door.

We lived in the 3rd floor and the furnace and coal bin were in the basement.Lots of stair climbing

I was a 10 year old girl when I started doing this.

I am quite spoiled now.:-)

.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Midwestern coal has a low fusion temperature. This trait causes the formation of clinkers (slag) when the ash glues itself into big chunks that resemble pumace.
I remember using a big steel bar to pry these clinkers out of the fire bed back in the early 1960s when our house was heated with coal.