The Official Newspaper for Foster County

Gottfred's air unit kept 'em all cool

It was in the late 1940s and into the 1950s that I found myself with one more job. A much appreciated job, at that!

Along with lawn mowing, helping my dad and stocking shelves in a grocery store, I also worked at the movie theatre.

It was a large, well-kept auditorium on Main Street and owners Gottfred and Wilma Olson made sure the place was always open to the public. The movies ran every night and matinees usually on Saturday and Sunday.

The reason was twofold. They drew paying customers and it was cool inside. Not really cold, but cooler and more comfortable than the air outside during any time of the day.

Gottfred, or "Ole" as we all called him, had a huge air conditioner in the far back of the building behind the movie screen.

As I recall, it must have been about seven feet high, six feet in width and about 20 feet long. And it was always fun to watch it run and produce cool air. That cool air was made by cold water passing through some big screens. With the help of a huge fan blowing against the wet, cold screens, the cold air was made. Large fans would capture the cool air and drive it through the heating system pipes which covered the entire auditorium.

Rather crude, but it worked. It took a lot of cold, city water, but it worked and many, many moviegoers would spend hours and hours in the building during the hot, dog days of summer.

My guess is that during these days it was expensive to own air conditioners. However, this man-made rig did the job and did it well. I think Ole got the idea from a fellow back in 1902. Ole took the idea and built one for himself and the theatre.

My job as far as the system worked was to keep the water flowing in a clean manner. The running water and air produced a scum and my job was to keep the conditioner clean.

It didn't take long to clean, but every day or night was spent cleaning. That was Ole's way of doing things.

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Since the hot weather has got me down and the humidity has kept me inside most of the time, I've been reading exchange papers and found a bit more about this summer heat:

• When temperatures reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit, our work output drops by 45 percent.

• A 2003 heatwave turned grapes to raisins before they were picked from the vine!

• The hottest natural temperature every recorded was on July 10, 1913, in Death Valley, California. It was 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Men sweat more than women (and are more easily dehydrated.)

• To stay dehydrated during the heat wave, drink plenty of water and eat a salty snack to help replace the salt the body loses when it sweats.

• The heat stored by roofs, pavement and concrete structures can raise the night temperature in cities by as much as 22 degrees.

• Body temperatures can rise to 105 degrees if working outside in a heat wave. Death occurs usually when a body temperature reaches 107.6.

• School's traditional closing during the summer months was originally instituted due to the hot weather.

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A little time off for me and this column the past few weeks; due to health reasons and otherwise, if the Boss Lady had something on her mind. So we share, this week is mine.

Just a few things I thought of this week:

• Two, and maybe three new homes are being built in the location which formerly housed the old Carrington grade school.

• Less than 18 percent of eligible voters voted in the past primary election in the state.

• Tip of the Hat to CrossRoads Golf Course. I heard recently the new 18-hole course north of the city is debt-free.

• Good to hear that someone's taking over the annual "Junk Fest" this year. A great day for the community.

• Trying to figure out what's going on the tract of land south of the Independent where the old elevators were removed.

• Improvements to the new softball diamonds and the Cal Ripken field are moving along. Most recently, additional drain tile has been added to keep fields dry.

• Old Stadium '76 is down and it looks like some new concrete has been poured. Time is running short to get the new stadium in place before the opening of the football season.

• Streets in the city are rough. No one has answers.

• Quite a big project underway at the Dakota Growers plant. We'll check it out.

The new Case-IH building on the city's west side is looking better every day. That place is BIG!!!

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And a bit more from an exchange paper, some things to ponder:

Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

Where are we going? And what's with his hand basket?

If all the nations in the world are in debt, where did all the money go? Maybe to Switzerland. They never tell.

If practice makes perfect but nobody's perfect . . . why practice?

If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would anybody know?

Why is it called "after dark" when it's "after light?"

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Parting Shot: When people ask me what I did over the weekend, I always squint and respond, "Why? What did you hear?"