The Washington herald., 1913-07-06
Methods for Folks Of
Moderate Means May Be
i Used During the Heated
Term Wet Bed Sheet
May Be Hung.

ONCE, In the business annex Of the White
House. is a huge box containing several
tons Of ice constantly replenisheO,
which Is distributed In big chunks on
shelves of galvanized iron. in such fash
ion that blast Of air continually passing
over 1t takes up a maximum amount Of
| GOODNESS. Revolving fans, operated by
electricity, force the cooled air into the
room above, where even on the hottest
day the temperature can easily be kept
down to 20 degrees.
Necessarily this process Is very expen-
sive. 1t costs a lot of money. because
| 1t Is unscientific. Every housewife knows
that cold air. because of its greater
weight, descends. Accordingly, the ice
f, containing compartment of the Presi-
dents refrigerator ought to be overhead
instead OF underneath. Not only would
| this plan render much less Ice Necessary,
but the cold air would flow down into
the room through pipes without the aid OF
| a blower.
Cold Air May BE Obtained.
As yet. however. we are only begin
| ming to be educated in such matters.
| There are means whereby people of
moderate income can enjoy GOODNESS In
the summertime and without going to
! much trouble. One such method has
| been devised by Prof. Bell, the inventor
| Of the telephone. At his home In Wash
| Ington he has what he calls an ice fur
mace. which serves exactly the same
purpose as a heating furnace, except
that II supplies cold air in hot weather
| instead of hot air in cold weather. The
| furnaceman shovels ice into 1t instead
| of coal
Nothing more simple than this con-
trivance could well be imagined. Its
principal feature Is box big enough
| to contain 100 pounds of ice, which Is
renewed twice a week. Into this box a
current OF air from outdoors Is forced
through pipe by an electric fan-a
small motor hitched to a light-wire
| socket furnishing the power. The air.
cooled by passing over the ice, descends
| through another pipe (well insulated TO
prevent loss of cold into Prof. Bells
study. below, where 1t escapes near the
| floor. Even when the temperature, as
recorded by the Weather Bureau, goes
above the 100 mark. the thermometer IN
the study stands at s. degrees.
The inventor says that anybody can
rig up such an apparatus at trifiing cost,
using an old refrigerator to hold the ice.
But II Is important that the room to be
cooled by such means shall be as air
tight as possible about the floor and
lower walls. inasmuch as cold air. being
relatively heavy fluid, has a tendency
to flow out through cracks and under
the doors. Prof. Bells study was for
merly a swimming tank, and the walls
being of tile, with windows high up
and the door reached by a short ladder.
it is particularly well adapted for the
purpose.
Here. then. We have the scientific
method as contrasted with the unscien-
tiic plan adopted at the White House.
1t serves. however. only for cooling one
room. How shall an ordinary dwelling
all parts of It, including dining-room,
living-room. and bedrooms-be cooled at
moderate expense? This is the problem
which as yet remains unsolved.
Temperature IL Lowered.
There are already a few high-priced
lighthouses in which cold air is supplied
to tenants In the summertime as regu-
larry as hot air in the winter. All they
have to do is to turn a switch and the
temperature of their rooms can be made
exactly what they wish, no matter how
the thermometer stands outdoors. This
is accomplished by pipes carrying am
monia gas. the apartments being in
cluded in a great refrigerating system
icebox in every fat. SO that the luxury
enjoying housewife never sees an iceman.
She needs no ice.
But this, of course, costs a great deal
of money. 1t offers no suggestion that
Is useful to ordinary folks. Neverthe-
less. the time is sure to come before
very long when cold will be obtained in
hot weather at a reasonable price. Large
business concerns have almost entirely
abandoned the use of ice. cooling by
evaporated ammonia in coils being
cheaper and much more satisfactory.
Some system is sure to be found that
is adaptable to dwellings,. In our highly
developed civilization the iceman. with
his fugitive daily lump, is distinctly 4
back number; one might almost say, an
anachronism- century from now peo-
pie will wonder how their ancestors ever
managed to get along with so primitive
a method of supplying themselves with
cold.
1t is a serious question whether the
possibilities of cooling by ammonia gas
have not been already developed to the
utmost. thoroughly scientific exhibit
ton of this method of refrigeration for
promoting human comfort Is made in the
New York Stock Exchange, where air.
taken in from above the roof. at q height
of 10 feet. is passed through four miles
Of galvanized iron pipes. and then blown
into the huge room wherein the bulls
and bears daily disport themselves. In
every city immense quantities of arti-
fetal ice are manufactures by equivalent
means, differently applied: and skating
Kinks are actually made independent to
q great extent Of outdoor temperature
by ammonia piping that runs beneath
the surface of the frozen water-the ice
OF the skating floor being freshly and
smoothly surfaced twice in every twenty
four hours.
Again. as the latest development of the
method In first-class hotels, the various
compartments of the huge refrigerators.
for containing different kinds of food
supplies, are kept simultaneously at Diff
ferent temperatures-the fish compart-
ment at 80 degrees, the meat compart-
.ment at q degrees, the butter and milk
compartment at ~ degrees. and the fruit
compartment at A degrees, etc: each of
these being the "optimum" GOODNESS for
perishable material concerned. From the
same source Is obtained the cold for
making. at 10 degrees fahrenheit, the
small cubical blocks of crystal-clear ice,
which lend SO dainty an attractiveness
to the hotel tables.
Why Not Cold Fuel.
So much success has been obtained
with this method Of cooling that its ex-
tension for the service of whole COM
munities through pipe lines has been
deemed practicable. Already We get
light. fuel. and even power through pipes
laid underground in cities. Why not cold
also? How convenient II would be to
turn a faucet in hot weather. and let
in a stream o. cool air! Pipe lines from
central stations should supplv evanorot