Year: 1878

New York Herald,


The ice factory recently opened in West
Eleventh St. was visited yesterday, and it
proved to be an object of much interest.
The ice, produced in blocks Of about 500
pounds each, measuring feet square and
inches thick, was SO clear that the hour
could plainly be told on watch dial through
the entire thickness of the block. Printed
bills and bottles of champagne were frozen
tight in the ice. The bills were read with
the greatest ease through the side of the
block in which they had been imbeded. A
thermometer marked with Fahrenheit's
scale was frozen into the block at point
marking nineteen degrees below the freez-
ing point.


HOW THE ICE Is MADE.


The ice generating apparatus is run, in
the present instance, by steam engine of
2O-horse power. On the right hand of the
engine is the refrigerator, a copper tubular
vessel, enclosed in a wooden box about six
or seven feet square. The refrigerator is
charged with liquid ether, evaporated, when
required, by vacuum pump, which stands
on the left of the engine and is connected
by copper tubes with the refrigerator. The
ether is drawn away in the form of vapor
and passed into copper tubular condenser
where, under low degree of pressure, aid.
ed by stream of water, it is again brought
back to it's original state and returns thro'
the ether cooler into the meter, which reg
ulates the flow of the liquid ether into the
refrigerator. The same ether is used con-
tinuously with inappreciable loss. To utll-
ize the cold produced by the ether strong,
uncongealable brine is circulated by ma
chine called the brine pump through the
tubes of the refrigerator, parting with its
heat to the ether vapor on it's passage.
Thus it leaves that vessel at temperature
many degrees below the freezing point and
is then used in the freezing tanks, return
ing afterward to the machine to be reeool'
ed. For


THE MANUFACTURE OF ICE BLOCKS
The machine is furnished with wooden
tanks (placed at the left of the vacuum
pump of any convenient dimensions, which
tanks are filled with the fresh water to be
frozen. In the tanks a number of hollow
metal cells are fitted and SO connected with
the refrigerator and with each other that
the cold, leaving the refrigerator at a tenn
perature of from 14o to 200 Fahrenheit, is
continually circulated inside them, thus
causing the water in the tanks, on each
side, to CONCEAL until the required thick
ness of ice has been obtained by the pro-
cess of successive layers, but done as closely
and compactly as nature performs her ad-
mirable work in winter on the lakes and
ponds. When the blocks are frozen solid,
the cold brine ia pumped ont Of tha cells
and replaced by brine of the ordinary at
temperature. The circulation
of this comparatively warm brine, for few
minutes in the cells, loosens the ice from
their sides and renders its removal very
easy. A knotted and looped rope is frozen
into the block, hook is inserted in the
loop and the block is hoisted away. 1t is
then carried by means of traveller in any |
convenient direction for delivery at the door |
of the factory.


COSTLY APPARATUS.


1t is claimed that this machine, which, |
however novel here, has been in use for
about nine years in England, can produce
about 80 tons of ice daily, at a cost of 81 a
ton. It requires an engineer, two firemen
and two laborers to work it. 1t will cost,
however, from $75, 600 to 100000 to put it
in running order, SO that the invention
could only be made available to corpora
ions or private individuals commanding a
amount of capital.