Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-07-06
PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS.
What a Salem Merchant is
Doing
ALL FOR SALEMS BENEFIT.
Cold Storage and Ice Making
Ed. Cross New Plant.
ALL FOR SALEM'S BENEFIT.

Last spring, it will be remem-
bered, Ed. G. Cross, Salem's enter
prising market man, made tour of
inspection to San Francisco and
other points, to investigate the mat
ter of putting in cold storage and
ice-making plant. After two weeks
research among all the large and
small plants, he returned home and
decided to put in what he considers
the best in the world, Dillenberg's
direct expansion system. Mr.. Dill
enberg is considered the best au-
thority on the coast on these ma
chimes, and has himself been here
several weeks experimenting the
putting up of this plant, of which
we will endeavor to give compre-
hensive description.
The rooms are built of II inch
walls, which consist of four thick
nesses of matched lumber, including
three air spaces, which are lined
with the heaviest building paper.
Several coats of insular paraphine
paint makes the enclosure about as
nearly impervious to heat as is pos
sible. The structure contains $4,000
feet of lumber, and has required
from ten to fifteen men over a month
to build il. The pork room is 10x16
feet, and will hold 100 dressed hogs.
The beef room is 16X31 feet and
holds so dressed beeyes, while the
mutton and veal room is only 8XS
feet, but holds 60 dressed animals.
These rooms are in the rear of Mr..
Cross State street market, while
back of the same has just been put
up a corrugated iron building 22x60
feet, for engine, boiler and all the
new machinery. To start with, a
new forty-horse boiler has been here
neatly bricked up in modern style,
which furnishes the steam. A new
25-horse horizontal Russell engine
has just been put in by Mr.. A.
Mitchell, their enterprising agent.
1t is beauty, and does all the work
easily. Full sets of shafting and
counter-shafting carry the power
with belts to the various machines.
HOW is THE COLD PRODUCED?
This is the question which every
body will ask, and as q JOURNAL re-
porter got an accurate account of
Mr.. Cross, he will endeavor to make
it plain to all readers. In the first
place, let us say that the cold is all
produced by the expansion of liquid
ammonia isto a gaseous state. This
liquid ammonia is carried by a pipe
from the storage tank into what is
called the ammonia receiver, where
it is subjected to pressure of $50 lbs
to the square inch. This great pres
sure exponds the chemical through
fine spray valve, with one-eighth
of an inch opening, which opening
is nearly closed by cone point.
This transforms it into gas of the
highest rarity. This gas is forced
through 1900 feet of piping in the
cold storage rooms by the immense
pressure. This becomes so cold as to
form frost on the coils, and thus cools
the rooms through which they pass.
After this process the gas comes
back through the return pipe to the
ammonia pump, which sends it at a
pressure of $50 pounds to the con-
densers overhead. These conden sers
consist of coils of pipe with cold
water passing over them, and thus
the gas is distilled back into its orig.
inal liquid state, ready to repeat its
work. AS the gas is thus pumped to
the coudensers at such high pressure
the cylinders become 50 hot that it
is necessary to have a stream of cold
water flowing over them constantly.
Mr.. Cross ammonia engine has
two 5xS cylinders, so in case Of any
accident either one can be detached
and the work not be delayed. H.
side the cold storage rooms the cold