Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-06-25

other system. 1t IS, however an inferior
method, rapidly failing into disuse. and
need not be described in detail
An ice machine in operation is a curl
Gus spectacle. Liquid ammonia begins
to expand at a temperature of forty de-
grees below zero, and in consequence of
this intense cold the large iron pipes in
which 1T takes place are, on the hottest
days OF summer, covered with solid frost
and appear to be coated with a snow
white enamel. Some machines leak am
monia badly and thus produce most
disagreeable odor. This waste is quite
an important matter from a financial
standpoint, since anhydrous ammonia
costs in the neighborhood of fifty cents
a pound
In making ice the same machine is
used as in refrigerating The ammonia
is allowed to expand in coils which are
submerged in brine. The tanks holding
the brine are shallow, and present a
large surface. Into these are immersed
tin molds or cans, containing the water
to be frozen. These vary in size accord
ing to the producing capacity of the
machine They are usually two feet or
more in length and from eight by eight
to eleven by twenty-five inches in
breadth and depth. Slow freezing makes
clear ice, and twenty-four hours is usu-
ally employed in congealing the contents
of the molds. Sometimes these are all
emptied at once, but more generally this
is done singly, and at such intervals of
time as to complete the circuit every
twenty-four hours, the cans being re-
filled with water as fast as the ice is
withdrawn. The better class of ma
chimes use distilled water, thus inSuring
the pureSt sort of ice. This is obtained
by condenSing the exhaust steam from
the engines. Ice-making machines vary
in producing capacity from one to one
hundred tons in twenty-four hours. A
ton of coal will produce, in machines of
large capacity, seven tons of ice.
Artificial ice is clear as crystal, and
being uniformly frozen and free from
air bubbles, is not only Of the most
wholesome sort imaginable but has
greater lasting properties than the natu-
raj product. 1t is claimed to have been
demonstrated from actual experiments
that manufactured ice requires, under
the same conditions, 10 per cent more
time to melt than does that naturally
frozen.
Just now the demand for ice ma
chinery largely excels the producing
capacity of all the factories in the coun-
try. This is no doubt largely due to the
'mildness Of the past winter and the con-
sequent shortness of the ice crop; but
ice making is largely on the increase,
ana in time will drive the natural prod
uct from the market, except, perhaps,
in the extreme northern portion OF the
country In Chicago refrigerating ma
chinery has been found not only more
convenient, but much cheaper than ice,
and is employed by the greater part OF
the breweres, packng-houses and cold
storage establishments. 1t is claimed
that ice can be made in Chicago for 80
cents ton, which is doubtless mu.h less
than the cost of the natural article i'll
ordinary seasons, storage, transporta-
ton, extra handling and waste being
taken into account. If this estimate
proves to be correct, steam made ice
will soon be almost universally used in
this city.
The Germans have gone deeper into
the science of making artificial ice than
any other nation They have technic-
ally exhausted the subject, but are a
long way behind the United States in
the character and practical operation OF
the machines actually in use.
Chicago, who counts herself as nothing
if not in the lead, is sending cold produc-
ing machinery to all parts of the Union
and to South America, where she sue
cessfuly completes with European ma
chimes The industry is new, but will
assume, and that in the near future,
vast proportions, enabling people of very
moderate circumstances to use ice, and
that in the summer as we'll as winter
season. DWIGHT BALDWIN.