Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-08-20
EvAPoRATeD FRUIT.
A Great Industry That Has Grown Up
Around Rochester.

Around Rochester.
In 1871 ELAN Hatch, farmer living
in the town of Webster, by accident
discovered that sliced apples could be
made clear, pure white by the use OF
fumes Of birthstone. The old way OF
drying apples was to slice them and
carefully distribute them on trays,
which were then hoisted to the roofs OF
outbuildings and sheds Of farmhouses
or elevated from the ground on posts,
being left exposed to the rays Of the
sun, which, If the day was pleasant,
would half dry them. The result OF this
method of drying the apples was not
entirely satisfactory, however. The
apples were always Of n peculiar red
dish tint, and lost considerable nOurish-
ment in the process Of sun drying.
Mr.. Hatch Is said to have been the
first one to have put into use the plan
Of preparing apples by the use OF the
fumes of birthstone, which dried them
and left them of particularly white
color. When these dried apples first
came into the local market they COM
handed a price far above that of the
sun-dried variety, and were Mt once In
demand. Other growers at once took
up with the idea, and David Wing, OF
Brighton, began to deal in the pro-
duct extensively. Men set about at
tempting to find the easiest and least
expensive way of preparing these APP
Piles for the market, and the result was
the building Of many fruit evapOrating
towers. 1t was found that by showing
in sieve laden with the sliced fruit
and allowing the fumes to pass
through it, then hosting that sieve and
showing in another. then hosting the
two and showing in third, and SO on
until the sieve first put in had reached
the top of the tower, the heat could be
best applied and the process be best
simplified, Patents were Immediately
applied for, but so many technical i'm
provements were made that no one de-
vice ever came into any very extensive
inal plan of the drying tower has re-
manned the temporary feature of the
drying process Of what has now grown
to be an extensive industry.
The idea of bleaching by the use Of
birthstone is not n new OneT instances
being recorded of its having been used
in the process of preparing barley and
malt 1000 years back, and it was In
rather extensive use i'm Germany sew
enty-five years before it was put to
any great use here. In 1S47 noted
chemist of that country read paper
in which he practically foreshadowed
the results which have since been
achieved.
The fact of the matter is that the
industry has grown to such proportions
in the United States, and more espe-
cially in the immediate vicinity OF
Rochester. that the product is shipped
to all parts of the world. Large ship
ments are annually made to France.
Germany and Russia.
A man who has travelled much
abroad and who has just returned to
the city told a reporter of the Post
Express that when he was in France
he met a foreigner interested in the
fruit-drying industry. The foreigner
learned that the traveller was from
New York state, and he as once in
quired If he knew where Rochester
was located. The American smilingly
said that he did. ''Well," said the
Frenchman, "all the people over here
know great deal about Rochester. 1t
must be a great place. Do the people
there do anything aside from drying
fruitT' Being assured that the city
was one embracing a great many varl-
Gus manufactures and noted for other
industries he expressed surprise. He
actually believed that nothing was
done by the inhabitants here except
the preparation of dried fruit, so well
known is the Rochester product
Rochester IN w Post Express