NOVEMBER 1, 1916 



1019 



GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 



AS GLIMPSED THROUGH THE CAMERA 



A New Wrinkle in Wax Rendering 



BY H. H. ROOT 



In rendering wax with what is often 

 called the unheated press the idea suggested 

 itself to me of introducing a small jet of 

 steam into the can holding the water and 

 wax and the refuse under pressure some- 

 what after the scheme described by E. F. ^ 

 Atwater, p. 138, March 1, 1909, but I de- 

 cided that it would not be feasible without 

 access to a good head of steam from a large 

 boiler. Later on I thought of it again, and, 

 as before, finally came to the conclusion 



the vertical cleats around the side of tha 

 can and extends over toward the center 

 between two of the horizontal cleats. 



I dipped a coujDle of gallons of melted 

 comb and water into the press, and imme- 

 diately I heard a great gurgling and sput- 

 tering as the hot water and wax surrounded 

 the end of the pipe from wliich steam was 

 blowing. While the pressure was being- 

 applied the water and wax kept up a gentle 

 boiling— an ideal condition. This was some- 



FlG. 1. — Steam from a small boiler introduced between the slats in a wax-press can. 

 wax keep up a continual slow boiling, insuring constant circulation. 



Tlie water and 



that, even if it did work, having an extra 

 stove around to bother with would hardly 

 pay for any advantage that the plan might 

 present. One day, however, I resolved to 

 try it, still having but little faith. 



I took a steam-knife outfit, disconnected 

 the knife, and put on the end of the hose a 

 piece of i/4-inch copper tubing, about 14 

 inches long, with- a right-angle bend 5 or 6 

 inches from the bottom, and a Jong curve 

 at the other end. This I applied to the wax- 

 press can, as shown in Fig. 1. As will be 

 noted, the pipe goes down between two of 



thing I had not thought of, my idea having 

 been only to prevent the water and wax 

 from chilling. The gentle circulation of 

 the contents of the can is really the princi- 

 pal point of advantage; for, no matter how 

 long the pressure is kept on the slumgum, 

 nor how many times the screw is raised to 

 allow the hot water, to saturate the refuse 

 again, the water keeps up this gentle boil- 

 ing, so to speak, and the wax on top shows 

 no tendency at all to cool off. The intro- 

 duction of the steam adds so much to the 

 efficiency of the method that I think there 



