The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-02-23
The Luxury Of India.
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Let me now allude to an industry pc
culiar to the cold weather, which ex-
cept in small stations distant from the
rail, is fast dying out, and that is the
manufacture of ice. When | came out
in 1858, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay
were wholly dependent on American ice,
supplied by the Tudor Ice Company,
and retailed at annas the ser that is,
two pounds of ice brought from Ameri-
ca were sold in India for pence, or
cents, The mofussil Opportunity was
entirely dependent on artificial ice,
which could only be made where the
cold weather was really felt; in all 9TH
er parts we were obliged to cool our
drinks with saltpetre and salammonac,
or, during the hot winds, by placing the
bottles before the khus-khus tatties, or
swinging them in basket covered with
wet straw. BY these appliances we
could cool our drinks TO 65 degrees
Fahrenheit; or, by carrying on the cool
ing with fresh supplies of salts, we could
even freeze water. But the process was
tedious and expensive. Science came
to our aid, and sui huric ether and am
moniac machines came gradually into
vogue, and latterly Cares wonderful
pneumatic machine, which / have seen
produce ice in two minutes in atemper-
allure of 95 degrees. With these great
appliances block ice is now available in
districts where it could not formerly be
had at from. one and half to two annas
per ser. To return to the old process
it depended entirely on the production
of cold by evaporation, as also on suf-
iciently cold weather and the presence
Of dry west wind, the east wind being
absolutely fatal to the production of ice
The essentials for the process are. |.
Exposed and treeless ice-tieds. which
are partitioned off into four or five feet
squares, in which two or three inches of
straw are laid down. 2. Myriads of
flat porous earthen saucers. six or eight
inches in diameter. 3. An unlimited
supply Of water 4. An army of cool
les and water-carriers. 5. The ice pit.
This, the most important adjunct in the
process, is very carefully constructed; u
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timber cone, the space between it and
the sides of the pit being rammed with
charcoal, chat or straw, as non-conduc-
tors of heat; the cone itself is lined
thickly with coarse felt or blankets, and
then a layer of mating; over all a straw
hut, with very thick roof and walls and
n very small entrance, is constructed.
Now for the process. Whenever tho
outside thermometer reads forty-two de-
grees, then ice can be manufactured by
evaporation. Half an inch of water is
poured, over night, into the saucers bv
H., d great drum is beaten at the pit to
summon the coolies, who assemble in
hundreds, each armed with q scoop,
with which the ice is skillfully turned
out of the saucer into an attendant YES
sci and well rammed into it, When
full, it Is taken to the pit, emptied
there, and again rammed down. Thus
all the ice has a good chance of CONSOLE
dating by regulation; and in u good
season thousands of pounds weight OF
ice may be stored, according to pit-room
available. --LeUant Herald.