Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-11-06
pFMINE OF ICE.
III WEATHER RESORT OF
FENNsvLvANIA PEOPLE.
Discovery Of an Old Soldier Proves
Of Great value-It Is Great
Attraction on Hot
Sundays.

The high temperature which has pre-
vailed here recently was responsible
for great influx Of visitors Crowds
drove IN from the surrounding villages
for the reason that the weather was
hot. some even coming from as far away
as Austin. ~ miles away over the noun
tain. Visitors will continue to flock here
every Sunday throughout the summer.
says a Coudersport (Pa) report.
This town never was planned for a
summer resort 1t is in a gorge where
not a breath Of air stirs and the Their
mometer frequently registers So de-
grees. Nevertheless. the people Of Pot
ter county come here, because it is hot
to get cool
z This is the home of the now celebrated
Potter county ice mine" Here wilted
humanity may enjoy an arctic atmos-
phere by descending iuto-the shaft or
can moderate the temperature by NOV.
ing to or from its mouth, to catch the
currents Of chilled air which the miue
sends forth.
The hotter ne day the cooler the mine
Atmospheric condensation goes on al
a great rate when the mercury APP
proaches the 100 degree mark, and cur
rents Of cool air are produced which
circulate as far as so or 60 tC from the
mouth Of the shaft
II is now seven or eight years sicee
the fact became known that during he
summer ice formed freely on a wooded
hillside two miles southeast of CoudeTs-
port on the Sweden Valley road. The
village Of Sweden Valley, consisting OF
half hundred empty houses, is. i'm fact
a deserted village Some milling or fac
tory project which finally failed was the
occasion of laying it out Had the I'M
habitants known that in the pine for
est less than so yards from their doors.
a veritahle field Of fee was spread Out
during the summer it is hardly likely
that they would have pulled mp stakes
for there IS profit In the ice mine and its
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 Fad not
been exhausted He determg :. TO
search for mineral wealth on - for
est-clad mountainside southeast Of Swe-
den Valley shoudering a pick he
toiled up the mountain one scorching
day for 100 yards Selecting an open
space on little plateau. ne 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
ling sound. The veteran withdrew the
pick 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.
The veteran threw off his faded blue
coat and hacked away with renewed
vigor until at the end of an hour he had
laid bare a fairly large mass Of the glis-
tening substance He examined it care
fully and then CALCULATED: Ice, by
guml"
The old soldier guarded his secret
closely. and returned day after day to
work at the excavation In the course
of a week he had cleared out a circular
space ten feet in diameter and a dozen
feet deep. He lowered a ladder into the
hole, covered it with boards. and went
away for a few days When next he Wis
tied the place he found that masses OF
ice covered the sides Of the excavation
These were shaped like huge icicles
Then he began systematic observations
He soon learned that on the days Of
greatest heat the amount of ice in the
excavation was far in excess Of that
found there on cold days.
Rumors Of the Potter county ice
mine" had spread far afeld. Incredu-
lous persons visited the spot and left
fully satisfied that the story was nc
myth. It was not long before learned
professors from colleges and universi-
ties came to examine the wineand
che neighboring territory how
ever was able to aecouH 2rIia.
ton of the ice.
While digging
hefdier cleared
al (