Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1894-02-10
Building an Ice House.


A cheap board building, with the
cracks battened, answers about as
well as a costly structure, with double
walls filed in. The keeping Of the
ice does not depend so much upon the
walls of the building as upon the
kind and amount of material with
which it ID packed. Sawdust or dry
tanbark furnish the best packing ma
terials. But these, in many locali-
ties, are difficult to obtain. Next to
these dry cut straw or chaf is prob
ably theibest and almost any farm
can furnish the straw. Cut straw is
better than whole, because it packs
closer and makes a good noncon-
ductor, though whole straw is often
successfully used. In the latter case
the space for filing between the pile
of ice and the walls Of the building
needs to be wider than if cut straw
were used. In case cut straw is used
we would leave a space of sixteen
inches tor filling, but with whole
straw, of two feet. The stills Of the
building should rest on the ground or
On wall built for them, allowing no
air to enter underneath. We would
lay tile a foot below the surface in
side, with it's outlet some distance
away to keep the bottom dry, but tile
should not open into the building to
admit air. A foundation Of at least
a foot deep Of the packing material
sawdust, tan or straw-sbould be laid
over the bottom on which to build
the pile Of ice, and the blocks should
be cut as nearly possible of uniform
size so as to PACK closely, and it is
well to 60 over each layer as it is put
in, and fiji all cracks with pounded
ice, so as to make the pile as near
solid as possible. When the pile is
finished, or as it progresses, the fill
ing between it and the sides of the
building should be made and trampled
down as Solidly as possible and COW
ering of at least two feet in depth be
made over all.
Ventilation should be provided for
by openings in the gables or a ventil-
ating shaft going up through the !
roof to permit the escape Of the most |
air which gathers about the ice. The !
door should be, for convenience, made |
in two sections, an upper aud lower,
with boards laid across on the inside |
of the frame holding the packing
material in place
The proper size depends upon the
of ice that will be required.
Ice will measure about forty cubic
feet to the ton, and ten tons would |
be liberal supply for family use.
This would be equivalent to a pile
eight feet long, eight feet wide, and
six and one-half feet high. If we al
low two feet on all sides for packing
space, the building to hold this
amount in the form above given,
would need to be I2x12 feet, with
nine-foot posts A door in the gable
would be needed for putting in the
top layers and taking out ice early in
the season. AS cheap and good a
way for cheap building would be to
set posts in the ground, three on a
side, except the end where the doors
are, with 2x4 for plate and middle
lnd bottom girths and board up,
Town and batten, banking up at the
bottom to exclude air. The roof
should project considerably on all
sides, so as TO shade the sides, and if
t could be built under the shade of
,rees it would be all the better.
When expense is no object and a
permanent structure is desired a
PRICK or stone foundation should be
put in on which to lay the siIls,
which should be bedded in mortar,
md double walls can be made by
Using ks or 2xl2 for studding and
illing the space between the outside
md inside Loarding. Ice should be
ut and put up only in freezing
weather.. If cut and handled when
he temperature is above freezing the
blocks splinter and crack and its
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