The Portland daily press., 1893-01-07
THE MILK coNDENslNe INDUSTRY.
"Crazy Uncle Gail's'' Idea and What
Came of 1t.

y y
civil engineer of New England ancestry,
conceived the idea that milk could be
boiled down in vacuum till from the
liquid condition it became substantially
solid, and in that state, preserved by
means of another keeinvention-t
sealed tin can't could be kept for any
length of time. Mr.. Borden had lived
much in the south, particularly IN Texas,
and he had seen the great need OF such
an article as his invention would pro-
duceAif his idea was practicable. He
began experimenting on this and other
ideas that teemed in his overlooking
brain. --
Eighteen years he experimental with
the milk condensing. He made a sue
cess of the condensation, but he could
not make it financial success. He
spent all the money he got on his new
ideas, for there were SO many OF them.
People who knew him, especially the
neighbors, made merry over the milk
condensing notion. They would have
believed a man could take wings and fly
to heaven bodily as easily as he could
condense milk and ship it all over the
world. The man who would think of
such thing was nothing less than off
his head. So they called him 'scrazy
Uncle Gail, " these kind neighbors.
But Uncle Gail had son, John G.
No man except perhaps Edison is at once
inventor and tinancier. Gail Borden
had to wait till his son John was grown
before the milk condensing became a
financial success. Gail was an inventor.
and Providence kindly sent him son
who was a financier, the only trouble
being that Uncle Gail had to wait eight
cen years till the son was old enough to
take hold of the financial end of the
business. Then it became one of the
greatest successes on record.
The elder Borden waited patiently and
hopefully. At last. when it began to
look as If the enterprise would be go,
Uncle Gail said one day, "If ! thought
the condensery would ever consume as
much as 5000 quarts of milk a day, |
should be satisfied and happy"
Well, there are now six great Borden
milk condensing plants in various parts
Of the country. Two of them are in
Illinois. Not long since visited one of
the New York factories. 1t was not one
Of the largest, yet it alone consumes
50, 900 quarts of milk day, manufacture
ing daily 10000 pounds of the finished
product. What the whole six factories
consume may be calculated from this.
The condensed milk goes all over the
earth. Peary took it to the north pole
with him. Explorers favor their coffee
with it under the equator in Africa.
Best of all. Cray Uncle Gail" lived to
see the enterprise he had set his heart on
assume almost its present colossal pro-
portions; then he rested from his labors
with thesweet consciousness that he had
helped mankind.
Visitors are allowed in every part of
the Borden condenseries. The tall and
good looking superintendent of the one
visited in Waikiki valley, Mr.. Smith,
himself conducted me through the de-
partments of the factory and gave me
every facility for obtaining information.
The milk, with granulated sugar stirred
into it, is boiled down in vacuum in
great shining copper tanks. | am proud
that the invention belongs to America.
The first thought of one visiting the
condensery is that no one need ever
be afraid to use condensed milk. The
factory is absolutely the cleanest place
l ever saw. The floor of the machine
shop where the cans are made is scrub
bed every Saturday; ditto the engine
room. Gail Borden, of blessed memory,
had sort of craze for cleanliness,
benefcent craze which his son held after
him. The firm make their own tin cans
at the factory, and you will be surprised
to know that girl machinists do the
work. They are cleaner and more deft
with their fingers than boys would be,
and making the little cans requires neat
ness and precision. They make excel
lent wages. was told.
Atvarious conspicuous places this sign
in big letters meets your eye: mo Smok-
ing. Splitting on Floor Is Prohibited.
Read the Other Side" When you turn
it over the other side says exactly I'll.
same thing. 1t requires nearly five
pounds of milk in the natural state to
make one pound of the condensed prod
uct.
The condensery has its own set of
milk farmers, who deliver the year
round. They must obey strictly certain
rules laid down by the firm. One of
these is that no ensilage shall be used.
They say they cannot use ensilage milk
for making the condensed product They
declare further that feeding cows on en-
silage through the season is much the
same as feeding people on sauerkraut
all the year. The superintendent of the
factory said he had put his hand into
some of what was called prime ensilage.
He found it hot and fermenting. If his
statement will add any new fury to the
ensilage war shall be glad. have no
cows and no opinion, and am not in the
fight.
The farmers furnish their own cans.
The exquisite cleanliness that pervades
the factory must extend also to the
farms that supply milk to it. The farm
ers are expected to keep the outside OF