"The Coal-Scuttle: A Study in Domestic Aesthetics" by H. G. Wells is a short essay. H. G. Wells once different, humorous social satire and ironic. Euphemia, who loves to have home dainty and delightful, would have no coals if she could dispense with them, much less a coal-scuttle. Indeed, it would seem she would have no fireplace at all, if she had her will.