Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-09-25
UTILITY OF NOTHING.
INVENTIONS WHOSE VALUE DEPENDS
| UPON TIE VACUUM.
4 Variety Of Important Processes Found.
cd ON the Principle OF Exhaustion-Pres-
ervation Of Foods. Wood, Leather and
Many Other Things by This Method.

ervatton Of Foods. Wood. Leather and
Many Other Things by This Method.
Making money out Of nothing! The no.
tion Is attractive. Many millions OF dollars
IN this country are invested in patents upon
vacuum, which Is less than whit most
people call nothing. These inventions GOV.
or great variety of industries. such as
preserving foods tanning, fermenting,
pleachlng, hardening stone and making
woods inperishablc. Some Of them actu-
ally relate to tho keeping of corpses and
Ine manufacture OF mortuary memorials
Inc history Of the vacuum IN the United
otates patent Office Is an interesting one
datlng back to 1888, in which year George
IL. richards took out exclusive rights in a
process Tor preparing leather from various
substances by evaporation in vacuo ut a
temperature below 212 degrees, the object
pelng 10 avoid injuring tho product by too
great heat. This method is applied in OBJ
tanning iiavors for sirups dispensed at soda
water fountains 1t also serves in making
extracts from malt and hops and from
conee. The fact is well known that firms
engaged in tho business Of roasting coffcO
Ior market commonly deprive the beans Of
their volatile 1ayoring essence and sell TIE
latter separately. An honest coffee rooster
returns this essence to the beans. Much Of
1t passes off during the ordinary cooking
process, and thus it happens that at times
tho streets liz the neighborhood Of a grocery
store nro fragrant with the odor Of coffee.
1t is agreeable to the nostrils, but very
wasteful. A properly constructed roasting
machine saves and condeuses the precious
yapor.
There was once firm of bakers in Lon
don that hit upon very novel expediout.
| The process Of breadmaking depends upon
q fermentation which develops alcohol.
! This alcohol passes off in vapor from tho
ovens under ordinary circumstances. Tho
concern In question devised "a method lly
which it could be saved, the vapor being
passed into Ii condenser Unfortunately
rival bakers took notion to advertise az
widely as possible that their bread was sold
with all the gin in it." AS "a result this
enterprising establishment lost its trade
and was ruined. To assist the process Of
fermentation methods have been contriycd
for partly baking bread in vacuu. Bakers,
by the way use great quantities of egg
meats dried In vacuum pans. The eggs
are broken Into the pans, the whites and
yolhs being separated. They are then
eyaporated TO absolute dryness, after which
they are scraped from the pans sud grang-
lated by grinding. The product looks very
much like sawdust. 1t IS comparatively
cheap and will keep good for many months.
taking tho place OF fresh eggs when tic
latter are scarce and dear. 1t is prepared
on n considerable scale in st. Louis A
similar process is employed in the manu-
factnre Of SO called egg albumen which
is said TO be composed largely of tho whitaa
Of the eggs of wild fowl II looks like
flno quality Of glue and costs SO cents q
pound, being used by bakers and for gla,-
ing prints.
Several processes havo been patented 70.
preserving eggs in their shells by means IF
the vacuum. One method is TO place them
In Il chamber, which is then exhausted Of
air The air, containing the germ of de-
composition, is thus drawn out Of the eggs,
and carbolic acid gas is forced into the re-
ceiver to take the place of 1t. The eggs aro
taken out and covered with yarnish 10
prevent the air getting into them again. \
variation of this idea is to introduce into
the receiver melted parailin, which fills
the pores OF the shells.
BY far the most useful application Of the
vacuum has been for the preservation OF
wood. Scores Of patents in this line have
been granted. So far back as the year 1887
August Gotthilf of New York secured ex-
elusive rights i'll a process for protecting
timber from destruction by worms, dry rot
and other causes of spontaneous decay"
His idea was to exhaust the air from tho
wood and I'LL up the pores with coal tar
and turpentine. In this direction great
industry has since grown up. At VII. /
Ma, -, ,f,.,,-
for the entire south are impregnated with
preservative substances. Railway ties arc
commonly treated in this manner, whilc
metallic solutions are employed to defend
bridges against the depredations of tho do I
vouring shipworm or toredo
Wood is artifcially colored by using the /
vacuum to withdraw its fluid juices, tho !
place of which is filled with solutions CON /
taining pigments. In this manner ordinary
pine may be beautifully stained and made !
to serve as a substitute for rare and costly
wood Lumber is seasoned offhand by ex-
hausting the air from it and then forcing
dry air through the pores to carry OF tho /
moisture. Wood is hardened for all soIis
of purposes, from bridge making to wagon
making, by a process called ''vulcaniz-
ing" Rubber, of course, is yuclanized by
treating it with sulphur, being thus trans
formed from a substance soft and flexible
to one that is hard and brittle. This idea
was long ago applied to wood by saturat-
ing the latter with a solution of rubber
and then applying the sulphur. Nowadays /
the rubber is not used, the wood being
subjected to the action Of hot air under
pressure in closed chamber. The pressure
prevents the escape of the sap and gums,
while tho heat has hardening effect.
This is what is now termed vulcanizing.
The records in the patent Office would
Seem to show that people in these days are
almost as much interested in preserving
eorpses as were the ancient Egyptians.
Inventions In this line are multitudinous.
One of them describes coffin of glass.
which is to be exhausted of air, a gas that
is destructive of all animal life being sub
stituted. For this purpose sulphur dioxde
or carbonio acid gas will serve. A method
Of embalming consists in withdrawing tho
fluid contents of the body by means of an
air pump as preliminary to forcing anti
Beptics into the arteries and cavities. an
Ingenious Yankee has devised scheme
that is calculated to be q consolation to
surviving relatives. The ashes of the Gre
OF 1af,, <r,l