Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-11-12
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A cu,rrrn ,rorr AMERICAN lcE.--as we are
hancctor;h IL have his cooling luxury regularly
supplied 10 US and its great supeiioiNe, oo1n :"
clssrnc.s and thickness over the home arIicif
1ow;no - the nrrcarious nature OF our winters
ami oIhsr canses( is acknowledged by all WIG
have tried il. a shur notice offs uses the manner
OF keeping il and OF cutting and securing ~
America, may prove interesting 20 our leaue =
Ice has become great ariicie oi eAPo ~ non
America. Sixty thousand tons are ANNUALLY sen
from Boston 10 Southern poriS, lhe Efs. a"l
West Indies, &c; ard as saWtu>l j. soiei} use.
in hacking large trade IS also carried on u
,h,t article The ice-houses near The lakes AM
nonds are immense wooden buildings, capable
Of holding 10000 TO 10000 tons each; some o
,bem INDEED coverhal an acre oil ground. They
are Luilt with dousle walls, lha, is, with an in
rcr wall all round, two feet from the ou:er one
and The space between is filled with sawdu>t-a
non.copdnctor making solid wall impervlon'
IN hen, and air. and Of ten leet in thickness Inc
machines employed in cutting the ice are very
beautiful. and The work is done by men and nor
SEES, in HE following manner
The ice that is intended to be cut mus oe he T.
clear oil snow, as soon as IL is sulnclenliy thie'
To bear The weight Of The men ana horses 10 p'
employed, which il will do al SIX inches; ara !it
snow is kent scrapcd from il, until IL Is thick
enough TO cut. A piece OF ice is cleared OF twe
acres in extent, which, al foot thick, will give
abou, 5000 tons. By keeping the snow oil. j
freezes thicker, as the frost is freely allowed &c
penetrate. When the time OF cutting arrives, the
men commence upon one of these pieces, by
cutting straight line through the centre, each
way. A small hand plough is pushed along The
line. until the groove is aboula quarter OF an incl
in width and three inches deep when they com
mcnce with "the marker'-an implement drawn
BIZ two horscs-which makes two new grooves
parallel with the first, y inches, the guage re-
naming in the first groove /, is then shifted
10 the outside groove, and makes two more
The same operation Socson in Paralelrectansulal
lines until the ice is marked out into squares Of
81 inches. In the meanwhile the plough IS fol
lowing in these grooves drawn by single horse
man leading il; and ne cuts up The ice 10 Il
denth of six inches The outer blocks are then
sawn out and iron bars are used in splitting them.
These bars are like spade, Of a wedge form.
In dropping them into The grooves, the ice splits
off, and very Sigh; blow is sufficient 10 sepa-
rate them; and they split easy or hard, according
TO the weather in a very cold day. Ice is very
brittle in a keen frost; in comparatively sotler
weather il is more duclilc and reSisible.
Platforms or low tables are placed near the
opening made in the ice with an iron slide reach
ING from them into the wafer; and man stands
on each side with an ice.hook, very much like a
boal-hook, but made OF steel, with fine sharp
points. With these The ice is hooked with jerk
that throws j, on the platform on the sides, which
are of the same height On cold day every thing
becomes covered with ice; the blocks are each
sen, spinning along, altho they weigh two cwt., as
il they weighed only pound The slides are
large lattice work platforms, Ia allow the ice to
drain, and three tors can thus bc easily Iun into
=. ft..,n n
10 The ice-hou>c. discharged upon platform in
front of the doors aad hDistcd into Tie building
by a horse rory men and Twelve horses will cut
and stow away 100 Ions day. II the weather
be iavorab. 100 men are sometimes employed
at once; and in three weeks the ice crop, about
200 600 tons is secured Some Winters il is vc-
nv difficnli TO secure it, a. a rain or thaw viii
come that will destroy the labor OF weeks, and rem
der the ice unfit for market; and then il may snow
and rain upon that, before those employed have
time 10 clear it oil; and if The later freezes, the
resul, is S0r-icc, which is OF TO value, end has 10
he plancd off
The operation ofplaniuS proceeds in nearly the
same manner as that OF cutting. i Plane sudsed
10 run in the grooves made by the marker and
which Will shave the ice 10 Inc depth Of three
inches 1t one cu, is drawn by horse, until the
whole piece is regularly planned over The chips
are then scrapcj OIL ii the ice is not then clear,
the work is continued until The pure ice is reached,
and few nights OF hard frost will make il as thick
below, inch for inch, for wha! has tecn taken OFT
above.
The ice is transported on railways Each ice
house has a branch railway from the main line,
and is conveyed in properly constructed box-wa-
CONS TO Boston, distance OF Gas the locality may
By 10 TO is miles. The tools, machinery, &c.
employed, and the building the houses, and con-
s,ructng and keeping mp The railroads, &c, are
very expensive ye, The facilities are such, through
good management, the ice can be furnished al
very rilng cost per pound; and the failure Of The
ice crop in America would be a great calamity.
/, would appear tina, for The procuring, pre-
serving and use Of this new article of import
though hui pafcr in lis natural state in the igid
zones--a variety OF mechanical and scientihcal
operations are brought into play. The guaging
auarng, AM (sor.etimes) the planning, appear 10
belong 10 the joiner, aided by The mathematician;
the pIoughing TO the sgricul;ar;s; the transport
over land 10 the civil engineer; the import 10 our
navigator; the preservation 10 our philosophers
md the use and economy 10 our medical men and
our housewives.