HOW TO BUILD ICE-HOUSES. 



251 



'* In the first place, the frame of the sides 

 should be formed of two ranges of upright 

 joists, 6 by 4 inches ; the lower ends of the 

 joists should be put into the ground without 

 any sill, which is apt to let air pass through. 

 These two ranges of joists should be about 

 two feet and. one-half apart at the bottom, 

 and two feet at the top. At the top these 

 joists should be morticed into the cross- 

 beams, which are to support the upper floor. 

 The joists in the two ranges should be 

 placed each opposite another. They should 

 then be lined or faced on one side, with 

 rough boarding, which need not be very 

 tight. This boarding should be nailed to 

 those edges of the joists nearest each other, 

 so that one range of joists shall be outside 

 the building, and the other inside the ice- 

 room or vault. ^^Fig. 67.) 



g^ n n n f 



"B □ U 



I, 



Fig. 67. Manner of nailing the boards to the joists. 



" The space between these boardings or 

 partitions should be filled with wet tan, or 

 sawdust, whichever is cheapest or most 

 easily obtained. The reason for using wet 

 material for filling this space is, that during 

 winter it freezes, and until it is again thaw- 

 ed, little or no ice will melt at the sides of 

 the vault. 



shipped from the port of Boston alone, within the last eight 

 years ; and the East and ^Vcst Indies, China, England and the 

 South, are constantly supplied with ice from that neighborhood. 

 Wenhtim Lake is now as well knowTi in I<ondon for its ice, as 

 Westphalia for its hams. This cmerprise owes its success 

 niauily to the energy of Frkdekick Tudor, Esq., of Boston. 

 The ice-houses of this gentleman, huilt, we believe, chiefly 

 by Mr. Wyeth, are on a more gigantic scale than any others 

 ni the world. An extra whole year's supply is laid up in ad- 

 vance, f guard against the accident of a mild winter, and a 

 railroad .several miles in length, built expressly for the purpose, 

 conveys the ice to the ships lying in the harbor. 



" The bottom of the ice vault should be 

 filled about a foot deep with small blocks 

 of wood ; these are levelled and covered 

 with wood shavings, over which a strong 

 plank floor should be laid to receive the ice. 



" Upon the beams above the vault, a pret- 

 ty tight floor should also be laid, and this 

 floor should be covered several inches deep 

 with dry tan or sawdust. The roof of the 

 ice-house should have considerable pitch, 

 and the space between the upper floor and 

 the roof should be ventilated by a lattice 

 window at each gable end, or something 

 equivalent, to pass out the warm air which 

 will accumulate beneath the roof. A door 

 must be provided in the side of the vault 

 to fill and discharge it ; but it should al- 

 ways be closed up higher than the ice, and 

 when not in use should be kept closed alto- 

 gether. 



" 2d. An Ice-liouse heloio ground. This is 

 only thoroughly made by building up the 

 sides of the pit with a good brick or stone 

 wall, laid in mortar. Inside of this wall set 

 joists, and build a light wooden partition 

 against which to place the ice. A good floor 

 should be laid over the vault as just describ- 

 ed, and this should also be covered with 

 dry tan or sawdust. In this floor the door 

 must be cut to give access to the ice. 



" As regards the bottom of the vault, the 

 floor, the lattice windows in the gables for 

 ventilation, etc., the same remarks will ap- 

 ply that have just been given for the ice- 

 house above ground, with the addition that 

 in one of the gables, in this case, must be 

 the door for filling the house with ice. 



" If the ground where ice-houses of either 

 kind ai-e built, is not porous enough to let 

 the melted ice drain away, then there 

 should be a waste pipe to carry it ofl^, which 

 should be slightly bent, so as alwavs to re- 

 tain enough water in it to prevent the pas- 

 sage of air upwards into the ice-house." 



