Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-07-17
Qua colo STORAGE PLANT.

OOH COLD SfOHASe PLAN.
The peopie OF the Southwest should
be Impressed with the magnitude and
importance of the cold storage plant
At Durango an enterprise for which
he country is Indebted to VIM. Wolff,
Nick F Cool, and Earnest. Wetter. A
siudy OF the utility If this cold stor-
age plant win be profitable Its
great capacity and the various uses
sor which it may be employed to pre-
serve perislable goods will require
study
Herald reporter went down there
esterday evening more than for any
other reason 20 find out what such an
institution is good for, and after asking
Nick Cooke about four hundred ques-
tons. made mp his mind that the peo-
pie ought 10 know something about it.
Nick said:
We'll. the best idea can give you
of the capacity without having tested
it, is this way-we will say that We
ean furnish cold storage for one hun
lred beeves, hundred and fifty NUT
ton and say one hundred or more hogs.
two cars of beer. one car of butter.
two cars of beer, one car of fish and
oysters, car of game, and car of
cGps and car of butter. We
have a fruit room and when the
ice season is over we can add the ice
storage room and take care of ten cars
OF fruit
Now. YOU know that when the coun-
,ry is provided with this excellent
means for preserving our perishable
products there will be little excuse
| for allowing things to go to waste.
Meat probably will not be any cheap
err The only way to make meat
cheaper is for nobody to eat it, and
then the cold storage plant would get
more fish and oysters and poultry.
| Mr.. Cook was telling us about how
much anhydrous ammonia it takes to
charge the ice plant. but farmers don't
care anything about that, so long as
they know they have a good place to
take their products to while they wait
for market or better prices.
The relief to the glutted market
which has so frequently occurred will
be most effective and the result will
be All evenness of prices. The seas
on on various products can thus be
prolonged. but there is one regrettable
fact-beef will not be any cheaper.
Some facts regarding the capacity
OF the different storage rooms will be
instructive. Just off from the ma
rhincrv room is a hall entrance or
gangway from the railway trackside.
taptrfnnaj with a track overhead
for the convenience and rapid handling
Of meats which leads to the beef stor-
as room 1896 feet Next to this
there are two rooms STYLED "freezers,"
each of lGx32 feet. The ice storage
is 20x4O. twenty feet deep and the
fruit room is 20x3O, 30 feet deep. At
the south entrance of the ice storage
is an elevator operated by three
horse power electric motor, generated
by the steam power in the machinery
room. The general storage room for
articles which do not require cooling
is lOx70 feet.
The interior of all these rooms is
finish of clear native pine as pretty as
one can imagine. One of the most
interesting features is the ice depart
ment. or the room in which the water
lis frozen into huge squares of ice.
Here there are eighty-one cans or
ice moulds, each large enough to hold
a 300pound cake of ice. During the
progress of of the freezing process
imal rubber tub in each mould.
carvings compressed air, agitates
the copgealing water through the
/ inpItri-
ties This room is provided with the
latest approved appliances for the
economic handling of the product. A
pneumatic hoist and travelling crane
operated by compressed air raise the
heavy ice moulds from the tank and
dump the ice for delivery to the Ice
storage room.
In the machinery room is tubular
boiler of S0-horse power, and TO
horse power engine. The engine fly
whee! which is belted to line shaft,
operates two ten-ton refrigeratlng ma
chimes and two air compressros, This
shaft also operates an electrical gen
orator. lighting the plant and furnish
ing power for the elevator motor
The refrigerating machines are con-
rected with two ammonia condensers
In this room is u brine circulating
pump, pumping regular old fashioned
salty brine like pap" used to pickle
pork in This brine is circulated in
what is called brine coolers in bunker
rooms or the freezing rooms. The
pump forces the brine through an al
most endless system of coling pipe
having a length of about three miles.
fully three miles of pipe is used for
conveying the amonia and brine.
The visitor is readily convinced that
the cold storage plant is modern
throughout. ranking with the best In
America, and when he retires he must
he impressed with its great value to
the country Wm. Wolff & Co could
not well have selected any other en-
terprise which could have been of
greater service to the country Their
splendid success is at once assured
and no doubt they will find it neces-
sary to enlarge the plant within a
wear or so.
There are people in the country
who have ample capital to give us