The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-15
TALK OF
THE TOWN

I on the big Arkansas river. He brought
| batch with him when he came from
| Holland. The Wichita men who were
making tests, hearing this Dutchman
was making very good yeast. got some
of it and found it was fine but could be
| improved upon. So just as the mechanic
| improves on a piece of machinery they
have improved on the original Dutch
yeast till they have it down to the num-
Der of germs per cubic inch as men
toned before. The name is derived
from the above circumstance and the
/ fact that Holland is great bread coun-
/ try.
The Wichita factory is model for
cleanliness and sweet perfumes if one
likes the odor of yeast which is very
pleasant to many. The making of cake
of yeast is a big job. First -four, water,
| and four other secret parts are put to-
gether in a big vat having first been
| weighed Steam stirs this up and cooks il
to about the consistency of soup. It is
/ then poured into cars run on rub
Der tired wheels These cars are lined
with tin and are duplicates in appearance
to the trays in which the sidewalk men
mix cement. Next, the car is run under
a spout, which on being opened pours
out rich. yellow cornmeal. Now with
shovel and a hoe, this mass of stuff
weighing about three hundred pounds, is
thoroughly mixed Rolled to another room
in the esta blishment, where the heat is
kept to a temperature of SO degrees, these
cars sit from fourteen TO sixteen hours.
The germs divide and the sponge raises.
d civ
trio fan is started and large iron pipe
which reaches nearly to the floor and is
stuck to the chimney is opened The
draft in this pipe carries up heat and
moisture and with the aid OF the fan drys
out the sponge. This stops fermentation
or multiplication of germs
The car is rolled into another room
where it is made into compressed cakes.
This is done by a very interesting little
machine. 1t is run by water having a
hydraulic pressure of two and one-half
tone. The machine is a home production,
as is also the yeast. Messrs McLease
and Wall designed it and a Wichita foun-
dry put it up. The sponge is put into
the twenty-five moulds which are set in
brass. Brass pieces, come down in the
mOuds as cork fits in a bottle The
water is turned on and a pressure of $500
pounds presses the yeast into the form
which it has on the market. The COM
pactness of the cake can be readily rea-
lized when the amount of pressure put
upon it is taken into considerat ton. This
is what the manufacturer wants. The
cake of yeast must be so compact that
no air can get TO it If this element does
the germ takes flight. 1t disappears, and
whether it dies or goes off into the air
no one knows 1t takes longer to tell of
the process than the process takes. By
this machine, an operator can turn out
$50 cakes a minute. The pressed cakes
are put on drying racks after going
through the machine, left there for forty
eight hours and then assorted only the
perfect ones being wrapped up and put
on the market.
The factory is a very interesting place
to visit and the proprietors are courteous
to all. A woman can find many things
of interest to her. for who does not want
to know what they are doing when work
ing with anything and especially the staff
of life.