Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-07-27
HEAT AND COLD.
EXTREMES OF BOTH FOUND ALMOST
SIDE BY SIDE.

EXTREMES OF BOTH FOUND ALMOST
SIDE by SIDE.
A Temperature Of only 100 degrees
above zero would be hailed with delight
by the men employed In the great sugar
refiueries.
OF all the hot places Il ID the privilege
OF man to enter these are undoubtedly
the hottest. In the tall structures along
the river front 10 Brooklyn from morn
Ing till night men labor In rooms the
temperature Of which seldom falls be-
low 140 degrees.
The department Of the Brooklyn refin-
cries 10 which the sugar is crystallized
would be regarded by most persons as
extremely hot, yet Ii Is very comfortable
when compared with the temperature In
other departments. Here the sugar Is
poured In sem!-liquid state into metal
cones, which act as filters or coolers.
The heat Is very oppressive, and many
employees drop down while ut work de-
spite the fact that their dress consists
only of light overalls and heavy shoes.
The cones into which the sugar Is
poured stand on their narrow ends In
racks all about the floor, and the work.
men stand over them In the heat radlat-
ing from the hot sugar. Even 10 the
coolest weather Of the year and with the
windows all open the men here cannot
wear thin undershirts with comfort.
Streams Of Precipitation run down their
backs as they bend over their work. To
add to their discomfort the air In the
rooms Is moist and steamy.
But wearing rs Is the work on the
lower floors, 1t Is In the upper stories OF
the refineries that the extreme measure
of suffering Is to be found. There the
temperature stays regularly In the VI
entity Of 40 degrees above zero.
On these floors workmen fall exhaust
cd day after day. Some revive on being
taken to window, while others are able
only to get to their homes. But the col
lapse OF one or two or q half dozen men
In the afternoon no longer Is regarded as
q matter worth mentioning. II has come
to be considered as merely incidental to
the business.
The majority Of the employees In these
departments Of the big retineries are
Poles and Hungarians. They decide to
become sugar refners as soon as they
land In this country, aud they try TO
adapt themselves to the conditions they
| lind In the factories. Those who seem
able to stand the work are sent to the
top floor, where are great watts, with
dark, slippery passagewsys between
them. La these watts the sugar Is boiled.
The men stand over the watts, stirring the
sugar with long sticks. On all sides are
big tanks, and each Of these radiates an
intense heat.
When 10 the closeness OF the room and
the heat from the watts are added the other
discomforts OF the work, ii becomes lit
tie wonder that the men drop In their
tracks from day TO day. They look pale
and careworn, all Of them; their feet
stick 10 the sugar covered plsnks as they
walk between the vats, and they con-
stsntly are covered with Precipitation.
1 am told that as many as eight un-
fortunates have succumbed TO the heat
in q single alley In one afternoon, and
that four men fell where they stood In
the next alley.
One floor OF the refineries Is OF iron,
and It Ia covered by the l0i heads OF the
great charcoal filters below. The feet OF
the workmen have TO become accustomed
TO the heat OF this floor before the men
can endure II. The bases Of these filters
are two floors below, where they are
placed so close together that the dremen
and stokers barely have room to bring
coal for the furnaces. Here air Is al
most unknown, and clothing Is a burden.
The men 90 from furnace TO furnace with
their loads Of coal, perspiration dripping
from every pore OF their half naked
bodies. Their only opportunity TO get
air Is when they are waiting for a new
load Of coal outside.
And for all Of the toiling and suffering
In this intense heat the men are paid
from 81 a to 81 95 for n days work OF
from IL TO Is hours.
While hundreds Of men are thus strug-
Cling desperately against being pros
trated By the intense heat, other hun
dreds are engaged In an equally desper-
ate struggle against freezing to death.
Surprising as II may seem, there are
many points on Manhattan Island where
the temperature does not 20 more than
To 90 within few seconds from
Temperature OF 80 degrees to tempera-
ture OF 81 degrees Is an experience that
brings both pleasure and regret. 1t Is
simple matter to enter q cold storage
warehouse and TO gaze on 3OOpound
blocks Of crystal ice. The sudden change
of nearly GO degrees In the temperature
Is positive pleasure for the first half
minute after one has made the dash, but
other sensations follow fast after that.
Year in and year out the temperature
OF dozens Of cold storage warehouses In
New York city is 3a degrees above zero.
Hundreds of men, some engaged In
making Ice and others In handling 1t,
have no opportunity TO realize that their
fellow citizens are suffering from the
heat within fifty feet Of them.
1t Ia winter all the year round to these
men.
They go TO their work wearing heavy
rubber boots, thick underwear, warm
winter clothing and caps. They labor
with their coats and vests on, and not a
few Of them wear gloves from morning
to night. Like woodchoppers In forest
in the dead Of winter, they can keep
warm only BY working hard.
In one OF the plants on the east side
upward Of 275 tons Of ice Is manufacture
ed every day, and the men who handle
this vast product are the ones with
whom | talked. They evinced little
interest In the feverish condition OF the
weather outside. Indeed, they seemed
to regard II as a taunt when told them
that people were dropping in the streets
under the terrific heat Of the sun. That
might be true, they seemed to think, but
what OF 1t: Could one expect to interest
Lsplander by telling him how hot 1t Is
Ia Florida?
Like the Laplanders, the employees In
the big cold storage warehouses OF New
York are dressed for their situation
New York Herald.
ELIZABETH, n. j., Oct. 10, 1896.
ELY BROS, Dear Sirs Please accept
l. H. <-t4f ~