Science, Industry and Business Library > B. Altman & Co.

ELOW the level of the street, in subterranean regions all undreamed of by the great majority of B. Altman & Co.'s patrons, are to be found the real marvels of the building's working equipment--the complicated machinery which is responsible for light, heat, ventilation, motor power, etc. Statistics are not usually interesting to the general reader, but they supply the only tangible means of conveying even a remote idea of the magnitude of an organization such as this.

In the sub-basement is the Engine Room--spacious, well lighted and ventilated, every part of it controlled by system of the highest order. The red-tiled floor is as clean as that of a New England kitchen, and everywhere there is the gleam of polished metal. The Chief Engineer's office is so situated that practically the entire room is within the range of his vision when he is seated at his desk. As a result of unrelaxing vigilance, the discipline maintained is flawless. There has never been a shutdown since the plant was first put into operation.

The great engines in this room have an aggregate capacity of 3600 horse power; the ten boilers in the adjoining Boiler Room a capacity Of 3000 horse power, with a steam pressure of 160 pounds to the square inch. The coal bunkers are capable of containing 2000 tons.

The electric power plant is one of the largest in the city of New York, with a dynamo capacity of 2400 kilowatts. It generates all the electricity required not only for the lighting of the building, but for the driving power of elevators, motors for pneumatic tubes, sewing machines, etc., as well as the motors for the immense ventilating equipment.

To insure perfect ventilation of this great building--a matter of the first importance, considering that, in addition to the immense number of patrons constantly passing in and out, nearly 4000 employees are occupied therein on every working day--a system has been installed for filtering, cleansing and humidifying the air supplied by the fresh-air fans, amounting to 200,000 cubic feet per minute. The exhaust fans for withdrawing vitiated air have an equal capacity; hence there is no loophole for the accumulation of stagnant air in any part of the establishment.

The increased efficiency of the elevator service is an important result of the enlargement of the building. There are now twenty-two passenger elevators, besides five small elevators for private or fitting-room use, ten elevators for the use of employees, and two truck elevators of vast size and capacity, making a total of thirty-nine, all of modern type.

Among the numerous improvements rendered possible by the building of the new addition must be included the extension of the pneumatic tube service and of the delivery conveyor system. In the tube service, for the transmission of the cash carriers, there are now no fewer than sixteen miles of brass tubing.

The delivery conveyor system consists of a number of spiral chutes extending from the top floor of the building to the basement ceiling, with outlets on every floor so placed as to be easy of access from all departments. Attached to the basement ceiling are traveling platforms, or conveyors, in which are 2767 feet of canvas belting, moving at an average rate of four miles per hour and leading directly from the chutes to the packing tables in the Delivery Department. Here the goods are packed, addressed and placed on other conveyors, which carry them immediately to the drivers' bins, each of which is assigned to a special route. Merchandise purchased on the Main Floor, however, is packed at the counters, whence it is dropped to the conveyors through trap-doors placed in the floor and carried automatically to the bins, ready for delivery--thus effecting an appreciable saving in time. It may be noted, in passing, that the bins are constructed entirely of metal tubing, with divisions of wire mesh, and are built at an elevation from the floor to insure perfect sanitation.

Quite as important as and certainly not less interesting than the indoor sections of the Delivery Department is the outdoor branch, located in the great six-story garage and stable fronting on East Thirty-sixth Street, but extending through to East Thirty-seventh Street. In this wonderfully equipped and perfectly organized division of the delivery service are housed 85 motor wagons and trucks, 157 horse vehicles and 200 horses. It has been stated, and with truth, that in the quality and condition of its equine stock--in every instance of fine strain and high mettle--the house of B. Altman & Co. is superior to any department store in the world.

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