AN INVENTOR'S ROMANCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 130, 19 October 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN INVENTOR'S ROMANCE

THE INVENTOR OF COLD STORAGE. An extraordinary story is told of M. Tellier (who has since died) by the London Telegraph, which once more illustrates how the inventor is the last to profit by his brains, but makes fortunes for others. "The story of M. Charles Tellier, the aged French savant and inventor, whose process for cold storage is now applied the world over, and has given rise to a trade in which hundreds of millions are invested, while he himself is living in two little rooms at Auteuil and almost reduced to poverty, reads like a romance, and one is inclined almost to doubt whether we are not in the land of dreams," says the Paris correspondent of the Telegraph.

ATTEMPTS TO MAKE ICE. "Attempts at ice-making and refrigerating machines date back to the days when it was first discovered that combinations of certain salts had the effect of lowering temperatures to below freezing point, and as far back as 1775 a machine was constructed by Dr. Cullen for freezing water by its own evaporation in a vacuum. Other machines were invented by Perkins in 1834, Harrison in ISSO and Clare in 1859. The latter produced iee in large quantities for the first time by th» use of a solution of ammonia, and other savants, such as Lmde, in Germany, and Pictet, in Switzerland, studied the question. It was at this time that M. Charles Tellier, the French engineer, entered the field, and, like his predecessors, first directed his attention to the production of cold by vaccum, compressed air, and ammonia. But it was not until he found the properties of methylic ether than he had complete success. That he is the father of cold j storage is hardly to be doubted.

"The house where M. Tellier resides at Auteuil is one of those large, modem buildings with fashionable flats not far from the Auteuil station. But the aged inventor cannot afford to live in one of those apartments. He is just able to occupy what is called a small 'lodgement,' which is reached by a back stairs and consists of two small rooms such as a mechani* or prosperous workman can rent. The entrance is narrow and is taken up almost entirely by a bookcase filled with scientific volumes, and documents of every description lie on the tables or are hung on the wall. M. Tellier has just had a great bereavement, as Madame Tellier died only eight days ago, and as he received me he gently apologised, saying that his house was in some disorder. He was pleased that the world at last took some notice of his labors, but, alas! the recognition is coming late, and when she who had been nis faithful companion for so many years is gone. He is a little man, but a bright look in his eyes and a rosy color in his cheeks form a vivid contrast to his perfectly white beard and side whiskers. Even at the age of 85 he is still active and anxious to continue his scientific researches in other fields. When I asked him how he began his investigations in the particular direction in which he was so successful, though he had received so little recognition, he said:

THE FIRST EXPERIMENTS. " 'I grew up with a fondness for mechanical things, and when I became an engineer there was one problem which attracted me immensely. It was the question of the preservation of perishable articles of food, such as meats, fruits and vegetables, and in those days the problem was discussed a good deal, but no practical method had yet been devised which could be applied industrially. "'Gradually I drifted into making it my life work. I experimented with the preservation ; oi meat by means of vacuum. That was the tendency in those days. We expected all sorts of wonders from the new principle of the vacuum, which scientists tried to apply in all directions. I found that during the cool season I could-easily preserve meat indefinitely, but the moment the warm weather came all the processes based on vacuum failed. The meat disintegrated in spite of the vacuum, and was lost. I gave up my researches in that direction about 1862 and turned to a new set of ideas. This was suggested to me by Pasteur's first discoveries about microbes. We did not speak of microbes then; Pasteur himself did not use the word, but he spoke of air germs or atmospheric germs. It was the atmospheric germs which,, as we understood it in thosa days, caused the disintegration of animal tissues, such as meat, and no amount of vacuum could prevent it. Frost was the only natural principle which we know indefinitely conserved such substances, and I therefore turned my attention to producing frost by moans of compressed air. .In time I was able to invent a machine which gave results, and in which I used a solution of ammonia.'"

AN HISTORIC VOYAUE. lu 18(>8 lie. installed liis apparatus on an English steamer with partial success. Then he used compressed ammonia and after mythelic ether, and in 1875 the "Forgonfique" was fitted out. She went to Buenos Ay res, and a great banquet was given there, in which the meat that .had been shipped from Rouen and which had been preserved for three months was served up, together with fresh meat from the country, and the guests were unable to tell the difference.