The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1894-04-20
AN ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK,
SAN FRANcIsco's NOVEL. INDOOR
AMUSEMENT,


| Real ice ArtifcialIy Produced, on
Which People Skate In Summer
C1othing-How the leo 10 Made.
~ KATING OH real ice in summer
~ attire is rapidly becoming one
y of the most popular indoor
amusements Is in San Francisco.
To native sons and daughters who
have never experienced the rigors of
an Eastern winter, it is a thrilling
novelty. To those who have enjoyed
blizzards and frosts, it is made more
enjoyable by the fact that winter dress
is unnecessary.
These are only few Of the reasons
why the frozen lake in the big Me-
chanics' Pavilion, with nearly 10, 200
square feet of polished surface, is
visited daily by hundreds who can
skate and many who are speedily learn
ing. The sheet of ice IS Ave inches in
thickness, 100 feet long, and sixty feet
wide. At least 500 persons can skate
with comfort at time, but it was
trifie crowded on the opening night,
for no less than Sl1 glided or strug
gled over the slippery surface, accord
ing to the respective skill of the skate
wearers.
"This idea of big skating rink with
natural ice" said w. w. Donaldson,
''is not exactly new Que in this
country. Right here in this city it
has been tried three times, but each
attempt failed because the organizers
did not master the intricate mechani-
cal appliances. This is the first
natural ice skating rink operated in
the United States, and the fourth in
the world. There is one in Paris, an
other in Berlin, and third in South
ampton, England. Therefore this is
the fourth in the world and the first
in the United States. The successful
construction of this rink is the result
of ten years of careful study and cx-
periments on my part while engaged
in the cold storage business. I was
preparing similar rink in Chicago
when the disastrous fire destroyed the
big cold-storage building mt the
Worlds Fair. The plant being de-
stroyed, we had to abandon the
project.
''How is this natural ice produced?
There is no secret about it. The ice
is produced by a machine of the
ordinary type employed In cold-stor-
age work. The difference here is in
the manner of freezing, In cold stor-
age it is done in tanks and insulated
rooms. Here the ice is frozen three
times day and the refrigerament
used is anhydrous ammonia. This is
employed to cool the strong brine.
After the brine Is cooled it is pumped
through a system of pipes 40, 600 feet
in length, which run through the
water that is turned into ice. The
cold brine absorbs the heat. The floor
beneath is insulated and made up of
to make it watertIght.
"In the placing of the pipes lies the
principal secret. The pipes run in
three centers from header at each
end Of the tank. These headers are
six inches in diameter, and the pipe is
taken out of each header at siX-inch
centers. This admits of circulating
the brine from both ends at the same
time. The return is also taken from
both ends and carried back to the
brine tank. BY this means we have "a
cooling surface exposed to the outside
air. In this way we outwit nature, and
our ice surface has an even tempera-
ture all over. Through inch pipes
leading from the headers the brine is
kept in constant motion.
"Of course, after being used several
hours the surface of the ice becomes
cut up and somewhat rough. That is
why we have three sessions daily
morning, noon, and night. During
the intervals the snow is swept off the
ice, and with hose or orchard spray
er thin coating of water is spread
| over the ice to fill mp the cuts. In
this manne: We have perfectly
smooth urface three times n day. The
water is frozen at temperature of
about ten degrees above zero, which
would be as cold, probably, and as
hard rs ice frozen in any cold coun-
try when the temperature is above
zero. San Francisco Call.