320 



Popular Science Monthly 



of each pipe, so that it can be removed 

 and easily cleansed at any time. 



The entrance is through a double 

 door. This is better arranged with an 

 outside door opening outward and the 

 inner door opening inward. A vesti- 

 bule of a few feet between these doors 

 is a great convenience and very eco- 

 nomical. On a very warm day in sum- 

 mer one can then enter the vestibule 

 and close the door behind him before 

 opening the inside one. There is then 

 no rush of hot air from the outside 

 to raise the temperature of the room, 

 an important consideration where one 

 must enter the storage room several 

 times a day. The mere admission of 

 a current of warm air on a hot day 

 may raise the temperature of the room 

 several degrees, and cause the melting 

 of a ton of ice in the course of 

 the season. 



The compartment above, in 

 which the ice is stored is not 

 very different from the inside of 

 the ordinary ice-house. The ice 

 must be packed economically 

 and in regular layer fashion, and 

 then covered with saw dust. 

 There should be a ventilator in 

 the roof. This is essential to the 

 preservation and sweetness of 

 the ice below. The filling door 

 should be placed as high up un-_,;^^_^ 

 der the eaves as possible, but not '^^'' 

 so high that there is no room for 

 a block and tackle arrangement. 

 This will facilitiate the handling 

 of the ice enormously, and al- 

 most save the cost of one man in 

 filling it. 



With the house once constructed it 

 is merely a matter of individual taste 

 in dividing the storage room into com- 

 partments for keeping milk, butter, 

 eggs, meats and small fruits. Any con- 

 venience of tables, shelves and bins 

 that suggests itself can be installed 

 later. The floor of this storage room 

 is of cement, so that the spilling of any 

 liquids will not cause damage. To 

 keep the floor clean and sweet an oc- 

 casional flushing with a hose will suf- 

 fice. The drain for it should be at one 

 side to permit the water to pass ofif 

 quickly. But as a rule the room should 



be kept as dry as possible, since flushing 

 the floor with water may cause an ex- 

 cess of dampness that will take days 

 to evaporate. 



The economy and convenience of 

 such a combination house can readily 

 be seen from the illustration. Ice for 

 the house can be taken out from the 

 back in the ordinary way, and that re- 

 maining in the compartment will be 

 utilized at all hours for chilling the 

 storage room below. There will be a 

 little waste through melting in hot wea- 

 ther, but not to any extent. To offset 

 this an extra ton of ice should be placed 

 in the compartment each winter, and 

 then the supply will last through the 

 summer. 



A combination ice and storage house 

 of this character can be built from 



Section of ice-house and cold storage plant, indicating 

 construction of floors and walls 



$500 Upward, depending upon the size, 

 cost of materials and of labor. A good 

 size is 25' square, outside measure- 

 ments, which will give a storage room 

 of at least 20'. If properly built and 

 filled with ice, a temperature of 34° can 

 be maintained in winter, and from 35° 

 to 36° in summer, which is suitable for 

 the preservation of practically all food 

 products. 



DRY batteries can be brought back 

 to their electrical life for a time by 

 punching holes in the zinc covering af- 

 ter having removed the cardboard filler, 

 and soakingr them in warm salt water. 



