Complete Text (Part 9)

at peak of roof. (1) We give below adescription with cut of the ice house, , of Mr. W.G. Walton of Hamilton, which is one of the best in the Dominion. It stands at the water edge of Burlington bay, near G. T. R. Depot in the city of Hamilton, with siding from main line of G. T. R., for shipping purposes. It is 126 «x 100 x 41 ft. high and has a storing capa city of about 12,000 tons. It is divided into four com- partments, and provided with a steam elevator and gal- leries, extending the whole length and height outside of the building. The elevator is driven by a 12 horse power engine. For filiing this house a field of from } to ? of a mile square extending from the shore in deep, clear water is at hand. The ice is plowed into blocks 22 x 80 inches (t) From the lee Journal, Philadelphia 115 and towed down to the elevator by horses in large rafts of 500 to 1000 blocks each, through a channel cut in the ice. It is then broken off, in single blocks, caught and carried up by the elevator. ke” Vp fe Tos bi | ~ a @ < fo at oo o — ~ ah oO @ — = ° | =} e re ° Che elevator, galleries, and skids are so arranged thaf the ice is elevated to any gallery desired, and distributed to any room, and to any part of each room, without being handled until itis placed in position by the men 116 Cars can be loaded directly from the ice field, by the elevator and galleries. Thus from one to two hundred tons of ice per hour, can be stored, or loaded ready to ship when desired. The house is also provided with two sets of automatic gigs for lowering the ice into cars or wagons. (1) INCLINED PLANES, ELEVATORS, SKIDS AND HOISTING TONGS. ? ELEVATORS, The rule is to use inclined planes with elevators (sec fig. 48 and 49) for filling, whenever the storage capacity exceeds 2000 tons. The planes can be made to suit the capacity to be filled, and to be run by horse or steam power. The f rmer is often resorted toin smaller houses especially in cold climates, where there is ample time for harvesting. The rule as to fall is to have the base 50°/, more than the height. If the height is 20 feet, the foot of the plane would be 80 feet from the house, and by running it 5 feet into the water, the required fall wonld be given and ample water to float the ice to the chain. By this means, several hundred tons of ice can be lifted 380 feet ir an hour. SKIDS. Ice men of large experience use for handling ice in large ice houses, specially constructed skids or runs, for moving ice during the summer and for loading it on Wagons, cars or ships. (1) The description of this ice house, which we visiled and examined earefully, was kindly furnished by Mr. W. G.Walton. pails Giles bad nett ; 117 The skids may run in any direction in the ice house; so that the furthest blocks from the outside opening may be run along the skids as well as those close to it. The ice can be lowered in self acting baskets or gigs, and emptied on the skids, which are so arranged as to reach the bottom of a car or the hold of a ship. By this means the ice is moved and loaded by its own weight, without any handling. This method effects a great saving of time and labor, and reduces the breakage of the ice. HOISTING TONGS. In smaller ice houses, hoisting tongs fixed to a rope and pulley, are used for hoisting and lowering the ice, The pulley is strongly fixed over the opening of the ice house. They can be worked by a horse. DAIRY ICE HOUSES. For convenience, of late years ice houses have been built close against dairies or creameries in order to uti- lize them for cold storage. In this case, the building should be put up towards the East or South East of the dairy, as the morning sun will absorb the dampness of the air. Ice houses for dairy purposes are constructed on the same plun us those already described. The only things calling for remark are. Ist. The manner of entering. 2d. ‘The asing of the meltage from the ice. ad. The manuer of utilizing the ice for cold storage. 118 BN Ick House. NUOU pi i ey Dt A 7 AOL ROB APTI ve et rad rol OOOO R EIDE: APOE Laine eG LLEIDI SOIT: PAPO MELLEL LALLY WEN aI WN S Vd “KMIV(] 119 ENTRANCE OF DAIRY ICE HOUSES. When ice houses are built close against the dairy or creamery, the entrance may be made in the upper part, by building in the upper story of the dairy a porch joined to a passage opening directly into the ice house. (See fig. 50.) a It will thus be necessary to open two doors before entering tiie ice house proper. A window in the porch, Fig. 51.—Ice house with porch, will, when ‘he doors are opened, allow the light to pene- trate into the interior When the ice house is high, it is convenient to build directly under the opening, between the wall of the ice house, and that of the dairy, a shaft by means of which the ice may be thrown into a box, placed to catch it in- side the dairy. (See fig. 50.) NS The bottom of the shaft is covered with an iron plate, to protect it against the blows of the blocks of ice. The sha{t is closed by means of a trap door. (See fig. 50.) Opposite the shaft, and placed one above the other, 120 in the walls of the house, are openings throug! which the ice may be taken out at any height, as the quantity diminishes in the ice-house. ( See fig. 50.) In smaller ice houses, or.ice houses completely isolated, an outside porch may be built. (See D. C. fig. 51.) MELTAGE. In the chapter on floors, we have already described the method of utilizing the meltage from the ice in the dairy. THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLD STORE ROOMS AND FREEZERS. COLD STORE ROOMS. There are many methods of constructing cold store rooms. We shall describe a few of the best. The in- formation here given has been derived from some of the largest users of cold storage in Montreal and elsewhere, as well as from the best builders and inventors. All cold store rooms are built on the same principle. The differences are differences of detail. This prin- ciple consists in placing the ice overhead, or alony side of the building ; in some cases in placing it both along side and overhead. Openings are then made either in the ceiling or sides, or both, to create an air current. They are arranged in such a manner that any warm air, which enters the apartment, immediately ascends to the cooling room above, where it is cooled and from which it returns in the shape of cold air. We give below the description of an unpatented cold store room. 7 12] The cold store room, for an ordinary size creamery, should be from about 12 to 15 feet square, and two stories high. The lower chamber should not exceed 7 feet in height. The top or ice chamber may be of the same length and breadth, but a little higher. In the case of a room 12 x 12 it should be about 8 feet high. Where economy is not a prime consideration, the ice chamber may wiih advantage be made higher, The walls of such a building are like those of an or- dinary ice house, but somewhat stronger to stand the pressure. MEANS OF PRODUCING THE AIR CURRENTS, In the ceiling of the cold store room, there should be, at right angles with the beams, two openings. When pos- sible these openings should be, one on the side nearest to the door, and the other on the opposite side. One of these openings is called /he hot air fluc,the other the cold air flve. In our description, the one nearest the door is the hor air fue. They sbouid be from 5 to 12 inches wide, according to the size of the room, and run the length of the building, They shouid be provided with traps. Both these traps should be hinged to the sides of their openings farthest from the walls. The one nearest to the door opens upward in the flue, the other one down- ward into the room, and when open is suspended from the ceiling. Along the split between the hinges of this latter on the lower side, naila narrow strip of soft leather listing or cloth. This is to prevent the warm air rrom ascending between the trap and the ceiling into the cold air flue. These traps are used to regulate the temperature in the cold store room. They should be provided with cords running through hooks, by 122 means of which, they can be closed or opened, as much or as little as is necessary. (1) It will be easy to understand, how the traps are ar- ranged, when it is remembered that to close the one in the hot air flue, it is necessary to let go the ope, and to close the other it is necessary to pull on the rope. The opening nearest to the door is mede to allow the warm air to ascend. On the upper floor, on the inner edge of the warm air flue, construct a double wall, with hollow space of about 6 inches, which should be filled with saw dust. This wall should be carried to within 7 or 9 inches of the top of the ice chamber. Ifthe ice is 12 feet high, che space may be increased to about a foot. Running parallel with the packed wall, lay on the floor, at 15 inches apart, a series of stringers 3 in- ches thick and of decreasing height. The highest, whi-h should »e 8 inches, is placed along side of the packed wall. The lowest, which never should be less than 3 inches, is placed along the inner side of the cold air flue, and within a foot of the edge. These stringers should be firmly fastened to the floor, their upper edge should be bevelled so that if a board was laid upon them it would form an inclined plane. Fill in the space between the stringers with saw-dust. Over the stringers lay a flooring of boards. We now have an inclined floor, the highest part of which is against the warm air flue, and the lowest point of which is near the edge of the cold air fue. (1) If the cords from the traps are arranged, so that they cen be carried to the middle of store room, the circulation can be increased and the room thoroughly ventilated, by seizing these ropes one in each hand, and rapidly opening and closing the traps in succession, 28 Cover this with sheets of zinc, thus producing a wa- ter tight floor. The edges of the zinc close to the walls should be turned up about 5 inches. The end nearest to the cold air flue should form a spout. From this spout a pipe is run to carry off the water. Underneath where the sheets of zinc meet, a slat 1 * 2inches is placed. The zine is fastened to this and soldered. Upon this zinc floor, lay another series of stringers at right angles to the wall, cut in the shape of inclined planes; they should be 3 inches thick and pla- ced 15 mches apart. The larger end (which should be 8 inches high) should be placed farthest from the pack- ed wall, the smaller (which should be 8 or 4 inches high) touching it. Across these, lay 8 x 4 inch stringers about 3 inches apart. On this bed of stringers, pile the ice. There is now a vacant space over the cold air flue. This space must be arranged so as to allow the ice to be piled above, without closing it up completely, and with- out allowing the meltage todrop into the store room be- low. This is done in the following manner. Upon the beams, which have been uncovered by the opening made in the floor, place on end, against the wall, pieces of wood 3 x 4 inches and about 14 inches high. Resting on the top of these pieces, and also on the inclined planes, which come directly over the zinc, place on edge pieces of plank 3 inches thick 15 inches high at one end and 14? inches at the other, and 80 inches long, or of less length according to the size of the opening in the floor. Cover the top of this frame work with 8 inch planks, over which sheathe with zinc; the edges of this zinc 124 should project about 3 inches, so as to allow the meltage to drop into the spout formed by the larger zine. — i ann, 1 eae =, enn “a, —— Coto Storace Warenouse ~— R SPACE > sv as —— ~-IGE.--- ARM AL 6 INTHES SAW.DU! & WW bist ee = 16 INCH W S36 INTH AY HINiS “Er: vis wi S iNCR_A SPACE —~s = STORAGE Cut No 52 represents a cold store room on another plan. In this the floor of the ice chamber and the cei- ling of the store room are both inclined. This is an ad- 125 vantage. The warm air always seeks the highest part of the room. It is therefore evident, that it will gracdu- ally find its way to the warm air flue. On the other hand, the cold air flue is continued to within a few feet of the floor of the store room. This continuation prevents the formation of a double current in the cold air flue, and helps to cause a complete circu- lation. By looking at the figure it will be seen that the cold air flue is carried up to the ceiling, Openings in the side of it allow the cold air to descend. A glance at the figure will make clear the position of the inclined plane stringers, which are placed at right angles to the packed wall, 8 inches apart and servé to form a level surface upon which the ice is piled. Without this precaution much of the weight of the ice would come upon the partition of the cold air flue. In building a floor, such as is seen in figure 52, the beams should be put in as in an ordinary building. We haye already described on pages 122 and 123 how the slant is obtained. When the room intended for cold storage is built against the ice house, two openings are made through the walls of the latter, one close to the floor, and the other close to the ceiling of the store room. By this means, cold air is constantly pouring into the store room, The openings are provided with sliding covers by which the current can be increased or diminished at will, thus regulating the temperature. When it is desired to build a cold store room without having the ice house over head, and without making openings in the sides of the ice house, proceed in the following manner: Build the room for cold storage as close as possible to 126 the ice house. The ice chamber should be considerably smaller than the room to be cooled. Of course, the size depends on the temperature required in the room, For atemperature of about 55° Fahrt, the size of the ice chamber should be about ; of the size of the room to be cooled, but this ice chamber will have to be filled every 10 or 15 days. To cool a room 12x 12, 7 feet high, the ice chamber would be a box whose length breadth and height, would be 5 feet. It would convain 125 cubic feet of ice. This would take about, 24 tons of ice every 10 or 15 deys, The ice chamber should be settled in the same manner as in the store rooms already described. The meltage from the ice may be utilized as « cooling agent for different purposes. Mr Jos Baril. of Montrea’, is the patentee of an ex- cellent system of cold storage and freezers. He has already constructed a large number of these for butchers, produce dealers, dairy-men and others. In his system the ceiling is sloped as in fig. 52. There are two cold air flues situated, one at each end of the building, and one hot air fue at one side. The parti- tions of the cold air flues are carried down a certain distance below the ceiling into the store room, The ice chamber is provided with a zine covered floor slightly inclined. At the inner edges of the cold air flues, an open frame work runs up to the ceiling. This prevents the ice from dropping into these openings, and allows the air to circulate freely. This system is very effective. FREEZERS, Freezers are constructed in the following manner: The room should be iow, and the smaller the better. ing eXx- has hers, here f the varti- rtain floor d air This s, and ; very mner : petter. 127 The walls should be well built and thick. It should he provided with double doors and an ante-room. The doors should be provided with weather strips. Alo: zg the ceiling, on at least three sides, make an opening. Above this opening,