New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-29
Wonderful, wonderful. You have no need Of fire.

WARMING THE HOUSES OF THE POOR.
ayes, we have ten steam plugs 10 every water'plu
on the Island. This winter we have saved the I've
Of 200 families in the tenement districts by furnsmn
them with warmth. The Department OF Buildings re
quires every house owner to have at least one room
fitted with radiators and pipes ready for connectn;
with the steam mains in the streets. Ordinarily ch
ants, when they afford IL, nave to burn their owl
coal but in such weather as this when no coal car
be had for love money. the city supplies the heat
Only yesterday we turned the steam into seventeen
houses where the people Just in your fx-pleny
Of money, but not enough TO get a ton OF coal"
DO you always make the connection with hose =
only In cases Of emergency. We have TO save
the plugs for use in case of fire. If you want per
manent connection. shall have to dig trench tap
the main and put in service-ppe. That expense
you Will have TO bear What have done to-day
costs you nothing"
But, my dear sir. L"
That's all right, SIR The city pays for this for
the rich as well as for the poor. If you insist on
putting your hand in your pocket, why. contribute
few hundred dollars to the House Warming Fund OF the
Department OF Charities and Correction. You may
save hundred lives with hundred dollars"
s. Thank for the suggestion. I'll send check
at once. But tell me. how do these poor people live
when they have no coal to cook with. They cannot
afford to cat at restaurants"
coal to cook With"
az Oh. can go to a hotel. or better still. have
my meals sent to the house,
But suppose the hotels full Of people and short
OF ratons-I understand that they are so even now
and suppose the caterer has orders than he
flll'
"oh, well, you know money can accomplish Won
ders7
" 1t couldn't get you ton Of coal"
m frIla tffa hnn1H ana
somehow"
"Of course. The best way is to get steamrange.
such as the hotels use. Then you independent
COOKING WITH STEAM.
do you to tell me that the hotels use no
coal in their ktchens?'
d" No modern hotel uses coal, except for broilng.
Every other sort of cooking is done on ranges heated
by steam taken from the mains in the street Nothing
could be simpler. All you want is hotpots for boil
ing, and hot-ovens for baking and roasting You
get these from steam well from coal. and have
nothing to do with dust and ashes. fear sir beg.
ging your pardon, you behind the times"
1t would seem have been here only few
weeks. My home in Chicago
An that explains everything. I understand. You
made millions in Chicago, and have come to the
metropolis to enjoy them. But as to cooking The
heating apparatus provided in each tenement includes
small scaa cooking stove and utensils and by their
use the poorest families enabled to prepare their
TODD in the same approved manner the nabobs
Of the avenues. In this way the health of the COM
munity has been vastly improved. Potatoes the
staff OF life among thousands and thousands of our
poor, longer soaked and boiled in pot Of hot
water and taken out soggy and. sour. They are put
in kettle which has steam pipe opening in the
bottom, and when the steam is turned on it goes
through them, cooking them into perfect
dOneness' and delicious meaness. Meats
are boiled in the Wayne great
pot Of greasy water, but only Jet of steam III
kettle. Other improvements in the line will
eadily suggest themselves to you. OF this
method OF cooking has been long in in hotels.
There is nothing new in it except its introduction
INTO the homes of the poor Then there is the laundry
addition Every poor family mas It's steam washer
If their wearing apparel since washing became
)astme. All they have TO do is to put their clothes
n the tank and turn the steam OIL. The washing
Excellent, excellent. I must have the apparatus
ieve ' in ' Keeping up With the improvements. But
ell me something Of the origin and development OF
business"
one moment. The house is comfortable now7'
Then with your permission l shall detach the
lose for a few minutes and remove the snow rom
he sidewalk
MAKING SNOW.DRIFTS VANISH
The hose was taken out of the kitchen and turned
m the big snowdrift that filled the street, the hot steam
ausing them to vanish with marvellous rapidly. In
ten minutes not flake remained from one end OF the
block to the other Nothing left but stream OF
water in the gutter finding its way to the sewer The
hose was returned to the kitchen and the conversation
resumed.
AT that rate you could clear the entire city of
snow in day." said Mr. Beamy.
Easily the foreman replied but II we used steam
10 clean the streets what would become of Tammany's
street Cleaning Department. 1t would have to go
put Of existence and that would be
lard on the boys A little politics goes long way
they will come to steam by and by
however, But you asked about the origin and develop
nent Of steam sy stem. Briefly they
OllOws Statistics showed nineteen years ago that
0ai In isss the consamption was 3 900 600 tons
Nc learned investigation that every ton delivered
a house handled six times besides which, after
burned. the ashes had to be removed We saw
,as on tap in every house, We saw water on tap in
determined to nut steam on tap. We determined to
10 away with furnaces and boilers in houses to drive
he ash barrel on the island to put an end to steeple
hasing over coal heaps on Sidewalks, TO give horses
md carts rest. We determined 10 deliver to each
nd every person desiring it steam for running
ngnes, hosting elevators. warming houses. cooking,
Washing. putting out fires and cleaning the streets.
We thought could burn that 100000 tons of coal
'it! much greater satisfaction TO the inhabitants
Manhattan Island than they could do II themselves.
ve should have TO handle the coal but once in
II rather its equivalent steam. to business
ouses factories and residences through pipes saving
N immense amount of time trouble and expense"
WHERE STEAM WAS FIRST on TAP.
" Had the system been tried esewherel'
"On very small scale at Lockport, n. Y The
american steam Company first tried it in this city,
nut its methods were faulty
"Wherc the trouble ?"
Principally i'm its ppeage It's mains leaked so
ady that the steam could be carried only a short
stancc. 1t used lead gaskcts in joints and the steam
Don forced its way through them"
" How far can you carry steam under the present
ysteml'
I'VE are carrying it successfully five miles. The
istance il might be carried is practically only lin
ed by the friction in tho pipes. There is bound
o be some loss, but IT does hot compare with tho
Dss of gas in travelling the distance. We use
corrugated copper gasket for joints that has proved
mpervOuS."
" What is the percentage of gas lost through leak.
g6?
In the lower part of the city 1t Is estimated AT -
or cent. For the entire island IL Is about Il Der