The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-21
The Yankee and His Ice Water
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN ;

rison OF Australia. as we'll as several
French scientists, CAME along about tho
same time with experimental machines.
But the first ice factory Of impor.
tance IN the world was established IN
New Orleans IN 1866, and il became the
foreunner of the thousands of plants
were first TO think of freezing meat to
preserve ii for long keeping, buh the
notion was adopted in the United
States without n moment g delay,
How TO mako ice by burning coal
and heating water is puzzling to tho un.
initiated, although the principle of the
process by which 1T is accomplished
has been the property of the human
mind for many centuries. In The alb,
sorption method advantage is taken of
the fact that water will absorb many
times its volume of Hnhydrous ammo.
MIA gas. This process causes absorp.
ton of the heat from the pipes through
which the ammonia, liberated from
pressure, flows, and refrigeration fol
lows. In the compression method, most
generally used, the ammonia gas is
compressed under high pressure and
then condensed into a liquid by cooling
with water. Pressure is then removed
and the liquid expands to gas and
absorbs the heat from the pipes. These
pipes may circulate through brine IN
which are immersed the cans of pure
distilled water to be frozen, The brine
does not freeze as quickly as pure wa
ter, and its temperature is kept so low
that it will freeze anything about 1T.
The frosted pipes of the cold storage
plant are familiar sights to most Amer
H. e
there are many variations. arc Just the
same, except that instead Of cooling
brine TO freeze water into ice, the
pipes are used to cool the air to any
degree of refrigeration. Practice has
brought the art of cold storage TO a
state approaching perfection. Tables
! have been prepared showing the exact
temperature in which certain articles
must be kept TO prevent decay. Fruit,
for instance. may be kept for long peri,
DDS of time in cold air. but is destroyed
If allowed to freeze, The same is true
of eggs. Meats, fowls aud fish are
! frozen and kept indefinitely. Cars of
! fruit IN transit are hauled into long
| sheds and refrigerated by air artif.
| ciallY cooled, thus doing away with ice
boxes, Bananas, especially, have been
successfully treated in this way on long
hauls across the continent,
! Not only is cold storage used 10 pre-
! serve perishable food products. but to
| protect fabrics and furs from the raw
! ages of insects and mildew. In every
| large city there are great storage houses
which take care of household furniture,
| upholstery, carpets. furs and clothing
/ In rooms cooled to an absolutely safe
I temperature by the frosted pipes of the
/ ammonia system.
The ice which comes from the arti-
hclal plant is not always perfectly
clear, and once in a while ii may taste
of chemicals. but as a rule it is pure
! crystal, At first it was difficult TO make
! clear ice, because the air bubbles In
| the water were imprisoned in the rap
! ldly-freezlng mass and gave a cloudy
effect to the block Then came the
process of first distilling the water to
! get out the air, which resulted not only
in clear ice, but also in the assurance
| TO the consumer that the ice was per
! fectly pure and absolutely free from
germs.
The demand for an ice.making plant
small enough TO supply the needs of one
! household has been expressed for years,
| but thus far none of the devices de-
! signed to supply this want have been
! practicable, The process of making ice
requires some mechanical and chemical
skill. lcemakers believe, however that
the day of the small plant is near at
hand,
Like all new industries. the artificial
| Ice business has caused other businesses
| to expand For instance, the coke
ovens Of the coal mining regions pay
great attention TO the making of am
mouja gas for which there is steady
demand from the ice makers, In theory,
the ammonia gas once used for refrlg-
| Grafton begins It's work over again
and proceeds IN an endless succession
of cycles, but leakage and unavoidable
| losses make II necessary to charge
the plant with ammonia frequently,
Perhaps the most ingenious inveu.
tion which has resulted from the cold
storage business is that of the thermo
phone, an Instrument which measures
heat at any desired point and trans
mIts it by sound 10 the ear. The thermo
phone takes advantage Of the physical
fact that there is change of resist
ance IN an electrical conductor with q
change 10 temperature. Stations in al
parts Of the plant are connected with
the main office. The central instrument
has q series Of switches and dial show
ing the degrees of temperature, jus,
DE- Oh ~ lDtl y I'NtlNlHR ttlN
phone is connected with the switch
board. The operator connects the tele
phone with any desired station in the
plant, and places the telephone to his
car, He hears slight buzzing noise
aud the needle on the dial moves, Fin
ally there comes complete eilen/e, and
at that moment the needle indicates the
exact temperature.
The American hunger for the move
and spectacular has not been disap
pointed bv the artificial ice-mskers
They freeze water on the 6oor of Z
great building, which is cooled by
frosted cold storage pipes, and one may
enjoy ice skating when the thermometer
is al 100 in the shade outside. They
freeze cakes of ice inside water bot
ties, and one S drinking water is poured
off the top of that ice. They freeze
FISH and vegetables in solid blocks OF
ice for signs in cafe windows. They
make ice blocks so large and clear
that ice sculptors will attempt a grouI
Of figures of heroic size TO aid in tho
decorations for a banquet, Photographs
have boen taken of q dozen mon stand