The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-12-14
MAKING ICE BY MACHINERY
HOW WATER CAM BE FROZEN EVEN
IN THE HOTTEST COUNTRIES.
Fish and Birds preserved in the Cen-
ter of Transparent Cubes of lee
wonderful Ice Caycrus.


"The latest ice scheme, said man in
terested in the ice business to New
York San reporter, els to build rail
road from the top of some of the noun
tains near the equator, such as the Andes,
load the cars with blocks and shoot them
down into the valleys below. BY an ar
rangement of break they could be sent
into any town or village within reason
able distance. believe such plan has
been tried in some countries, and it is
not impracticable. The ice machine,
however, is the best thing for southern
countries. You know the ice machine
is not entirely a modern invention, for
the wealthy Greeks, Romans and Indians
had their ice manufactured in some way.
But the late inventions have been an out
growth of the demand for cheap ice in
the south, and now nearly every tropical
city of any size has artificial ice even
under the blazing sun of the equator 1t
can also be manufactured aboard ships,
or, in fact, anywhere, and it makes pos
sible the transportation of thousand
articles that without it could not be car
ried from one part of the world to another.
1.-The first practical attempt to make
ice in modern times was by Gorrie in
1S49. This was followed by Kinks ma
chine in 1863 and Windhausen's in 1870,
and host of others. One exhibited at
the late exhibition in Vienna made ton
and half of ice in an hour, at cost of
thirty shillings. The two methods that
find most favor among practical men are
somewhat difficult to explain. One
method utilities the lowering of tempera-
ture that is the result of the rapid expan-
sion of a compressed gas, while the other
makes use of the similar thermal effect
resulting from the volatilization of some
liquid. In the aforementioned machines
atmospheric air is compressed to three or
four atmosphercs, and kept cool by water
in circulation or by other means. 1t is
then allowed to expand and the heat alb
sorbed during the expansion comes from
the water to be frozen, or from a solu-
ton of brine which is not affected at the
freezing point of water, and which then
becomes, as it WERE a vehicle for the
cold.
I" Linde's ice making machine, some
twenty two of which were in operation
at the Dusseldorf exhibition of 1880, is
the latest form of ammonia machine
The danger of explosion, one of the great
disadvantages of ammonia, is obviated
by carrying the liquefied gas through
narrow iron tubes, and by employing
only a small quantity of the substance at
one time Blocks of ice are formed be-
tween the spokes of revolving drum
which, being cooled internally by the
evaporating liquid, dips into tank of
water, Methylic ether is in some re-
spects better than ammonia, having
higher boiling point, and requiring
smaller pressures without the necessity
CT heating. In Teller's machine, which
is specially intended for use in ships, the
methylic ether evaporates in closed me
tal1ic vessel the sides of WHICH are in i'm
Mediate contact with the water to be
frozen
Many of these machines will have
their greatest value in keeping articles
cool instead of actually making ice
Such a machine will some time be made
that will keep the rooms of a house cool
without injury to the occupants.
81 visited an ice manufactorv in New
Orleans some time ago, and it was an in
teresting sight. They had some curious
samples on exhibition, blocks of ice
foot square, as clear as crystal, and hay
ing in the interior a bouquet of flowers. a
fish, quail, or woodcock, showing
how game can be sent and preserved in
definitely. Other cakes were of orna-
mental shape, and followed to hold
claret punch or lemonade.
''ln many countries ice is obtained from
natural ice houses, wherein, while the
ordinary temperature outside is eighty
degrees, ice is continually forming. Such
ravine or cavern has been found in New
Jersey, and near Lincoln, Vermont, there
is glen in which snow and ice lie ali
the year round. One of the most remark
able OF these ice caverns is that of Dob
schan, in Hungary. 1t is quite near the
town, and is approached through a mar
row, winding limestone valley, called
'Stracenaer Thai. 1t is in the interior
OF mountain, having a general direction
east and west. The entrance is near the
top, and extremely narrow, and was only
discovered by accident. Once inside,
remarkable scene is behcld, the ice, which
seems formed in many layers, having as
sumed peculiar shapes that characterize
the limestone caves of our own country.
The total rock and ice surface in the
cave is about "a, 500 square ieet the ice
alone occupying about q 900 square feet.
upper and lower. In the upper part
the roof is of limestone and the floor of
solid ice, and it is divided into two
great halls of wondrous beauty. The
roof of the largest hall is supported by
three enormous pillars OF clear ice, one
OF which is hollow, and through which
flows a stream from above, producing
strange echoes and reverberations. All
about are fantastic forms of ice, resem-
bling human beings, pulpits, monu-
ments, and so On, giving to the cave a
most grotesque appearance. In one end
the ice forms an exact representation of
large cascade, as if rushing stream
with its spray had suddenly been frozen
solid. Descending to the lower room
the passage is 600 feet in length, and by
following down through the ice you come
ITO the natural outlet of the water
g In all countries such caves have been
found. So extensive is the ice cavern on
the peak of TenerifTe that il affords a