MAN COOLERS

CD 1964073 E&MP27.036

Electric Lighting

no date

More than 70 electric and gas fired heat treating furnaces function at temperatures ranging from 1500 to more than 2000 degrees Fahrenheit in the heart of the Simonds Saw & Steel Co.’s new controlled conditions plant at Fitchburg, Mass., without interfering with the air-conditioning system which maintains ideal working temperatures throughout the factory’s single 5-acre windowless room.

With man coolers to keep things comfortable right at the furnaces and drive the warm air out through the 42 roof ventilators which are concentrated above the curtained ceiling over the furnace area, it is possible for men to do fine grinding and precision smithing a few feet away.

This view, taken from the quarter-mile walkway provided for visitors when The Austin Company designed and built the plant, shows the even distribution of shadowless light obtained from 1400 100-watt fluorescent tubes which provide uniform illumination at all times.  

Original Caption by Science Service
^©Austin Company