The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-03-09
The Luxury of India.
10. aAlppsa From Aasas.-s.avs Way. .. u.A.s

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Ice ahippsi From A~nsas,-N,tvs Ways ., vaiI.s h
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 l came out
in 1858, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay
were wholly dependent. on American ice,
supplied by the Tudor Ice Company,
and retailed at 2 annas the SER that is,
two pounds of ice brought from Ameri.
ca were sold in India for 8 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 saltpctre and salammoniac,
or, during the hot winds, by placing the
bottles before the khus-khus tatties, OF
swinging them in 4 basket covered with
wet straw. By these appliances VIC
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 aGd expensive. Science came
to our all, and sulphuric ether and am,
moniac machines came gradually into
'OBuS' 'tlFl i1tltIl1 StTTt > WbllutTlll
pneumatic machine, which | have seen
produce !e1 in two minutes in atemper-
allure of % degrees. With these great
appliances block ice is now available in
districts where it could not formerly be
had at from one and Il half to two annas
per scr. To return to the old process
it depended entirely on the production
of cold by evaporation, rs also on suf-
hplpntlN cold NyantI,or aud tIn ,,.=,.
of dry west wind, the east wind being
absolutely fatal to the production of ice.
The essentials for the process are: /.
Exposed and t~recless ice-iiclds. which
are partitioned off into four or five feet
squares, in which two or three inches of
straw arc laid down. .. Myriads of
fiat porous earthen sauccrs. six or eight
inches in diameter. 3. An unlimited
supply of water. A.. An army of cool
les and water-carriers. 8. The ice pit.
This, the most important adjunct in the
process, is very carefully con instructed; a
great pit is dug, and in it rests n huge
timber cone, the space hetvTecn it and
the sides of the pit being rammed with
charcoal, chaff or straw, as n%on-conduc-
tors of heat; the conc 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
a very small entrance, is constructed.
Now for the process. Whenever the
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 by
bheesties (water-carriers), then, at pa.
M, a great drum is beaten at the pit to.
summon the coolies, who assemble in
hundreds, each armed with n SCOOP,
with which the ice is skillfully turned.
out of the saucer into an attendant ves-
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 consoli-
dating by regulation; and in a good,
season thousands of pounds weight of
ice may be stored, according to pit-room!
available.-LeUdnt Herald.