The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-22

together. Every apartment must De per-
fectly alright. and TO make it so p~artlcu-
lar attention is paid to the fittings and
joints Of the doors. All Of the storage
rooms are dark except when lighted by
electric lights. and are entered by double
doors q great thickness. The windows in
the building are covered with three sashes.
and each sash has double panes OF glass.
so that six ~tbicknesses separate the room
from the outer air. At night there are also
large iron shutters, which are closed by ma
chinery.
The temperature is kept down by a COM
plicated system of pipes. which run along
the sides of the rooms and are covered
with a heavy coating Of frost. There are
several methods Of refrigeration, but ex-
perts generally agree that anhydrous am
monia produces the best results. The am
monia is employed to cool a brine made of
water and cloride of calcium, and this
brine, chilled 10 the desired temperature,
is conveyed through the pipes direct
ly TO the room TO be cooled or TO
chambers through which a current of
air passes, and by contact with the
pipes is lowered to the tempera-
ture desired. High temperatures" are
from thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit on up,
and low temperatures from thirty-twO
down TO zero, which is the lowest used in
this city, and is for the purpose of preserv1
ing butter. To produce high tempera-
lures a current of air is drawn by a fan
from the room TO be cooled and is passed
to a chamber containing a network of
pipes. The moisture in the air is with
drawn from it by passing it over large
blocks of an absorbing chemical, and the
air is returned to the room below cooled
to the required temperature. The fans are
propelled by electric motors and by regula-
ting the current, the number of brine pipes
and in other ways a perfectly even tenn
p~erature is secured. together with a gentle
and continuous circulation, which pre-
vents all dampness and mold. The brine
in the cooling pipes is generally about
fifteen degrees above zero, though it is pos
sible to keep it at any temperature desired.
Each room is furnished with its own cool
ing chamber, so that one can be kept at
thirty-two. another at thirty-eight and a
third at forty-two, and so on.
Low" temperatures are produced by
adding to the circulating apparatus a suf-
hcient number of brine pipes TO keep the
temperature of the room down TO the prop
er point. The brine pipes are placed in the
sides of the rooms in the same manner as
heating pipes in other houses. and the
brine is at a very much lower temperature
than the pipes in the high" temperature
rooms. The advantage OF using brine IN
the pipes which pass through or near the
storage rooms, rather than the ammonia
which cools the brine. lies in the fact that
should a leakage occur no possible harm
can be done by the brine, while the odor of
the ammonia would instantly infect meats
and other classes of goods. 1t is remark
able with what evenness a given tempera-
ture can be maintained. A little regula-
ting here and there, a trifling readjustment
of the cooling apparatus is all that is nee
essary In case Of a rise or fall. Day and
night watchmen go their rounds about the
building recording every hour or two the
temperature of the different rooms, and
these records are carefully preserved. for
they constitute a history Of the establish
ment, and should legal complications arise
must be appealed to as proof that the
house was not at fault.
VARIETY OF, THINGS KEPT COOL.
1t is possible for the cooling apparatus
10 maintain the temperature at almost any
degree desired, ave when large quanti-
ties Of fresh goods are put in during mild
or warm weather. AT such times the fire.
quent opening of the door admits warm
air and besides the fresh goods brings in
with it its own heat. The goods are cooled
by a fan, which also weakens any odOr.
1t would seem that the summer time is the
season for cold storage, but this is not
the case. for the best months in the year
are April. May, June, October and Novem-
Der. The object is to preserve the stuff
which is prepared in the spring and fall I'M
til it becomes rare i'm the market. The
transient trade in this city is not large,
most Of the goods being stored for some
time.
The articles subject to storage are many
and various. Meats, in most cities are the
leading commodity. but here there's no meat
storage except where the packing estab-
lishments have their own plants, which
they use for nothing else. In this city APP
pies take the lead. then eggs, poultry, fish,
cabbage, potatoes and onions, besides a
large amount of fruits. both dried and
fresh. In the largest storage house of the
city the manufacturer of bicycle tires has
a room reserved to store the tires while
awaiting sale and shipment. This is prob
aDly the only instance In the United States
where such a thing is done. because the
idea is practically new and original with
the local tire concern, whose manager says
that the evenness Of temperature keeps
the fabrics from rotting and the rubbe
from drying out.
Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, Governor Durbir
and a number of other well-known per.
sons have some of their rugs and carpets
in cold storage for the summer. In the cor
ner of one of the large rooms of this estab-
lishment where the bicycle tires are stored
is a large pile of rugs and carpets which
represents about $4,000. 1t has become
well known that cold storage is one of the
surest personalities of moths. This dis
covery was made in a singular manner. Al
Eastern microscopic was experimenting
one day with moths 10 ascertain at whar
degree of temperature they would pass into
a dOrment state. The principal end anC
aim III the life of a moth is 10 eat. ane
when he has plenty of time and lots to ea'
he tends strictly to business. The man witt
the microscope, having a healthy and hun
cry moth. placed him in confinement unde
a glass where the temperature could be re
duced to any desired point. then supplied