The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-07-03
WAY TO KEEP cool
Refrigerator Properly Arranged VIII
Reduce temperature of a Room.

Refrigerator Properly Arranged VIII
Reduce Tempe nature of Room.
You heat your house in winter;
why not cool it in summer"
This idea occurred to DR. Alexand-
er Graham Bell when the Washington
weather became extremely sizzling.
Former President Taft, when he
was in the White House, had re-
frigerating device put in the Offices.
which since has fallen INTO disuse,
but DR. Bell believes he procured bet
! ter results by his homemade cool
ing arrangement in his Connecticut
avenue residence.
q In a communication to the National
Geographic society Dir. Bell describes
how he tricked the Thermometer out
of some 81 degreesT-and Soascanstry
this out oTshDnr own home, II yousare
handy about the house: fA. R.A
'sWe go up to the Arctic ssfegapIls
and heat our houses and i've he eX-
plains. I'VE so down to the tropics
and die. 49,
81 have, found one radical defect i'm
the construction OF our houses that
absolutely precludes the possibility
OF cooling them to any great degree.
You will readily understand the diff
Guilty when you remember that cold
air is heavier than warm air. You
can take a bucket of cold air, for ex-
ample, and carry it about in the sum-
mer-time and not spill a drop; but if
you make hole in the bottom of
your bucket, then, of course, the cold
air will all run out
Il began to think that it might be
possible to apply the bucket principle
to at least one room in my Washing
ton home. and thus secure a place of
retreat in the summertime. II seem
ed to be advisable to close up all
openings near the bottom of the
room to prevent the escape Of cold
air and open the windows n the top
and let out the heated air OF the
room.
Now, it so happens that l have in
the basement of my house a swim
ming tank, and it occurred to me that
since this tank holds water, it should
certainly hold cold air; so | turned
the water out to study the situation.
The tank seemed to be damp and the
SUES lell wet anu SHINY.
q reflected, however that the con
densation of moisture resulted from
the fact that the sides OF the tank
We're cooler than the air admitted !
Water vapor will not condense on
anything that is warmer than itself, !
and it occurred TO me that if | intro |
duced air that was much colder than
| wanted to use, then it would be
warming up in the tank and becoming
dryer all the time. 1t would not de- |
post moisture on the sides and would
actually absorb the moisture there.
Il therefore provided a refrigerator
in which were placed large blocks of
ice covered with salt This was plac-
ed in another room at higher eleva |
tion than the tank. and pipe cover
ed with asbestos paper was employed |
to lead the cold air into the tank
The first effect was the drying of
the walls, and then felt the level of |
the cold air gradually rising AT last
it came over my head. The tank was
full and / found myself immersed in
cool air | felt so cool and comfort |
able that it seemed difficult to be-
live that Washington stood sizzling
OulSluS. CliInptu up lHe lduueT Ill
the swimming tank until my head was
above the surface, and then found my
self breathing hot, damp mugs at
mosphere. | therefore speedily re-
treated into the tank, where | was
perfectly cool and comfortable
Guided by this experience, ! tried
another experiment in my house. |
put the refrigerator in the attic and
led the cold air downward through a
pipe covered with asbestos into one
Of the rooms of the house. The doors
were kept shut and the windows were
opened at the top. The temperature
in that room was perfectly comfort
able, about 65 degrees.
Some time ago the papers were
speaking Of an ice plant. that had
been installed in the White House
and congratulated the PRECEDENT, then
Mr.. Taft, upon a temperature of only
so degrees when the thermometer
showed 100 degrees outside. Under
similar conditions enjoyed in my
house temperature OF So degrees |
(the ideal temperature), with a delic-
ious feeling of freshness in the air."