The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-04-04
SHORT TALKS wrrn THE noxs,
fM. ouaa, ln De,role F.eA prs,a.1

tM. Qunos M Detr0N Free FfNSs.t Take the worst mud-puddle along the highway and when is freeses up the Ice will be as clear a that eus from the river. Haven't you often wondered as this Wouldn't it seem reasonable eO expect the ice to 6e the same color As the water ? Why isntitp
 That's the keynote of my subject. Dame Nature has souae very curious wAya ssS SSy, sss :h!s is cre cf them. h summer sha helps that mud. puddle to render itselt offensive to the eye and the nose-in winter she alone putikes it. Whenever cold, frosty fingers begin to dabble in the waters of the sloughs and ponds and bayous she begins to purify As the fres E'ug process Is carried on tho water is rekned, and when the ice comes you see 1t clear and transparent. Nature may not be able to squeeze out all the weeds and sticks from this pond ice, but 1t would surprise yoa sc see wAas she does cast aside in the process of puri6ca. ton.
 The first hint of how to make artificial ice must have come from man who had closely studied natures ways. Before the war all the ice used In the south was shipped from the north, and 1t had a ready sale at s per 100 pounds. Many ships were engaged in the trade, loading the ice on tho New England coas, and delivering 1t at Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, Galveston and other points Much of this ice was naturally lost in the handling, and the high price made It an article of luxury. The invention of a process by which ice could be turned out in large quantities at very low rates was, therefore, hailed with great satisfaction. There Is not now city of any size in the south without its manufactosy. and ice can be had at retail for Si to St 50 per 100 pounds No northern Ice can tind market except along the seaboard,i have seen, on three different occasions, Jumps of northern Ice and cakes of artif- eta. ice placed side by side in the sun, and in each instance the artificial lasted much the longest.
 And now as to the manufacture: There arc two processes, but we will take the simplest, which Is called the ammonia process. The building may be an old barn or rough shed, ani thc engine oi from ten to twenty horse power. As saw the operation In Georgia town they pumped their water from canal, and |, was too muddy for fish to live in. Fill a barrel with 1t to stand over night and there ~oaid be .wc inches of mud in the bottom of the barrel next morning.
 The water is first pumped into large condenser, and is there purified and passed to condenser number two. it ia again purified, and Is then pumped into the baths. Each bath Is huge, tqnars bin, provided with apcTtures for holding ninety-six tin mclds. These molds are sixteen inches long, eight wide and four thick, and arc open al the top. Each can, when filled with water Is placed in the bin in compartment by itself and a large lid shuts down over all. As the water reaches the molds 1t Is SO clear and transparent that you could easily per. ceive grain of sand at the bottom oi the can. Through the bins and around the cans ammonia gas Is constantly cir culating in pipcs, and salt water is churned about and kept in constant mo ,ion by means Of paddles worked by | machinery.
 IL takes seventy pounds of salt to make bath" for three bins holding 3SS molds, and it Is renewed once a week One barrel Of ammonia wili last a small factory like the one 1 am describing about ten days.
 Let the factory start with all the molds iull of water, and it is only about half an hour before the men begin to take out ice. The molds are lifted out of the b,n and carried to a vat of hot water and dipped. This loosens the ice, and ii is Aung on a table. Each cake weighs twenty pounds, and three of them are placed together to heeze solid. This makes a cake sixteen inches long, twelve ! inches thick, and twenty-four inches wide. It is so perfectly clear that It re- fleets your image like giAss, and you can read newspaper print through three feet ot 1t.
 There is the engine pumping up the muddy water at one end of the old build ing, and the men handling the puiest, incest ice you ever saw at the other, while between them are only few tanks and pipes. It seems wonderful, doesn' l. In summer 1t is . common thing ia New Orleans and other southern cities 10 see blocks of artificial Ice in the winde~. of restaurants with quail, rabbits and other game frczen in them. One who 0OGb UOt u1oEfAt1UQ tu&k " ID ntHu&iAt tb fain to wonder how on earth the articles got in there.
 And in connection with this Ice ques- tion want to drop a hint to the farmer boys ol ,ke sc..h. There ls hardly A farm in any county on which Esh pond can. not be made. You want clean, clear water to feed 1t. If the inlet is . creek you must arrange matters In such way that, during higher water, when the water is muddy, t can be diverted from the pond. 4 Hume or race, or pipe from the creek to the pond can be closed up asy time.
 Perch, bass, mallet, suckers, bull heads, pike and other varieties viii live and thrive in . pond on the farm, and in time the farner will have 6sh to seil al the nearest masket There is amuse- ment, recreztion and profit sli in one, and =kss ys.sAs comes this same pond