The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-06-25
IN AN ICE CREAM FACTORY.
How a Large Concern Turns Out the
Summer Delicacy.

NHdJ IL - lhc, tlley SllOulu NlSll an ice
cream factory. There is one in big,
cavernous basement on Wabash avenue.
The only means of reaching it is by the
big, wet, soaking lift which carries the
ice down. One stands on this, for there
are no side bars or anything else to hold
Oh by. The man at the ropes gives
the order to haul away" and slowly
the big platform sinks into the black
hole.
There is a rush of cold air, darkness
closes in, and there is Just a momentary
suspense as to what the outcome will
be. 1t takes steady nerve, too, for a
pitch either way in the darkness would
land one on his head in the damp, drip
ping cellar beneath.
The eyes soon become accustomed tc
the darkness, however, which proves
not to be so dark after all. Dimly out
lined on the water-soaked floor-for
there is ice, ice everywhere-is a little
railroad track for the box carts which
carry the ice back and also bring the
big frceZers out.
Piles of wooden casks and boxes reach
to the ceiling on either side, making
narrow, dark passageway, suggestive of
underground travel.
But the prospect brightens and the
pathway lightens and broadens out as
the approach toward the front is made.
Figures begin to loom up and the buzz
OF machinery increases into a roar. The
light streams III from the glass sidewalk
above, and here is where the ice cream
IS made. Five machines, run by electri-
city, are working at full speed, and five
ten-gallon cans, filled with what is des-
tined to cool many ''parched" tongues,
ore revolving rapidly round and round.
Another great machine is noisily
crushing great blocks of ice as if they
were nut shells. Twenty-Five tons of
ice in one day is an average of what the
big machine chews up, ready to be
packed around the cans. One thousand
five hundred gallons of cream, re-
quiring ten wagons to deliver it, is
considered a good days business by one
factory.
Ice is indispensable at all stages and
at all times in the making and handling
of ice cream. First it is used in the
freezing process. then the cans are
packed in it to keep it while in ''stock,"
and afterwards it must be delivered IL
ice to the customers.
Men stand watchfully at the wheels
Of the machine where the freezers are
whirling. and by peculiar skill, which
comes only with experience, they can
tell by the draft on the wheel exactly
when the cream is done" That is
the term used to signify when the
cream is frozen just enough. If it is al
lowed to freeze too long, 10. it turns out
butter instead of ice cream. Sweetened
butter it is, and tribute at the same
time to the genuineness of the article
used in making.
But to go back to the beginning of
the process. Lovers of ice cream may
congrat ulate themselves that the
largest proportion at least of what
they eat is genuinely what it purports
to be. Only about one gallon of milk
is the average use to ten gallons of
cream. The amount varies somewhat,
according to the thickness of the cream.
One gallon of sugar also is the proper
ton used to ten gallons of cream.
Men with long wooden paddles stir
and mix this mass together thoroughly
preparatory to the freezing. And what
seems rather surprising, it is all heat
ed or stepped before it is put into the
freezer. 1t is not boiled. but is allowed
to come almost to the boiling point.
The favoring is added last, and va
nilla is used in every batch. il matters
not what other flavor or crushed fruit
is added. Fresh fruits are seldom used,
rs they are said to contain too much
water.
New York ice cream should be the
most nourishing of all, as it has OH
an average seven dozen eggs to ten gal
ions of cream. These are added raw
and are thoroughly stepped before
freezing.
There is only one drawback to the
thorough enjoyment of ice cream, and
that is the amount of handling il under
goes before it is ready for use. A col
ored man, with an immense hand, in
removing the revolving wheel from
can of cream the other day, used his
hand to separate the cream from the
wheel. Others transferred it to small
CT cans for customers. And others YET
again were engaged in cutting up the
pink and white and brown slices into
"Indivdual' cakes for the service OF
dining cars. Not many people would
care to eat the little square bricks after
seeing them thus prepared.
One of the revelations of an ice cream
factory is the fact that stock is some
times kept on hand as long as three
months.
When the cream comes from the
freezer it is in a running mass about the
consistency of a pancake batter. Ii
is then poured into cans varying from
one quart to five gallons, or the amount
required to fill the days orders. 1t
happens often there is some left over
This is nodded into bricks, wrapped
in paper, put in tin boxes, and slowed
away in ice chests.-Chicago Tribune.
Sentiment and Practically.
1t was a pretty little love scene-the