Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-06-04
A Cooling Topic for a Hot Day.

Journals editorial room. We looked
for the source of it and found it to be
census bulletin number ia which deals
exhaustively ana entertainingly with
the subject Of manufactured ice, or
artificial ice. as it is commonly called.
Director Merriam had most thought
fully timed the arrival Of this docu-
ment, ana we hereby extend our sin
cere thanks. A perusaI Of its pages is
better III many respects than too fire.
uuent trips to the ice-Watcr tank, and
reveals many interesting things about
great and growing industry Of which
we in New England know very little.
For instance it Will probably sur
prise some of our readers to know that
more ice is manufactured for sale in
this country yearly than was ever cut
in a single year on either the Hudson
or on our Maine rivers. In that IA
NOUS banner year Of 1890, when Maine
cut ice as never before or since, thcr"
were harvested @,G92 400 tons on our
rivers. That was double the amount
ever cut III any other year in our State.
The largest amount ever harvested on
the Hudson in one year was 4,3lG,33i
tons in 1899. But in 1900 there were
manufactured in this country l,353.6H
tons Of icc. This was the amount re-
turned from the 7S7 places devoted to
the business of manufacturing it for
the market. Other establishments
manufacturing it as one of several
products or making it for their own
use. would undoubtedly make the total
product of that year over 5,0o0,000 tons.
And the amount manufactured is fast
increasing yearly.
Here in New England but little ice if
manufactured. Connecticut and Rhode
Island have small establishments. The
business naturally had its origin in the
South. ana the census Of 1870, in which
artificial ice first figured, showed four
establishments. all located in that sec
tion. There were - plants reported in
1850 ana these were nearly al in tie
South IN 1890 there were reported 222
plants IN 81 states, but 1G5 were in the
southern states. The 49, plants report
ed in 1900 were in 3 states $50 being in
the Southern states. Texas was lead
ing with II. Pennsylvania served with
10. indiana third with a. ohio fourth
with T. New York fifth with A.
Louisiana sixth with Sc, Florida
seventh with 81. Georgia eighth with 81,
Missouri ana Kentucky 81 each, ana 50
on. The remarkable growth Of the in
dustry IN the North is due to the fact
that the process Of manufacture has
hcel, 50 chcapcncd that it is rossiblc for
the artificial i,c to compete there with
the natural product. The following
states reported no icc-mnnufacturihg
establishments: Maine, Massachusetts,
Michigan. Minnesota, Montana, Nevada.
Now Hampshire. North Dakota, South
Dakota Vermont, Wisconsin. ANA WY
oming and Idaho.
III New York city. during the census
year. So p"r cent Of the ice consumed
was manufactured. In Philadelphia
about onc-third was manufactured,
aud in the cities of the South practi-
cally all the ice consumed was arti-
fetal. The average cost of producing
manufactured icc varies at the plants
from &l.i0 to 81 per ton. though the
larger plants. running at full capacity
and uudcr favorable conditions. can
make lie ~ from 20 to 90 cents per ton.
The cost is being steadily reduced,
ana aa it becomes less there is a steady
northvard extension of the zone in
which artificial ice can successfully
compete with the natural product. The
plants reporting in 1900 showed CAPT
tai of SIS 204 05i invested in the manu-
facturc Of ice, giving employment to
about 5000 people
And how is ice manufactured? 1t is
simple enough when once you under
stand the process. The bulletin coolly
explains tnat. Artificial refrigeration
consists simply in the removal of heat.
and is accomplished by the use Of am
monia. either aqua or anhydrous. or
some other volatile liquid, such as sui
phurous dioNide or ether. which absorbs
heat upon evaporation This, how
ever, doesn't mean much to the un-
initiated. Roughly, we may say that
most Of the artificial ice is produced
by the compressor system by which
ammonia, first in gaseous ana then in
liquid form. is passed through pipes
which are i'll contact with the water to
be frozen. The first ice making ma
chine was patented i'll 1894 by Jacob
Perkins, an American engineer, then
residing in London. The chief credit
Tor iHVcnttnE the system now generally
used and putting it in successful
operation belongs to Prof A. c. Twin