The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-01
AIR OF FORMING
 MILL MADE PURE

'JSS41 C1Ileu lEnpOSSlOl6 mas 1uEI been acconl olished at the factory of the Frank H. Lee Hat Co.,, in Danbury. where an lair washing" machine, the first to be used in any hat factory in the purpose of removing from the air Of the forming mill the invisible par ticles of quicksilver that form a con- stant and dreaded meance to the health of workers in that branch of the hat industry.
 The apparatus has been in opera tion a little more than a week and it appears to have been demonstrated conclusively that 1t is possible to free the atmosphere of quicksilver and to provide an abundance of fresh, pure air at a constantly even temperature, at the same time avoiding air cur rents that interfere with the hand ling of the fur while it is being con- verted into hat bodies.
 For years a means of banishIng the quicksilver menace has been sought by hat manufacturers and the successful application of the lair washing" process to the forming mill of the Lee factory has apparanetly solved one of the most serious and perplexing problems in the hat in dustry. The danger to health, and even to life, that results from the presence of quicksilver in the close ar of the forming mill has not only been recognized and made the sub Ject of serious study and countless experiments by men in the hat in dustry, but has been the subject of state investigation in New Jersey iE the hope that some way could he found to banish the evil and erad- icate. so far as hat factcrtss are concerned. the cause of a, most bane- full "occupationaT' disease. Until now no solution of the problem has been found.
 Quicksilver is used in the carrot ing process through which the fur passes in the fur cutting shop, be- fore it reaches the hat factory, and considerable of it remains in the fur. ''The shakes matters call the dis tressing effects of inhaling quicksiI- yer. Men and women contracting the disease shake like persons with the palsy. their teeth become discoI- ored and decay, and they gradually become united for work. Sometimes a. loHg rest, away from the poison
 
 will restore the health of the work CT seriously affected, so that he may return to his employment again, but some are permanently iucapacitated by the disease From a humanitarian standpoint the discovery of a means of riddinE the air Of the forming
 mill of it's menace of quicksilver
 marks an important step forward, and that Danbury is able to point the way in this direction is a source Of qualification.
 w. E. Heibel, chief engineer of the American Blower Co., of Detroit. who installed the apparatus and worked out with MT. Lee the many perpIexing problems that it was found necessary to overcome in ac- commodating the washing syste m to the requirements of a hat factory, explained to a representative of The Times recently what had been accom- pIished and how.
 The temperature in the forming room. where seven machines were in operation, stood at the time at seventy-flye degrees and MT. Heibel said it had remained at that point all day. The usual temperature in | the room before the washing ap- DdraIUS was III OpSIAtlOI StOOu II OAiI eighty to one hundred degrees. The 1 air was clear and sweet and free of | particles of fur and was even purer
 MT. HeibeI said, tan the air out l side.
 l The apparatus for 'washing" the l air entering the factory is located 1 in q. specially Constructed annex out l side the forming mill, and includes 1 3. specially installed engine to operate 1 the mechanism by which the air $ | drawn from the building. purified heated or cooled. and sent into the 1 factory again. To heat fresh cold 1 air constantly entering the buildine
 from the outside atmosphere would 1 entail great expense, so warm air is
 drawn from the factory, cleansed and
 sent back again. It is necessary tC ] maintain a certain degree of hu- 1 mtdity in g. forming room to facili- | tate the manipulation of the fur, sc l the aid Is hunifed to the right de 1 gree before it is sent in. It is so nee
 cessary to avoid drafts of air during l the process of forming hats that or l dinarily the entrance to a forInine room is by way of an ante room, the l door of which is closed before tha l leading into the forming room 1: | opened, and to maintain a constan
 and even circulation of air withou' l causing troublesome drafts was ont i Of the problems that required weelr' l Of study and experimenting to worB l out.
 In the washing" apparatus the ali | passes through two thick banks O
 mist on it's way into the factory. The | air intake, through which the ail
 enters the apparatus, is the frs step in the process. From the intake
 the air is filtered through a banl
 of heavy mist four feet in thickness
 created by sprayers through whicl
 water is forced. This mist bank bott ,i washes" and humidifies the air. Re yond this mist the air encounter
 what are termed wet scrubhe plates" which catch and hold par ticIes of dust and other impuritie , that succeed in passing through tn mist. Beyond these scrubber plate is another bank of mist. three fee thick. where the air receives it's sec
 ond bath. Then comes another SC
 of ecrubber plates to pick up any
 thing that chances to have survive'
 up to that point.