Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1905-12-09
REAL MINE OF ICE.
WARM WEATHER RESORT OF
PENNSYLVANIA PEOPLE.
Discovery Of an Old Soldier Proves
of Great Value-It Is a Great
Attraction on Hot
Sundays.

drove in from the surrounding village
for the reason that the weather was
hot, some even coming from as far ava
as Austin, IL miles away over the noun
tain. Visitors will continue to flock her
every Sunday throughout the summer,
says a Coudersport (Pa.) report.
This town never was planned for
summer resort 1t is in a gorge wher
not breath of air stirs and the thei
mometer frequently registers 50 q
grees. Nevertheless, the people of Pc
ter county come here, because it is no
to get cool, ,. 81 ~
This is the home OF the now celebrate
Potter county ice mine" Here willie
humanity may enjoy an arctic atmo
phere by descending into the shaft
can moderate the temperature by mo
ing to or from its mouth. to catch L
currents of chilled air which the min'
sends forth.
The hotter the day the cooler the mine
Atmospheric condensation goes on
a great rate when the mercury az
proaches the 100 degree mark, and cur
rents of cool air are produced whicl
circulate as far as so or 60 feet from the
mouth of the shaft. e.,
1t is now seven or eight years since
the fact became known that during tn
summer ice formed freely on wooded
hillside two miles southeast of Couders
port on the Sweden Valley road. Tho
village Of Sweden Valley, consisting o.
half hundred empty houses, is. in fact
a deserted village Some milling or fac
tory project which finally failed was the
occasion of laying it out. Had the in
habitants, known that in the pine for
est less than so yards from their doors,
a veritable field of ice was spread out
during the summer. it is hardly likely
that they would have pulled up stakes.
for there is profit in the ice mine and It's
possibilities have hardly begun TO be de-
veloped
An old union soldier became possessed
with the idea some years ago that the
country's rich store Of treasures had not
been exhausted. He determined 70
search for mineral wealth on the for
est-clad mountainside southeast Of Swe-
den Valley. Shouldering pick, he
toiled up the mountain one scorch1ng
= day for 100 yards. Selecting an open
space on a little plateau, he struck his
pick into the earth. The implement
> met with no resistance from the loose
soil at the first blow.
On the second attack some hard sub
stance gave forth a crunching, crack
l ling sound The veteran withdrew the
d nick and examined the point. Several
, glistening and rapidly dissolving crys-
+ tails adhered to it, They were alike de-
void of taste and odor. The rapid melt
+ ing only served to arouse his curiosity
3 The veteran threw off his faded blue
coat and hacked away with renewed
yigor until at the end of an hour he had
laid bare a fairly large mass of the glis
tening substance He examined it care
e fully and then CALCULATED: ice, by
gum!" o.t
q The old soldier guarded his secre
S closely, and returned day after day t(
work at the excavation. In the course
/ of a week he had cleared out circular
\ srace ten feet in diameter and a dozel
feet deep He lowered : ladder into tn
!. hole. covered it with boards ard wen
-, away for few days. When next he Wis
tied the place he found that masses c
ice covered the sides of the excavation
y These were shaped like huge icicles
Then he began systematic observations
y He soon learned that on the days O
greatest heat the amount of ice in tn
excavation was far in excess of tina
Is found there on cold days.
~ Rumors Of the Potter county iC
Sc mine" had spread far afield. lncredr
lous persons visited the spot and lef
sc f,ll,, eaticfed that the story was n
he myth. 1t was not long before learne
professors from colleges and univers
" ties came TO examine the ice mine an
1t the neighboring territory. None. how
ever. was able to account for the form;
by ton Of the ice.
to While digging around one day the ol
is soldier cleared away the loose cart
II from a small opening, which proved
ic. be a cleft in the rock. current Of col
III air rushed out and led him to belie'
e. that small tunnel led to a cf orn
the body OF the mountain. Ccemic
action of some sort going on In some su
terranean eXranse may account fer Il
manifestations on the local eXcavatiO
IN. This solution of the problem. howeve
never has been verified.
-. A narrow stairway was construct
from the roadway up. the steep mOu
tainside to the rude platform surroun
ing the shaft, aud here the discover
Gu ami owner OF the mine began in a node
a. way to reap the profits of his find. Nj
refreshments were dispensed and
o. small admission fee was charged.
ma AS the cool nights of the high ~