The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-02-06
ICE aATHERING,

In the vicinity OF Boston the business
securing ice is regular, systematic opera
ton. The Cambridge Chronicle gives tn
following description of the mode Of gather
ing the ice crop at Fresh Pond:
"The mode Of cutting is this. Two mel
90 upon the pond with a straight-edged boar
which they lay parallel to its margin, an'
Just outside the rough ice, which usual,
occurs next the land. This board being
held firm by the two, another runs species
of saw, or coarse comb, with an iron handle,
along its edge, making groove an men OF
two in depth The board is then moved IN
the direction Of its length and the groove
prolonged When the "bass line" as sur
reyors would call it, is laid out, the plough,
drawn by horse, is employed to make Sc
RES of grooves parallel thereto-one share
running in the channel Just cut, while anoth-
er cuts the next at the proper distance. This
operation is repeated until they reach the
limit proposed, when another series o
grooves is made at right angles to the former
SO that several acres may often be seen dr.
vided into squares Of about twenty inches OF
a side. Then by means of whip-straw, I
large mass thus prepared, some hundred fee
square, is separated, and foated along the
canal made by the removal Of the ice alrea.
dy taken into the house, until it reaches the
machine for elevating it. Here a few blow.
Of large chisel break OIL cakes Of the size
Of an ordinary breakfast table-containnl
nine Of the cakes as channelledby the plough
and usually seen in our ice carts. These
blocks are foated still further, until they dis
appear by passing into the house containing
the steam engine which drives the lifting APP
paratus.
This engine is the "Philadelphia," loco
motive originally employed on the Boston
and Providence railroad, standing, tender anl
all, precisely as if it were about to shoot on
of the house and away, and really, when til,
tinkle Of the bell which announces that all i
ready in the house, some hundred feet dis
tant, is answered by the locomotives bell
and it: puff and snort, one can hardly hell
clearing the track. A friend with US woulc
not trust himself in front Of the engine, unit
so!emnly assured there was no danger, as tn
"critter" was tied From the large drivinl
wheels, on each side, a chain passes down t
drum on a shalt below the surface of til
water. From this shaft three endless chains
made like the chain on the barrel. Of watch
but rather stouter, lying parallel to each 9th
er, pass up at an angle Of forty or iortv-fy
degrees, to drum about thirty feet from tn
ground.
TO these chains, at intervals Of twelve o
fifteen feet, are attached traverse strips o
wood, which, catching behind the cakes o
ice, as they are iloated over the chains, mos
unceremoniously draw them out Of their ma.
tive element, and drive them through pa
ming machine which reduces them to uni
form thckness-ot p.esenttwelvc and three
Fights Understanding two longitudinal bar
on the upper surface, an inch in height an,
five inches in width, by resting on which the,
are prevented from freezing into solid mas
when packed. On leaving this planning ma
chine they are shot OIL upon species 0
eTial railroad 10 the doors oil the packing
house, each cake sliding upon frame balan.
ced by weight, which frame slowly sink.
until it reaches the level Of the house, wher
It discharges its load upon little tram-road
Of wood, along which it is propelled to it.
destined resting place.
The large building OF Mr.. Wyeth hold
about forty thousand tons, though it is rarel,
more than seven-eights filed Some ide;
Of its size may be obtained from know
ledge Of the fact that more than a lhousan'
OF these large cakes, containing twenty-fv,
cubic feet each, are required 10 cover it
floor. Between three and four thousand ton,
Of ice are raised daily, employing in all the
operations from a hundred aud twenty-five to
hundred and fifty men, none Of whom re-
ceive less than a dollar a day, being paid
each night in tickets redeemable at the
Charles River Bank. The ice was never
better than at present, and our parting advice
Is simply ths-beiore the weather change,
go out to Fresh Pond and see for your
selves Mr.. Wy,he's machinery, remember
ing that Ice which will bear horse is no
likely to give way under the weight OF a lad,
and that the most timid need not to be afraid
Of the locomotive, as it is positively tied.
. -