The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-08-30
THE NEW FACTORY HERE
THE MACHINERY FOR 1T HAS
BEEN ORDERED.
END OF THE ICE TRUST IN SIGHT
A Chain of the New Machines to be Put il
at the Principal Cities of the State.
Can Make Block of Ice
Every Minute.

to be erected here by Forbes q CO.,
of Richmond, and managed by Mr.. D..
l.. Harris, OF this city, will be in OPP
Grafton. Mr.. Harris has just returned
from Philadelphia, where he contracted
for the machinery. 1t Will take some
thine to build the machine. When il is
ready for shipment active work will be-
gin here on the property bought for the
purpose some months ago-the old Ruff
fin Roles furniture factory.
The instalment OF this machinery and
the operation of this factory will rcyo-
mtionize the ice business in Raleigh:
and in fact in North Carolina. For If
the ice plant here proves a success a
chain of machines similar to the one
to be used here will be put in at Char
lotte, Wilmington and perhaps other
places. The machine will average a
200 pound block of ice every six min
utes the year around and will make ice
at half the cost of the ordinary ma
chine-those now in use here ana else
where in tihis State. 1t is Mr. liar
ris' intention to establish here a sys-
tenn of ice delivery at so much per week
or per month, instead of mt 80 much
per pound. Though of course it will
be sold by the pound also to those
so desiring-a twenty pound block for
5 cents.
This new machine bought by Mr..
Harris, and for which, by the way, he
has the State agency, will not only fur
nisll cheap ice, hut thereby it will de-
atroy the ice trust, which, with its
capital of $60,000,000, has until re-
Gently seemed to be as solid as Gibraltar
The machine is known as the Holden
Repealed Ice Machine, by means of
which the best ice in the world can be
made for from forty to fifty cenfs Il
TON. The machine was invented by
Major ID. l.. Holden, of Philadelphia. Of
whom it is said that he is the father
Of the ice-mal1ing machine industry. He
has made a life study of the manafac-
tilre ice. He is the recognized pioneer
in the industry. having invented ant
built the first plant ever placed on the
market. This was thirty three years
ago. In 1876 the first ice machine ever
installed in this or any other country
was put in successful operation by Ma.
jor Holden. Since that time he has adj
vanced step by step until at last he is
about to revolutioniZe the whole ice
making industry.
During the last year Major Holden has
been engaged in perfecting and conn
pleting his machine.
This new process differs from the
methods of artificial lee making now in
vogue. not in the materials employed,
but in the manner Of applying this ma
terial. The familiar ammonia system
is used for the refrigeration, but the
freezing process goes on in different
fashion from the one followed in ma
chimes now in use.
In the present system of manufactur-
ing ice the distilled water which is TO
form the ice is held n a square tank
about which the ammonia current which
does the freezing circulates. The w:tfe.
freezes therefore from it's outer portion
inwardly. From fortyfeight to sixty
hours are necessary to complete the
freezing process.
The speed with which lie rev ina
chine operates is the cause OF its great
est saving. 1t works rapidly because
fresh portions of the water are COM
stantly exposed to the action o. the
current Moreover, it is not necessary
to put the water used through the pro-
cess of distilling in order TO assure puri-
ty of the ice The process of freezing
in itself purifies the water.
Without going into unnecessary tech
nical details it may be said that Mr..
Holden's ice machine consists of an APP
paratls for developing the ammonia and
a tank to contain the water during the
freezing process. Inside this tank and
submerged in the water is a hollow cyl
inder through which the evaporating am
monia is conducted. The action of the
ammonia reduces the temperature of the
shell fthe cylinder to thirty-two de-
gress below zero, or "a degrees below
the freezing point of water, which
means that ice is formed on the outside
Of the cylinder very rapidly; in fact,
about one-fourth Of an inch per minute
The ice is never allowed to thicken to
more than one-sixteenth of an inch. Ar
ranged on cutter bar and working close
up TO the cylinder is n series of knives,
which keep the ice cut off down TO the
skin Of the cylinder working like the
knives ON a turning lathe. The knives
are fed automatically by the cylinder
through a worm gear.
The ice scrapings, when cut off, rise to
the surface of the water, as they are
lighter than the water itself, and are
IL
this hood is a revolving screw conveyor,
which pushes the ice scrapings out
through pipe, and from this pipe into
a hydraulic press. The particles of ice
are naturally moist, and when they are
crushed together under the action of the
hydraulic press, the moment the press
is released the particles fly together, and
in a second form perfectly congealed
mass, much more compact, indeed, than
natural ice, since it contains no air
bubbles and no half-frozen snow.
When the ice energies from the ma
chine it is slightly Opaque, but this APP
pearance, due to the process OF read
justment among the crystals, soon
passes. A perfectly transparent block
is the result, and this can be split in
any direction, since it is uniformly fro
zen.
One cake of ice every minutes is the
record which is claimed for the ma