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Show siMAtEK iik; fires. A STRAM.E EUSIXEaS IIATH)l'B- I I.-SIIRS IX CHICAGO. s Therejs but one house In the city, pr iu fact lu the countrr.lhat makes A business ot rehabilitating thesalv ago of great fires, and, a that lioue takes cure of salvage of any and all kinds from fourteen dltlerent states, something of tho scale upon which ltis conducted can be. Imagined. As, of ctmree, all the goods ave-d from tho flames are badly injured by .water, thej must all bo eubjected to a drying process. For thU nur- there Is upon the M-cond Iluor of tliu main building an lmnicnfe dryiuj room, vrJiicli occupiex the entire floor. In one corner of the room Is au engine, with a huge piie uttcmling the length of tlie room, from U1Icl1 tliott pia open downward, ul e a triple tow of blata about fifteen fett long, which ixtcnd across tho room at ripht ninilfM to the wall the Ltitii. length of the building at iutirvali of three fetL Ihete idau, are bet iu galranlzed hooks and dejund from rong timber; from them wlan viltui by the rtltr hung festoon upon festoon of cloth of every hue and kind, home fcoriluii at tlie edt, others hole and ( erfett, and all roaKed. The frteatu caused by their rajild drying and the intense heat ot the room made the iitmt.lier? nliicM uuliarable, ahhough ttie air it kept consUntl'lu motlou and constantly changing by Uie great rerohiog fans iu Uicojf iiwl:iUoM3. HE WWCISSOV IIMLNO. Connected with the engine is au Ingenious aiTaiigCmet.t for renew, lug the pile of plush and tlvet goods injuredi3 nater. itconsisti of a large square box tilled by steam from tlie eugluu. This box has a perforated zinc top, and while the manlulator turns the plu-.li from side to side it Is bru'hed by a revolving re-volving brush; the air from tlie revolving. re-volving. fans, near one of which it is placed, constantly circulating over the surface of the goods, dries it at the tamo time by evaporating steam. Whtu this room Is given ovtrto the drying of dried fruits, nuts, beans, rice-, tobacco, collec, cigar, and groeerlesof every kind, they are arranged upon largo perforated per-forated trayr Eel upon slats in tier one above the other, fhe air, at a moderate heat. Is kept eirculatine uver and around them by means of fans, and they are thus dried b evaporation without injury. Flour is very little injured bj water, as a paste forms ujon the outer surface which preserves the flour within from damage; therefore it is f Imply necessary to remove tlie staves of the barrel, scrajo oil" tin outer jiaste from the llour, and place It Iu a Iare bin, from which it I- sl(ted through au imiutnse sieve, and reweighed and Jiarreled. Tea preserves Itself iu omewlmt the same w ay. A iuautlt of tea saved from the burning of a tea wate Iiou-h,- nggregatlng l,l'W,Ov)J pounds bad been dried and was ready tjt re box lug. when It was found by a chemical analysis to be unfit for .food on account of the river watei with which It had been saturated. Although to all appcaraucea it was as good tea as one ordinarily bus. and the:ewa nothing unu.ual in its taste, beta,; unfit for fuod,it could neither be sold nor given away. What was tb e doiie? As .a last resort it was deeided to feed the furnace w ith it, and for five months was the entire bullding(flve stories) heated with tea for fuel. HOW THE SaIAVKIK IS HVNDLtn. Dn leaving the drying room and ascen Jin j to the third floor the writer found numberless womeu and girls bucy assorting the dry goods which liad just been returned from the drying room. Some that were fa badly bunted at the edges ns to be useless for any other jHirpose were thrown aside to be sold to manufacturers of "cottage cariiets," or to the paper mills to whom thousands of tons of such refuse are sold every car. Othir piece, mainly cotton cloth, which is very inflammable, while not too bad) burned for use, are f-till damaged so much as to Ie unsalable. There goods are given to aid societies and the poor, and, vv hen suitable, to hospitals hos-pitals for bandages. The fourth aud fifth II jois are deviled de-viled to measuring goo J, making them into bolts, and clipping off burned edges, the clipplug being dope by a huge Tulfe worked bj a lever, wliieh clips aud presses a who'e bolt by a single nioven.ent. They are then ticketed and made Into lots and are ready for market. Hals and caps are sul jectcd to pressure press-ure to exjiel the water, and are then dried and reblocked. It was interesting inter-esting to observ e tho busy workmen and watch them take from the bin, which must have contained many thousands of hats, a crushed, sliajo Iess thing, and watch it under their hards become as perfect a hat as could be bought from a fashionable hatter. The other buildings, which are a part of the reclaiming establishment, establish-ment, are devoted mainly to the care of groceries and tobaeTU. to re-bagging re-bagging coflee, spices, nuts, etc, and to tho renovation of cigars. Tills branch of tho uu-Inis is skilfully skil-fully done. Tobacco, Which fulckly molds when wet, must buskm ly and carefully dried In order thatlu flavor fla-vor mav not bo inlured. as must also cljtar. The original packages are carefully counted, and an alUdavit of their nurube r made to the revenue department of the government, which furnishes free of charge! the stamps for tile new packages. Cigars receive new wrsipers and boxes, and are sold In wholesale lots. All tho processes described have been invented aud experini( nted w ith one by one. It has been the work of a lifetime to bring them to their present perfection. The apparatus appa-ratus which is u-e-d -for measuring cloth, as well as tho many contrivances contriv-ances for brushing and iiollshlng goods of all kinds Injured by smoke au J water, from i-cnu nuts to brass bedsteads, was invented by the head of the house, as well as all the other processes referred to in this article. (Jreat skill Is required iu removing iitock from tho ruins, as lack of skill In this particular would add greatly to thelitis. The large cheap stores, as well as many wholesalo dealer, are the purchasers of reclaimed salvage. The goods when they come into their hands are almost as jurfeet as when they came from the factory. Cy.foo Tniune. |