The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-01-13

ANQ UUdIHcU u up pUHt@ u36tHuSc ltUAAS - y
dist, md filed in with. sawdusi put fooe
iof sawdust in the bottsm Tor Hoor. 0yef
i this, i bailt my ice-house, with thick double
Iwa1is, roof and door, all filed with sawduss.
5ILflled il With choice leo and closed II Ill up
flight. The 4sh Of July 70 slowing, ne rssd
Iithe last piece. \. Il melted away like June
lfrost. which / attributed 10 ito small sise,
land want Of shade. ] built another On the
tinorth side d; my nood-shed, and shaded BY
Ia large nipple tree. This Wa made u feet
Isauare outside, and wallis ID inches Thick |;
'fflled in with saNdust, 6nd D. foat On the Bat
Etom for q floor; filed the chamber up 20 the
irafsers With saKdnst, and made q doubie
ldoor, also flledwith thssame material. At
ftho, proper season I filed il with good Ice,
and closed It up tight, andswhen taking cut
iee, kept the door open as short 9 time %
possible, and yet my ice melted rapidly
away, 20 that some time in July the report
was made, one sweltering hot day, that the
ice was all gone. Some one advised me TO
put in q tube to ventiiste it. I did so; tho
ice kept ahort time longer, but Was gone
long befors the warm weather was through.
This continued to be my experience for seye-
raj years. Some fire years ago, while pass
ing the place of . thrifty farmer in an adj
joining town, noticed he had little pom
built of rough boards and IL feet square,
open in front, and filed with what appeared
to be sawdust. Said J. - What have you got
there 81 /" Why thGt is my ice-housc."
I"But you don't keep ice in that open shed J"
1 Well, do" he replied, "until ice comes
again" determined to try it. The fol-
lowing winter, before filing my ice-house,
tore out the inner walls and shovelled ont
the sawdust, leaving about one foot in tho
bottom for floor. On this i stacked upmy
ice about one foot from the walls, all around,
and as I filled in the leo put sawdust be-
tween it and the walls, and continued do
80 until got in what ice wanted; and
then covered the whole q foot or more with
the same material. In the mean time,
having taken down my double door, l put
short pieces of boards across the doorway,
to keep the saHdust from running out.
These boards were carried up to within two
or three feet of the top Of the opening, and
that was left open for ventilation, and 80
remained during the whole GUNNER. As
the ice was used out, piece after piece Of
board was removed, constantly enlarging
the opening. The door faced the east, and
every day when the sun shone il would
shine into my ice-house. Increditable as il
may seem, my ice kept perfect, the cakes
coming out square and nice. We used it as
freely as water, and allowed the whole
neighborhood to use it; and when came
to shovel out the sawdust the next winter,
preparatory to refilling, had to roll nearly
or quite ton of ice. have never had
door to my ice-house since and the walls,
excepting the front, are rough boards put on
barely tight enough to keep in the sawdust;
and have never been out of ice but once, and
that was in September, by allowing hotel
keeper to use it up. It will hold from eight
to twelve loads.
THE REASON WHY 1T DOES NOT MELT.
account for it in this manner. The saw
dust being in immediate contact with the
ice, follows it, as it melts !; SO there can be
no space for the circulation of mir around it;
| and the warm air passing freely over the
| top of the moist sawdust, causes o rapid
evaporation. 1t is we'll established phi
losophical law that rapid evaporation of
fluid produces cold. A little ether poured
upon the back of tho hand will beautifully
illustrate this fact. The top of the saw
dust will be evaporated to perfect dryness,
leaving the remainder OF the covering near
ly as cold as the ice beneath. On the con-
trary, when the ice-house ia tightly closed,
there can be no evaporation; and the saw
dust soon becomes perfectly saturated with
water from the melting ice, and the air be-
comes close, and perfectly warm, so the leo
is in nearly the same condition it would be
were it immersed in water. have given
my experience more particularly for the
| benefit of that numerous class of small
farmers of moderate means. Now every
one of you who can get one thousand feet
of boards and FIVE pounds Of nails can put
yourselves up IN ice-house in one-haf day
that will afford you the free use of that
luxury the year around.
HOW TO DOT.
At the risk of seeming tedious, will
give detailed description of how to build
the cheapest kind of on iee-house, which I
will warrant to keep ice the year around;
and any person, be he ever 80 unskilled in
the use Of tools, can put it up at trifing
expense. One twelve feet square is plenty
large enough for any common-sizcd family.
Select o piece of dry ground, where water
will not stand, near the house and shaded
by buildings or trees, if convenient; at any
rate near the house. Set four scantlings
(oak is the best) eight or ten inches in the
ground for the corners, and one or two
others between the corners to stiffen the
boards. Have the front enough higher than
the back to give the roof sufficient pitch.
Then commence and board all around-no
matter about tight joints. A portion Of
the boards in front can be left of, and
nailed on as the ice is put in, or good
sized doorwaycan be left, and short pieces OF
loose boards put in to retain the sawdust.
Put on good board roof, we'll battened.
After all is completed, put in at least foot
of sawdust for floor; on which stack the
Ice carefully in the centre, at least one
foot from the walls oil around. As fast -
the Ice is put in, sawdust should 30 care
fully packed around it, and in any creyices
there may be between the cakes, from IRE.
gnlar cutting. This should be continued
until sufficient has been got in; then the
whole covered with eighteen inches Of saw
dust. a short ladder or pair of steps can
be used to get up while using the ice. No
precautions about the time of day when to
get ice is needed, only see tina. II will be
well covered again each time. The front
should be loft open from above tho top of
the sawdust-coyering to the front board
supporting the roof. IS.
WORD ABOUT GETTING ICE.
Ialways try to get mine the FIRST Ice that
forms. I would as soon have ice from six
70 ten inches thick think it Is more
solid, and keeps better. / cut It with Q
common cross-cut saw, removing ono Of
the handles. Lay out the ice into squares
Of proper size by drawing the corner of .