Complete Text (Part 2)

already been made a subject of legisla- tive action. In many districts the harvesting of local ice already prohibited. This is a condition of affairs which will ket worse and not better from year to year. Many municipal * governments are now compelling an inspection of ice under hemical analysis, and with other restrictions as to locality ‘of the harvest. of public feeling on this matter is that ultimately ice must be brought long dis- tances from comparatively pure sources of supply, or made artificially on the spot. Off from lines of water communica- tion the cost of remote supply is greatly increased. Further- more, nothing is more certain than the periodic failure of the natural ice crop. * These points have been freely argued, not without bitter- ness, by the opposed interests, and we shall not re-open the question here. It is a problem which must necessarily work ‘tvelf out, and no amount of forcing on the part of manufac- of ‘The necessary outcome t icemaking machinery will have more than a tem- THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL ICE. the standpoint of the investor. doubt this A strong market for artificial ice no exists at moment. If the inyestor can manufacture at a fair profit, the two conditions necessary to Success are fulfilled, and apparently without successful compe tition from the natural product. Drawing upon our own ex Perience as business men, accustomed to manufacturing, and to dealing with questions of profit and loss, we have given the subject of the manufacture of artificial ice as an invest. ment much attention, and are satisfied that under normal business management the enterprise is stable and legitimate and should commend itself to anyone as a business, irrespee: But this question also is proving itself with sufficient rapidity, and our tive of considerations of public spirit side of the purpose here is merely to call the attention of the reader to its soundness, It should be understood once for all, that the machinery, that is to say, the compressor and condenser, ha ve practically nothing to do with the guaity of artificial ice. Any compress or that has a certain piston displacement, with a correspond. ing condenser and tank capacity, will make a tonnage of ice in proportion to that capacity, and there its responsibility ends. The merchantable quality of that ice depends princi pally upon the preparation of the water from which it is frozen, being otherwise affected only by the rapidity of the freezing. The purchaser of artificial ice seeks above all things ice which is clear and colorless to the eye. air in The presence of the form of minute bubbles makes the ice more or less “white so called, and this the user assumes to be an evidence of impurity, whereas it is strictly an optical effect bubbles. He nevertheless unhesitatingly accepts a greater quantity of air, often with other more or less objectionable matter, in the Such is the force of habit. due to the reflection of light from the minute air natural ice without question. As a. matter of fact artificial ice is made from distilled, reboiled and doubly filtered water, and the presence or absence But the public demand is for “clear ice” as welll as pure ice and hence of air is wholly meaningless as regards its puri a system of apparatus for water treatment. Essentially the same lines are followed by all builders, consisting in general of distillation and condensation, followed by reboiling to get rid of the air, subsequent cooling and copious filtering through charcoal. The failures in are largely due to systems insufficient in this par spite of the fact that the production of a sweet, ¢ gether Satisfactory quality of ice is always within th the engineer, subject only to the proper operation the owner, = Again, too much has been done in the way of ratus for water preparation in the past concerned, We haye abandoned once ized iron soldered work which is usually d purpose, and in place of it we build a substantial ratus of carefully considered design, and as good RTIFICIAL refrigeration is a than simpler problem ice-making to the extent that it is freed at once from the question of water treatment The good judgment of the engineer is mostly necessary in forming an estimate of the re- frigerating capacity necessary for a given space and character of service. This question settled, the mechanical requirements are easily and simply met, As stated elsewhere we look for a larg field in this particular direction, and especially among a class of customers who have hitherto been debarred from artificial refrig eration by the great relative cost of apparatus of small and medium capacities. We manufacture a line of compressors beginning with one-half ton of refngeration, (/. «, refrigeration equal to the melting of one-half ton of ice per day), and ranging up to @ capacity of 60 tons per day. Any size may be driven either by general power, a direct-belted engine or an electric motor. In carrying out our convictions on sub-division of units we shall give the preference to two or more compressors aggrezating the required capacity, rather than to a si equivalent: machine Not only is artificial refr ration cheaper—and in most eases, very much cheaper—than the use of natural ice, but it gives that which cannot be other way—a dry, pure atmosphere. The dampness inevitable with the use of ice is entirely absent, making it possible to preserve many goods that moisture would speedily ruin, and to preserve all goods much sweeter and for a longer time, Hygienic purity is not to be overlooked, and this can only obtained in any Natural ice refrig mechanical especially for cooling purposes, is often harvested from impure ponds or canals, ete at when it melts it necessarily fouls the air or leaves a deposit of filth behind it, ‘The foul air impreg nates and rots all the wood with which it comes in contac weakens floors and joists, and contaminates many classes of ds in storage The proper refrigeration of meats and produce is a m: which receives far less attention than its importance deserve It is safe to say that it is not possible to properly preser meats, game or poultry in the same room with melting ice. ‘The moistureladen air soon becomes thoroughly impregnated with the volatile products of the provisions stored, and in time takes on the smell of rancid oil, which can easily be detected on entering the store-rooms, This rancid vapor is an excellent medium for the generation of disease germs, and results in the in: evitable contamination of the merchandise among which it cir culates. In artificial refrigeration, however, all vapor, pure or otherwise, is taken from’ the air and deposited upon the chilled surfaces of the pipes, where the temperature is so low that the noxious germs, if present, are powerless for evil, The air ‘of such a store-room is sweet and dry much resembling that of the high table lands of the West, where meat will desiccate without decay in the open air, owing to the absence of moisture Perfect control of temperature is possible only with mechanical refrigeration. Sudden transitions from moderately warm to ex cessively hot weather, and vice versa, it is well known, injure some classes of merchandise more than a steady temperature many degrees higher, By artificial refrigeration, these conditions are at all times under control. The saving in space by the removal of ice-boxes is often a large increase in the earning capacity of a plant. We cite one packing house, in which out of 16,000 cubic feet of space, ‘over 4,000 cubie feet were occupied by the icebox. This was replaced by a 3-ton refrigerating machine, thereby adding 33 per cent, to the available cellar room, and enlarging the earning capacity nearly 50 per cent. The field of application for artificial refrigeration is end- price and operated by ordinary ence from Markets, Creameries, Chemical Works, Wine Cellars, available. Cold-storage Warehouses, etc,, already depend wholly upon.