Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/784

 636 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [April, closets, urinals, sinks, and bath-tubs, in the entire establishment ; and, for this reason, is placed in a central position, on the eastern side of the building. The coils for heating are composed of welded iron pipes, three-quarters or one inch in diameter, and are in two sections in all the air-chambers, so that one or both may be used, according to the severity of the weather. In the engine-room are two horizontal high-pressure steam-engines, of fine fin- ish, from the works of I. P. Morris & Co. They are exactly alike, each having a cylinder 10 inches in diameter, and a stroke of 24 inches. They are so ar- ranged, that either may be substituted for the other, and one may be made to do the work of both, in case of emergency. Ordinarily one drives the fan, and is therefore a part of the ventilating ap- paratus, while the second drives all the other machinery The fan, made by William Sellers & Co., is of cast-iron, its extreme diameter being 16 feet, and its greatest width 4 feet. It is driven directly from the shaft of the engine, and its revolutions vary from 30 to 60 per minute, according to the require- ments of the house. The fresh air is received from a tower, 40 feet high, so that all surface exhalations are avoided, and is then driven through a duct, which at its commencement is 8-| by 10i feet, into the extreme parts of the building. From the cold air-duct, openings lead into the different warm air-chambers, which, in the one-storied buildings, are covered with slate ; but in all other parts of the hospital these chambers and air-ducts are arched with brick, laid with smooth joints. The warm air, in nearly all cases, is admitted near the floor; and the ventilators open near the ceiling, always in the interior walls. The only exception to this arrangement is in the one-storied buildings, in which, in the patients' rooms, the warm air is admitted above, and the ventilators are taken off near the floor. All the ventilating flues terminate in the attic in close ducts — either of brick or wood, smoothly plas- tered, increasing in size, towards their outlets, about thirty per cent, more rapidly than the capacity of the flues entering them — by which, through the different belvederes on the roof, they communicate with the external atmos- phere. In the centre building, the ven- tilation is through the main dome. All the pipe used for heating and water, the bath fixtures and water- closets, were made at the works of Mor- ris, Tasker & Company, and the entire apparatus was arranged and put up by the institution. There is no leaden pipe used in any portion of the building. Cooking and Distribution of Food. — All the cooking is done in the central kitchen, which has a large range, with two fires and three ovens, a rotary roaster, a double iron steamer contain- ing ninety gallons, a smaller one, iron outside and copper-tinned on the inside containing forty-five gallons, and six of tin for vegetables, besides the vessels for tea and coffee. The food, prepared in this room, is put into closed tin boxes, which are lowered by a dumb- waiter to the car standing on the track of the railroad, where it passes under the kitchen, and is thus conveyed to the bottom of the various dumb-waiters, which lead directly to the different dining-rooms above, of which, as before remarked, there is one for each ward. Each dining-room has a steam-table, with carving dishes on it, and abundant provision for keeping meats and vege- tables warm as long as may be desired. The dumb-waiters are all controlled by the person having charge of the railroad ; they are moved by a crank and wheel ; and wire-rope is substituted for that commonl}' adopted. The railroad is an indispensable part of the arrangements for distributing food. By its use a meal may be deliv- ered in all the ward dining-rooms (eight in number) on one side — the extreme ones being 580 feet distant — in ten minutes after leaving the kitchen, or for