Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-05-25
PENNSYLVANIA S ICE MlNE
A Marvellous Story is fOid OF It's FreFz'
ina In Hot Weather


that section has what is known AS The
Potter county ice mine. 1here
wilted humanity may enjoy an arctic
atmosphere by descending into the
shaft. is the story.
The hotter the day the cooler the
mine, says the dispatch, which con
tinues:
tmospheric condensation goes on at
a great rate when tue mercury ap-
proaches the 1909 mark, and currents
of cool air are produced which circulate
as far as fifty or sixty feet from the
mouth of the shaft
1t is now seven or eight years since
the fact became generally known that
during the summer ice formed fIeeiy
on wooded hillside two miles south
east of Coudersport on the Sweden
Valley road The village of Sweden
Valley. consisting of half huldred
empty houses is, in fact, deserted VII
lage Some milling or factory project
which finaIly failed was the occasion
of laying it out.
The ice mine is regarded AS the great
est marvel of Potter county, rich as 1T
is in natural phenomena.
An Old Union soldier became possess
ed with the idea some years ago tnat
the country rich store of treasures
had not been exhausted. lie determl-
ned to search for mineral wealth on
the forest clad mountainsideS southeast
of Sweden Valley. Shouldering
pick, he toiled mp the mountain one
scorching day for 100 yards. Selecting
an open space on IA little plateau, be
struck his pick into the earth. The
Implement met with no res istance
from the loose soil at the first blow.
On the second attack some hard sub
stance gave forth a crunching, crack
ling sound. The veteran withdrew
the pick and examined the point. Sey-
eral glistening and rapidly dissolvlng
CRYSTALS adhered to it. They were
alike devoid of taste and odor. The
rapid melting only served to arouse
his curiosity.
The veteran threw off his faded blue
coat and backed away with rene wed
yigor until at the end of an hour he
had laid bare fairly large mass of the
elistening substance. H e examined It
,refully and then exclaimed: 'lce, by
gum"
The old soldier guarded his secret
1sely and returned day after day to
W ork at the excavation. liz the course
of a week he had cleared outa circular
soace 10 feet in diameter and a dozen
feet deep He lowered ladder into the
hole. covered it with boards and went
away for few days. When next he
| visited the place he found that masses
of ice covered the sides of the excava-
tion. There were shaped like huge
icicles. Then he began systematic ob'
servations. He soon learned that on
the DAYS of greatest heat the amount
of ice in the excavation was far in ex
J cess Of I'll At found there Oh cool days.
| Rum )rs of the Potter county icf
mine" had spread far aIield 1t was
not long before professors from col
leges and unIversiiie les came to examine
tha ice piue. \ one. however. WA
lie to iccJunt for the formation o
the ice.
While digging around in the bottom
of the shaft with q pick one day tue OH
soldier CIT AIRED away the loose eartl
from a small opening which proved t.
he a cleft iu the rcck. y current o
cold all rushed out and led him TO be
ligye that slu ali tunnel led 10 cav
ern in the body OF the mountain
Chemical action of some sort going o.
count for tie manifestations in til
local excavation. Thls solution of tt
problem, howe YER. never has been yer
fed.
A narrow stairway was cOnstTucte
from the roadway up the steep moul
tainside to the rude platform surroun'
ing the shaft, and here the discovert
and owner of the NINE began in
modest way to reap the profits of h
find. Mild refreshments were di
pensed and small admission fee WI
charged.
Az The cool nights Of the high alt
tudes came on with the advance OF Il
season, the ice began to disappear, al
at the onset of winter it was gen
leaving the interior of the eXcaVatiC
perfectly dry, al d many degrees wari
or than it had been throughout the e
tire summer. The same phenOmel
have been observed each year since t
d scovery of the place. Tue ice form
tion and the frigid atmosphere at q
near the mouth of the mine shaft a
never-ceasing source of wonder to
who visit the place. When the heat
extreme an examination OF the gr
moss which covers the ground in
ijacent forest discloses the fact Il
it's interstics are filled with ice.
There has been talk of building
big summer hotel on the mountainsl