Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-01-06

INVENTOR OF ICE MACHINE


Smith d. Fry. in the National Monthly.
The first and foremost of all men,
in the making of ice, which is the
basis of all cold storage. was DR..
John Gorrie, of the state of Florida.
In Statuary hall, in the capitol at
Washington, the state of Florida has
! recently placed "A statue of that in
| Ventor, and that statue is the protest
of Il great state against the false claim
of others. This protest is timely as
we'll as emphatic.
not make any great pretensions as an
inventor, nor did he have capital with
which TO exploit his i~ce-making ma
chine. But the fact that he did dis
cover the process. make the machine,
! and have it patented cannot he aues-
toned. Outside of Florida, however,
his name was. scarcely known before
the statue was placed in Stataary
hall. So modest and u-npretentious
was DR.. Gorrie that Very few facts
have been obtainable concerning his
youth and young manhood. He was
born in Charleston, s. c., October ).
1903. and died at Apalachicola. Fla,
June Is. 1855. The civil war caused
The loss Of DR.. Gorrie's entire library
and manuscripts. including the draw
ings and the working nod OF his ire-
making machine.
Thus. the inventor having died be-
fore having opportunity to exploit his
discovery, and his library having been
scattered so that his heirs were with
out data. as we'll as without money. the
time. forgotten.
Capt. George Whiteside. a close per
sonal friend of DIR. Gorrie. read a
sketch of the life and work of the in
ventor before the southern ice ex-
change at Charleston. during the
Snringr nf 100. and fh.. .v.t..-.
caused a monument to DR.. Gorrie to
be erected and unveilec at Charleston.
April so, 1900.
Malarial diseases %ahounded through-
out Florida. and they were virulent
in Apalacllicola, the death rate being
very large. During his practice Or.
Gsorrie conceived the idea of cooling
the air in sick room and began
studying diligently with that end in
view. For the Commercial Advertiser.
of Apalachicola, he published II ar
ticles On the Prevention of Malarial
Diseases" in 1914.
This idea having practically OBJ
sessed him. DR.. Gorric gradually with
drew from his medical practice and
Virtually abandoned it. His entire
his idea, and in a few years he
mastered the subject. Without hoping
or asking for reward, Dr. Gorrie gave
to the members of his profession his
concerning the Methods
and means of cooling air i'm the rooms
OF fever patients.
Next he began experimenting upon
lhe plans and dreams and hopes
That ice might be artificially nlanufac-
tured. In the year 1850 he produced
Al small model ice making machine
with which he made ice. ON May s.
1851. he was granted patent No.
!s.oao by the patent office in Wash
lnSton, where there We're filed descrip-
tive statements. detailed specifications
and drawings of the machine. Thus it
is oihclally known that DIR. Gorrie did
make an ice making machine, and did
receive a patent for it for "a period ex-
tending until May 6. 1860. John Sha-
ron, now i'm his S0th Year and still liv-
ing at Quincy, Fla, ~verilies the state
ment of Captain Whitesidc, that the ice
Mansion house. at Apalachicola. i'm
1850, by DIR. Gorrie, i'm the presence of
Il number of reliable witnesses.
mat summer there was a dearth OF
ice from the lakes of the north. the
SAILING vessels having disposed of
Maryland. Virginia and Carolina Cit
les. and Florida was practically with
out Ice. Captain Whiteside SAYS that
one OF the guests of the Mansion house
having said that he would give almost
any amount of money for a little ice
to cool his wine at dinner, a Monsieur
Rosan, of Paris. offered a wager OF a
basket of champagne that he would
furnish ice on the following afternoon
and that the ice would be made in
the dining room, and the wager was
accepted.
Monsieur Rosan had seen the ice
making machine and was Interested
IN It's promotion. AT the designated
hour DIR. Gorrie appeared with his little
working model and produced the ice, in
the presence of numerous persons then
well known and responsible. They
We're:
Isaac Wright. William Kane, Nugent
and ID. *. Dodge. New York
cotton BUYERS; Charles Pratt, cotton
buyer of Connecuticut: w. r. Wood.
cotton buyer of Providence, r. L.: Jo-
seph Hanserd. of Columbus, Ga; T. III.
Austin and Evans Jones, merchants of
~Apalachicola. and John Sharon, pro-
prletor OF the Mansion house.
In addition tn this testimony and
more everlasting also. the patent Of
ice records, drawings and specifica-
lions show that to DIR. John Gorrie, of
FLORIDA, was issued patent No. $3.50.
May 6. 1851. 1t Ia always well to give
honor to whom honor lis due. and this
honor belongs to DR.. John Gorrie. as
claimed by the state OF Florida
Smith ID. Fry. in National Monthly.