Connecticut western news., 1872-02-23
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 Ice Making i'm the Tropics.

Ice Making in the Tropics.
 The natives commence their prepar- ations by making out rectangular piece of ground l20i feet long by 20 broad, in an easterly and westerly direction, from which the soil IS removed to the depth of two feet. This excavation is smooth ed, and is allowed to remain exposed to the sun to dry, when rice straw in small sheaves is laid in an oblique direction in the hollow, with loose straw upon the top. to the depth of foot and half, leaving its surface half foot below that of the ground. Numerous beds of this kind are formed, with narrow pathways between them, in which large earthen water-iars are sunk in the ground for the convenience of having water near, to fill the shallow unglazed earthen ves- sells in which it is to be frozen. These dishes are nine inches in diameter at the top, diminishing to four and three-tenth inches at the bottom, one and three tenth inches deep, and three-tenths of an inch in thickness, and are so porous as to become moist throughout when water is put into them.
 During the day the loose straw in the 1 beds above the sheaves is occasionally turned up, so that the whole may be kept dry, and the water jars between the beds are filled with soft pure water from the neighboring pools. Toward evening the shallow earthen dishes are arranged in rows upon the straw, and by means of small earthen pots, tied to the extremities of long bamboo rods, each is filled about third with water. The quantity, however, varies according to the expec- tations of ice-which is known by the clearaess of the sky, and the steadiness with which the wind blows from the north- north west. When favorable, about eight ounces of water is put into each dish, and when less is expected, from two to four ounces Is the usual quantity but in all cases, more water is put into the dishes nearest the vest ern end of the beds, as the sun first falls on that part, and the ice IS thus more easily removed, from it's solution being quicker.
 There are about 4, 590 plates in each ot the beds last made, and if we allow five ounces for each dish, which presents a surface of about four inches square, theresWill be an aggregate of 239 gallons, and surface of 1,53O square feet of water in each bed.
 In the cold season, when the temper ature of the air at the ice-felds IS under 5Oo Fahrenheit, and there are gentle airs from the northern and western di- rection, ice forms in the course of the night in each of the shallow dishes. Persons are stationed to observe when a small film appears upon the water in the dishes, when the contents of several are mixed together, and thrown over the other dishes. This operation increases the congeaing process as @ state oi calmness has been discovered by the na- tives to diminish the quantity of ice produced. When the sky is quite clear with gentle steady airs from the north, northwest, which proceed from the hills of considerable elevation near Bheer boom, about one hundred miles from
 Hooghly, the freezing commences be
 fore or about midnight, and continues to advance until morning, when ths thickest ice is formed. I have seen I
 seven-tenths of an inch in thickness and in a few very favorable nights th'
 whole of the water is frozen, when it i
 called by the natives solid ice. Whel it commences to congeal between tN' and three o'clock in the morning, thin ner ice is excected, called paper-ice
 and when about four or five o'clock il the morning the thinnest is obtained called fower-ice.
 Upward of 25O persons, of all ages, ar
 actively employed in securing the ice 10 some hours every morning that ice is pro cured, and this forms one of the most an
 imated scenes to be witnessed in Bengal
 In favorable night upward of ten hun dred weight of ice will be obtained froI one bed, and from twenty beds upwar of ten tons. t'-n-
 When the wind attains southerly c easterly direction, no ice is formed, fror
 its not being sufficiently dry; not eve though the temperature of the air b
 lower than when it is made with the win more from>a northern or western point
 The north northwest is the most favors ble direction of wind for making ice, an this diminishes in power as it approache the due north or west. In the latter cas more latitude is allowed than from tn north-northwest to the north. So gres . is the influence of the direction of win on the ice, that when it changes in cours of night from north northwest to Q les favorable direction, the change not onl prenents the formation of more ice, br dissolves what may have been formed On such occasions mist is seen hoverip over the ice-beds, from the moisture owe . them, and the quantity condensed by tn
 cold wind. A mist in like manner form over deep tanks during favorable night for making ice. Z <s Y Et EE
 : Another important circumstance in tn production of ice is the amount of win6 When it approaches breeze no ice |, formed. This is explained by such rapi currents of air removing the cold air, bt fore any accumulation of ice has take , place in the ice beds. It is for thes 3 reasons that the thickest ice is expecte when during the day breeze has blow -s from the northwest which thorough dries the ground. .-Nata~e.
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