Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-08-01
HOT AIR FORMS ICE
Cold Atmosphere is Stored Away and
10 Used in the Summer.

Cold Atmosphere is Stored Away and
10 Used in the Summer.
Caves and pits where ice is found
in summer are not infrequent. In
many cases the ice is doubtless Of the
nature of a glacier-that Is, 1t Is con-
solidated, slow-melting snow left over
from the previous winter; but there
are well authenticated instances where
ice plainly forms in the cave while
the weather Is warm outside. Many
reasons, physical and chemical. have
been advanced; and one still OCCASION
ally hears the classical explanation.
o. Andrews, of Lehigh university, who
describes in the Popular Science
Monthly an Ice mine near Couders-
port, Pa, there is no doubt about the
facts; and his explanation is that the
freezing agent is the stored cold Of
the previous winter, brought into play
by a change Of air currents. The dis
covery Of this particular 'mine," oc-
CURED while prospectors were look
ing for precious metals, reputed by
tradition to occur in the neighbor-
hood: It seems that: a.
"Mr. John Dodd and Mr.. William
O'Neill were prospecting near Sweden
valley, when, underneath four or five
inches Of moss, they found thin lay
er of solid ice. After leveling off a
space about fifteen or twenty feet
square they dug a shaft about six feet
square and twelve feet deep. At a
depth of nine feet they found petrifed
wood impressions Of leaves, ferns and
other vegetation, also bones which
were pronounced to be human. At the
lower depth a peculiar kind Of rock
was found which they thought might
contain gold or silver. Some Of this
was assayed and found to be Of no
value. At a depth Of twelve feet an
aperture was found from which came
q cold draft This was thought pecul-
lar, but nothing was done to investi-
gate farther and the work was aban-
doned.
1.-The following spring Mr.. Dodd
found a considerable amount Of Ice In
the mine, but thought that It had gath
cred there during the winter and had
not yet melted. However. as the warm
weather advanced, the quantity Of Ice.
instead of melting, as was expected,
began to increase. and by the middle
of July the sides of the shaft were
covered with a coating Of ice a foot or
more thick and large icicles were form
ing from the opening at the top.
LAS winter again came on, the ice
began to disappear until the cave was
nearly free from the summers pro-
duct. This phenomonen has regularly
been repeated each year since its dis
covery.
1.-The Dingman Run ice mine Is a
more recent discovery. being found on
June Is, 1905, on Dingman Run, on the
farm of Mr.. Pelchy. Mr.. Pelchy, with
the help Of another man, was clearing
up some brushland for farming when,
in order to get better foothold on
the steep hillside, he tore away little
of the moss, which was several inches
deep at that place, and found pieces
Of ice.
Having heard Of the ice mine at
Sweden Valley, he began to dig in the
hope Of discovering a similar phenom-
enon on his own farm. He made an
opening in the hillside 10 feet deep by
20 across, finding crevices in the rock
from which he took chunks Of ice
weighing twenty and twenty-five
pounds. Nothing more was done to
bring this mine to the notice Of the
public. and consequently 1t is known
to but very few people even in Cou-
dersport
1.-The explanation of this phenome-
non appears to lie in the cold currents
Of air from the crevices Of the rocks
along the sides Of the shaft. The air
must gain access to these assures at
some other point, which must be at
higher altitude than that Of the pit, as
will be seen from the following dis
cussion.
This being true, 1t Is evident that in
the winter time the column Of air d.
rectly over the pit is cooler and con-
sequently heavier than that in the rock
passages. Therefore, 1t forces its way
down into the pit and up through the
rock strata, chilling the rocks to a
great depth and storing up vast
quantity Of cold We see, then that
the amount of cold which Is stored up
or the depth to which the rocks are
chilled at the beginning of warm
weather in the spring. depends upon
the length and severity Of the winter.
"As the warm weather comes on the
column of air over the pit becomes
heated and Is displaced by the cold.
heavy air flowing down out of the
passages. This cold current of air
freezes and surface water which flows
over the edges of the pit and main
tains a freezing temperature as long
as the supply Of cold in the hills lasts
after which the circulation Of air
ceases and the ice formation melts.
1T Is evident that the rapidity with
which this circulation takes place de-