title: Catoctin Furnace:: Portrait of an Iron Making Village (Landmarks)
author:  Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson 
description: Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson was awarded a BA in history with honors from Hood College. She was a local historian specializing in the history of Catoctin Furnace. She was also a founding member of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. and served as an officer until her death in 2011. She was a member of the Thurmont Historical Society.
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  # The Pot-Boiler
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Edith Wharton
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  I
  
  
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  IV
  
  
  V
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ###  I
  
  
  
  
  
    
  The studio faced north, looking out over a dismal reach of roofs
  
  
  and chimneys, and rusty fire-escapes hung with heterogeneous garments.
  
  
  A crust of dirty snow covered the level surfaces, and a December sky
  
  
  with more snow in it lowered over them.
  
  
    
  The room was bare and gaunt, with blotched walls and a stained
  
  
  uneven floor. On a divan lay a pile of "properties" — limp draperies,
  
  
  an Algerian scarf, a moth-eaten fan of peacock feathers. The janitor
  
  
  had forgotten to fill the coal-scuttle over-night, and the cast-iron
  
  
  stove projected its cold flanks into the room like a black iceberg. Ned
  
  
  Stanwell, who had just added his hat and great-coat to the
  
  
  miscellaneous heap on the divan, turned from the empty stove with a
  
  
  shiver.
  
  
    
  "By Jove, this is a little too m