The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-08-09

SLOWING ICE ron SHIPMENT.


Its Quick Journey From the Storehouses to
the Holds of Vessels.
from the Bangor Commercially
An interesting operation is the load
ing of ice from the mammoth houses
on the banks of the Penobscot into the
large freight carriers that are almost
constantly going up and down the river
bearing heavy cargoes of frozen Penob-
scot to far-off ports.
From the top of the house the ice
comes down in most ingenious man
ner. An elevator is rugged outside the
building, and on it the ice comes down
by gravity. There Is counteracting
force in big weight that goes up when
the load comes down, and vice versa.
To the casual observer it looks as though
the thing worked automatically Two
large blocks of ice are pushed out upon
the elevator and they descend. AS
soon as they slide off, back goes the ele-
vator for another load. and this thing
is kept up hour after hour. Careful
observation, however, shows strong
wire that leads off some distance, and
at the end sits man and the secret is
out. True enough, the thing works IT.
self, but it needs a guiding hand so
that it won't work too fast. The move
ments of the elevator are controlled by
a friction pulley. When the ice reach
es the bottom, and one cake slides off,
the elevator would take run off before
the other came off were it not that the
man on the end of the wire pulls a lever
and the friction pulley acts at the top.
and the elevator waits until the cargo
is off. Then the man releases the pull
ley and back goes the carriage. the
heavy weight at the other end CARRYING
it rapidly to the top.
From the elevator the ice slides into
run. In the centre of that is an end
less chain that is fitted with prong-like
attachments at certain intervals, and
as they come along they come up be-
hind the cake Of ice ana carry it to its
destination.
A short distance up the run is a plan
err, simple contrivance that removes
the snow ice and evens the blocks so
that they will pack nicely in the hold Of
the vessel. The cakes of ice pass Sc
along and when they come to the
planer pass easily under it, but at the
same time they lose two or three inches
of their height. There is a provision
in the contract that sprovides for this
and they read that only an inch or
inch and half, or whatever the amount
is, of snow ice shall be left on the cakeAI
just beyond the planer is a man who
gives the cake quick pull that brings
it ahead of the prong for moment. A
second look shows why this Is done |
BY this quick movement the cake of ice |
is brought upon a pair Of scales. and in |
the seconds rest that 1t has before the |
prong on the chain gets along II is |
weighed and the figures placed upon
the record that Is being kept of the |
cargo 1t is no small Job to weigh the |
Ice, for the cakes come along in rapid |
ana the weight has to BE |
ascertained In the ordinary manner and /
cake gets along.
From the scales the Journey to the
vessel is uninterrupted The run Is |
arranged so that It extends O. 81 the |
vessel to the hatchway. and the rise
and fall of the tide is provided for by
an arrangement that permits OF the ris-
ing and falling OF the run to cores
pond.
Perhaps the most Ingenious thing Of
the whole system Is that by which the
Ice is put into the hold. At the end I
af tba r,,p and 5irnotIx, a,tnr 49, b,+ah |
way is A strong frame ana IN thaJ |
there works A nletform that poes IN
and down something like the elevator
1t the house. Two blocks OF ice are
slid upon 1t directlv from the run and
The man who controls If releases d fric-
tion lever and down II goes into the
hold by its own weight. the sneed
being controlled nv the man with tho