Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-01-28

Washington Post.l
Of and on, for the last ten years,
Prof John Gamgee, an English scien-
fist and inventor, who is endowed with
at least ten Englishmen's share Of
Yankee inquisitiveness and energy,
has been a resident of some one Of the
United States, pursuing his studies
and inventions, frequently honOred by
the government, and we'll known TO
every scientific man Of note. He is
the inventor of a process of making
ice by artificial means, and there lies
before us as we write the Photographic
representation of three immense ice
fields, or "glaeiariums, which the
professor laid down at Chelsea, Rush
dime and Manchester, in England, and
which he maintained, by the same, pro-
cess, for skating purposes for over
three mOnths-as long, indeed, as there
was any demand for them.
Acting upon the universal admitted
theory that a certain degree of cold
will freeze out and destroy the yellow
fever germs or spores, Prof. Gamgee
bethought himself Of an application of
his refrigerating process to the pre-
.yention of the epidemic which has SO
lately scourged the Southern States,
and for the past two months has been
in close conference with Surgeon Gen
eral Woodwork who, from his con-
nection with the yellow fever commits
sion last summer and fall, has given to
the great subject all of its best
thoughts and investigation.
Professor Gangee's theory or plan is
the expulsion or rather abstraction of.
the foul air of an infected vessel sup
posed to be capable of conveying the
~contagion, and the substitution there
for of air of such a low temperature
as to utterly destroy the fever germs.
In other words the professor proposes
to wash the air OF every infected YES
sci and cleanse its interior surface SO
as to make it as incapable of communi-
eating the contagion as the Polaris
would be ice-bound in the Arctic
ocean. AS the gentleman is able to
describe his plan as intelligently as
any Of the reporters Of the Post, the
following is presented as the result of
a brief interview. Said the reporter.
when he had finally cornered the pro-
fessor at the Riggs House
How do you propose to effect this
artificial refrigeration 2"
"a steamer will be built with a
freezing machine on board, capable of
carrying the equivalent of between
fifty and one hundred tons of iee.'
The ship is 10 be constructed for
the purpose y
Yes, and to be made of STEEL
Your plan is 70 station this vessel
at the Southern ports, where it shall
meet all possibly infected vessels? ?"
Yes probably at New Orleans.
What is the process?"
THE %refrigerating ship will meet
the incoming vessel, and have already
cooled in It's tanks about fifty tons of
liquid, 1t will connect itself with the
infected vessel, and by means of a
large blower, capable Of replacing the
entire volume Of air in a 1900 ton ship
in a little less than five minutes. So
that by the action Of the ice machine
and the store Of coal on board, in three
or four hours the vessel may be re-
duced in temperature to ten or TWEEN.
ty degrees below freezing point. if
necessary.
AT what degree of cold do medical
authorities agree that yellow fever
germs are frozen out2'
"Twenty-nine degrees, Fahrenheit.
or three degrees below freezing point. %
Then, by this process, you can sub
stitute for the air Of an infected vessel
air at any required degree below freez-
ing point?D
"Yes; Unnecessary, which of course.
it would not be, thirty degrees below
Zero"
How do you abstract the air?'
Simply by a fan capable Of passing
$1,000 cubic feet Of ar per minute.
This air is drawn over a cooler, and
thus purified and cooled.
Then this air is returned, at a low
or degree of temperature, puriied2"
Yes, exactly So"
How do you extract the impuri-
ties?"
By the plan, we'll stated by Prof.
Tyndall in his lectures, of using ely
c%erine, or other non -congealable
liquids, TO arrest the floating particles,
invisible to the naked eye, and en-
bracing the fever germs or spores. SO
that the air as it is returned to the
vessel may be said to have been liter
ally washed Of all its impurities"
What process do you take TO dis.
infect the bilge of a ship2"
The bilge is FIRST thoroughly
pumped out, and then concentrated
sea water, at ten or twenty degrees
below freezing point, is pumped in its
place and circulated around and
around"
what do you mean by c%oncentra-
ted sea waterY'