BUILDING ICE HOUSES. 



25 



ing. Most buildings of this kind are sc 

 hurriedly constructed that no attempt at a 

 good foundation is made. A wall of loose 

 stones is quite good, providing earth is well 

 tramped about it outside, and no burrowing 

 animal is allowed to open the air passage, 

 A mortared foundation is much better and 

 will repay extra expense by longer and bet- 

 ter service. 



To store ice for family use a building 12 

 feet square is sufficient, and from such a lot 

 of ice one may spare an occasional cake to 

 his less fortunate or less provident neighbor. 

 A square building is better than a long one 

 in that less outside surface is exposed to the 

 sun's heat compared to the inner space. This 

 means that less material is required also. 

 The height of the building ought to be suffi- 

 cient to enable one to work when standing 

 upright. A roof close to the sawdust im- 

 parts to it more heat than one a little farther 

 away. 



A bank ice house should be on ground 

 having a northern or northwestern, slant, 

 and a building longer than wide should have 

 the end to the south or southwest. These 

 buildings are necessarily boarded inside the 

 frame, but often the outside boarding is ne- 

 glected, leaving the bare studding outside. 

 Where thus incomplete it is found that the 

 sun's heat is imparted to the contents much 

 more than when there is an outside board- 

 ing. It is preferable that all sides have 

 outside boarding and at least all except the 

 north. 



In making excavation for an ice house on 

 slanting ground it is well to pile up the 

 earth removed so as to have it ilear at hand 

 for banking up against the wall on the lower 

 side of building. Constructed in this way, 

 a wall of loose stones ought to be sufficient- 

 ly tight to exclude outside air, providing it 

 is banked to the sill, and made tight about 

 the sill with mortar. It is true that such 

 biiildin?-s are often banked af'-'ainst the 



boards, but this is a poor way if one would 

 have a long term of service from such a 

 building. 



Fig. I shows the foundation and su- 

 perstructure of a bank ice house for family 

 convenience. The dotted line shows the 

 natural lay of the ground, while the drain 

 underneath and the banking of earth 

 against the walls are indicated. The walls 

 are i^ feet thick and 3 feet high laid of 

 loose stones. Sills are 8 x 8 in. ; studding 

 are 2x4 in., set i foot apart, except in ga- 

 bles, where they are twice that distance 

 apart. It is sheathed inside the studding 

 with cheap lumber and the outside board- 

 ing may correspond to one's taste and 

 means. The roof is one-half pitch, covered 

 with good shingles. There is room to work 

 under this roof when the building is filled 

 to the plates. 



The ground plan of this structure is 

 shown in Fig. 2. In the bottom is 

 thrown a double course of old slabs, or any 

 other material to keep the sawdust from the 

 ground. The ice is laid in so as to have 

 10 inches of sawdust around the outside. 

 Two small gable windows afford the neces- 

 sary ventilation above the contents. 



Fig. 3 shows a cheap building, but 

 convenient and serviceable. It is 12 x 15 

 feet, Vv^ith an alley in the centre. The plates 

 are 3 or 4 feet from the ground level, and 

 the alley is in the centre, where there is 

 height. The roof may be shingled or made 

 of boards or slabs. • A door 3x6 feet in 

 the north end opens into the alley, on other 

 side of which are bins for the ice. A 3- 

 light window over the door affords light 

 when the door is closed. The ground plan 

 is shown in Fig. 4 and indicated by B, in 

 the far end of the alley, may be shelves or a 

 cupboard for keeping fresh meat, fruits 

 etc., in warm weather. This is a decidedly 

 cheap and convenient building. 



