96 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The steamer had three rooms furnished with cooling-apparatus (refrig- 

 erators) ; of these, two were on the second deck, a little forward of mid- 

 ships; the third was astern in the peak, and extended from the keelson 

 up through the two decks. The first were kept cold by water, the last 

 by air. Each of the rooms was 9 to 10 feet high, 12 to 14 feet wide, and 

 40 to 45 feet long. They were perfectly empty inclosures. The cold- 

 water rooms, which I shall mention first, were provided with doors for 

 loading and unloading the meat. The doors opened out into a stair- 

 way by which one reaches the deck. Immediately outside the door was 

 the steam-engine which forced the cold water; close by was the ice-box, 

 through which the water is led; also, finally, two separate zinc-covered 

 and well-lined ice-storerooms — one for each room — 5 to 6 feet wide, 10 

 to 12 feet long, and 9 to 10 feet high. A sufficient quantity of ice was 

 kept for the voyage. The inside of the refrigerating-rooms was provided 

 with close series of hooks, on which the carcasses were Jiung, sewed in 

 muslin. They .must, as far as possible, hang clear of one another, partly 

 to prevent chafing during the rolling of the ship, partly to give the cold 

 air free access to all parts of each carcass. When the rooms are filled 

 there is not room for a boy, hardly enough for a cat, to creep along the 

 floor. The fuller thej^ are the easier it is to maintain the cold. All sides 

 of the rooms were encircled by lead pipes 2^ inches in diameter, 10 coils 

 on each side. The piiDes were fastened directly to the wall. This was 

 the furnishing of the room. 



The work of refrigeration I shall next briefly mention. The problem 

 is to keep the temperature uniform and low — usually 37<^ Fahr., or, more 

 accurately, never above 40° Fahr., nor below 35° Fahr. To this end the 

 rooms were first comi^letely inclosed, made tight, then hermetically 

 sealed. In the pipes, which with an aggregate length of 1,700 to 1,800 

 feet encircled aU the walls, was jjumped cold fresh water by a little 

 steam-engine, which worked a pumj) for each room. The water circu- 

 lates through the whole length of the pij^es in a room, returns to the 

 starting-point, holds, then, a temi)erature near 29.3° F., is conducted over 

 ice and salt, forced again into the pipes, and produces and maintains 

 a temperature of about o5.6o to 37.4° F. This current of water is con- 

 tinuous, since the circulation is uninterrupted ; the quantity of water is 

 increased by the melting of the ice ; the surplus finds an outlet. Fresh 

 ice is supplied constantly in the ice-boxes, and each ton of ice is mixed 

 with nearly a quarter as much salt. The temperature of the room is 

 controlled through a very smaU window, inside of which a thermometer 

 is hung, and by that the temperature of the body of water is regulated. 

 To protect the meat, the pumping is continued untU the last carcass is 

 unloaded. 



The work or oversight of the work of the pumps is taken in charge 

 by two men who watch alternately. This superintendence, as well as 

 the engines, pumps, pipes, &c., is at the expense of the shipper of the 

 meat; the steam, on the contrary, is furnished free by the ship. The 



