The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-02-29
WASHING THE AIR.


Air that has been thoroughly laun-
dered II good enough for breathing pur-
poses, Just the same a. il there were no
smoke inspectors,
Il Is really = good q il brought from
the mountains or some seaside resort.
in the opinion Of about 200 ''hello"
girls employed by the telephone COM
pany. The officers Of the company are
inclined to believe the same thing.
Judging from m economic instead of
. hygienic point OF view. These opin-
ions have been formed as the result Of
the adoption OF an ingenious method
Of ventilation for the operating
Of the main Office of the company.
This system, % far az known, is not
in operation elsewhere in this coun-
try, and its remarkable success - at
tracing much attention from architects
and manufacturers. It has suggested
an innovation in the construction of
the big Office buildings which may lead
to . revolution in heating and ventilat-
ing systems.
In it's workings the system. which
has been recently perfected by A. v.
Abbott, chief engineer Of the telephone
company, resembled nothing more
closely than laundry. The air
hreathed by the little army of young
women on the top floor Of the building
is first washed, then dried, then heated
or cooled. as the case demands, and
finally, to carry out the comparison, it
Is pressed.
The washing removes wagon load
of SCOT and dust and disease germs, the
mere sight Of which 10 enough to arouse
wonder in, the y, erage mans mind how
he lives In the climate Of Chicago.
The driving removes every trace of
moisture, the heating or cooling brings
the mir to just the right temperature.
and the compression follows as q nat
ural consequence of the introduction
of several thousand cubic feet of air
evry minute into q big room almost
hernletically sealed.
It was to overcome conditions which
seriously impaired the efficiency of the
telephone company's service that the
present system Of ventilation was de-
viced. The delicate apparatus of the
huge switchboard was in constant
state of disorder. owing to the dust and
SCOT that entered the room. Sub
scribers were continually complaining
that their telephones were out of order,
as many, as 400 complaints being on file
in General Manager Hibbard's Office at.
once.
The trouble was not in the telephones,
butin the operating-room. In this room,
4OxO0 feet, is q switchboard in which are
10000 little holes, each hole represent
ing four wires. When subscriber asks
for connection with some other SUBJ
scriber the operator pushes brass
plug into one of the holes, which raises
a delicate spring, known as q Jack"
The presence of speck of dust or SCOT
on one of these 'jaclks" renders con-
nection impossible, and then the sub
scriber complains.
Pure, fresh oir, always OF the same
temperature, now makes the operating
room about the most desirable place to
work in in Chicago. Down in the base
ment Of the building is big rotary fan
that sucks in the air which the ordinary
citizen is obliged to breathe. AS the
current enters the basement through
huge tube it passes into tightly CLOSED
chamber, in which : rainstorm is con-
stantly raging.
Thig condition 10 effected by three
rows q small nozzies or atomizers,
which discharge perfect cloud Of
spray and remove every particle of
dirt from the air. The dirt passes OF
into = well, while the air in whirled
through battery Of spiral tubes.
The twisting motion, or centrifugal
force, removes the lasttrac of moisture
from the air, and it then passes into
another chamber, where it is heated in
the winter or cooled with ice in the
summer, Then the current is directed
upward through shaft that leads to
the top floor of the building and into
the operating-room.
Every window r the operat:n -room
ID tightly closed and sealeds around the
edRes, while double doors make it neces-
sary for one to enter the room through
what constitutes an air. locked passage.
The supply Is forced through vents,
or registers, opening through the cell
ing from ! tube that runs around the
room. It IL compressed air, although
IT. density i q slight - to Be alpaost
inappssciahle.
Every three minutes the air n com-
ipletely changed, the supply being cal
culated at 10000 cubic feet . minute
AnR4 RuAe q