The Winslow mail., 1899-02-11
ICE FROM A MINE.
Natural Refrigerator in the Noun
tairs of Montana.
A Well That Freezes in Summer ant
THaws Out in Winter-An In
terestlng Freak of
Nature.


Nature.
Seven miles north and a little to tn
east of the Cheyenne Indian agency IL
| Custer county, Mont, is a well fiiiel
with ice that excites much curiosit
f! among the ranchers and cattle men
that section. Every cowboy who visit.
| the we'll has much to tell and invariably
advances his own explanation. Many
ingenious theories are given which terC
to indicate that mankind of all degrees
of scientific knowledge put forth an ef
fort TO find the origin Of things; how
ever. they ali agree that the ice form.
in the well during the summer and tha
it actually thaws during the winter
This apparent contradiction of the
natural laws that govern the outside
world has carried the fame Of this wei
for miles around and people have trav
eled great distances to witness the for
nation of icicles during the hot wealth
er Of July.
This we'll is within a few hundred
feet Of the summit of the Little Vol
mountains, on tbe north slope, at the
very beginning of Greenleaf creek
which empties into the I.osebud eigh7
miles below and about so miles from
where the Rosebud joins the Yellow
stone river. This portion of the noun
tins is covered with a dense growth Of
tail pines.
Fourteen years ago three men pros
recting for silver, mistalling certain
colors in the rocks, began sinking 4
shaft; IS feet it was dfsagreea bly
cold; a feet the cold had increase
SO rapidly that they We're thoroughly y
10 rabIdIJ tmas ,",0
frightened They could feel currents
OF colo air rushing up from tbs creviceS
in the rcck; they imagined they were
digging into some mysterious under
ground cavern; they had heard jus'
enough Of wonderful adventures OF Gig
ging into caves and underground lakes
and being alone in this wilderness
where the very stiffness permitted tbs
ears to hear and the mind to imagine
all manner of grewsome powers hic
beneath the rock, so thoroughly tiileC
them with the fear of impending dan
ger that they abandoned the work
which has since gained such renown.
The SUBMITS of the Little Wolf
mountains: are covered with scOrla,
which has all the appearance and tex
ture Of a good grade Of tiling. 1t is
usually red, but varies in color through
all the shades down to black. These
varying colors give the beautiful tints
to the thou sands Of buttes throughout
the bad lands. In comparatively recent
geological times vast beds Of Ignite
coal were formed over the eastern halt
cf Montana extending into western
Dakota. The burning of the beds OF
coal was the beginning oe the bad-lanc,
formation; the fine deposits of clay
above the coal were burned as brick
are burned in a kiln and formed the
scoria; where the heat was greater and
rock or sand WAS present it melted and
mixed with the coal and coal ash, form
ing large cinder-like rocks, which are
sometimes mistaken for lava.
As the coal burned out from beneath
the clay. now baked into scoria and
melted into cinGers, broke into small
divisions and fell promiscuously down
into the pits thus formed. Volcanic ash
is found scattered over the Little Vol
mountains and the eastern portion OF
Montana. It must have drifted with
the wind from powerful eruptions in
the Rocky mountains, as there are no
indications Of any volcanic action in The
vicinity of the ice we'll. The Little Wolf
mountains are merely high range of
buttes apparently of the same origin
as all the bad land buttes. Their sum
mits, towering above all the other
buttes, has given them the name Of
mountains, but they are only of slight
Iy over 1000 feet altitude.
During the winter the well is nearly
filled with snow. Enough water from
the early spring rains finds its way
through between the rocks to mix witt
ihe snow and freeze into one solid mass
Of ice. The ice in the we'll is formed by
the cold of the winter season, but does
net begin to form sometimes till thu
winter is half gone. In turn it is melt
y
not begin to melt until the summer is
half over. In the early part of the sum
mer it is still freezing in the well, and
during the first half of the winter it is
still melting. The we'll acts as refrig
orator. 1t receives the heat slowly, and
then gives it off just as slowly. If tbs
earth received and gave off heat rapid.
" hn1 XI-nnlI hp in
June and the coldest in December--in
fact, the seasons follow nearly a month
behind the sun. The conditions sur
rounding the ice we'll cause it to fol-
low the seasons from six TO eight weeks
later.
1t is fact that if on hot day you
walk rapidly into the cave to where the
ice is, it feels as though a strong cur
rent of cold air were blowing against
your face. The sensation is so decid-
edly real that it requires careful
demonstration to prove to the con-
trary, and even then it almost seems as
though the demonstration had been
mistake. 1t can be easily tested by US
ing smoke, or letter still, a rather
heavy colored glass. Again. if on4
should stand without the entrance to
the cave on very warm day, near
enough to feel any draft that may be
stirring, none can be felt coming from
the cave. If one should stand directly
above the ice well on hot. still day.
even putting the face down to the very
opening into the well, no upward draft
of ccol air can be felt; but go down into
he we'll and one would state positive
ly that there was an upward draft of