ICE  ;  ITS  COLLECTION,  STORAGE  AND  DISTRIBUTION.  221 
necessary  to  erect  partitions,  or  bulkheads,  across  such  parts 
of  the  vessel  as  its  particular  model  shall  render  advisable,  so 
that  from  half  to  two-thirds  of  all  the  available  space  in  the  ship 
shall  be  occupied  by  the  cargo,  equidistant  between  bow  and 
stern.    This  done,  the  ship  is  prepared  to  receive  her  cargo* 
Moored  at  the  wharf  where  the  ice  is  to  be  delivered,  the  main 
hatch  is  thrown  open,  and  a  slide  or  u  chute  "  is  constructed 
from  the  landing  to  the  hatch.  In  some  cases  this  "  chute  "  is 
laid  directly  from  the  ice  house  to  the  vessel,  in  others  trans- 
portation by  teams  may  be  necessary.  Over  the  hatchway  a 
windlass  is  erected,  the  drum  extending  entirely  across  it  length- 
wise. To  this  are  suspended  two  "  gigs,"  or  iron  frames  intended 
to  receive  the  cakes  of  ice  from  the  '-chute,"  in  such  a  manner 
as  that,  while  the  loaded  one  descends,  the  empty  one  rises.  As 
the  cakes  of  ice  come  rushing  down  the  chute,  they  are  dexterously 
directed  by  the  ice-hooks  in  the  hands  of  the  workmen  to  one 
side  or  the  other,  so  as  to  enter  the  gigs,  which  descend  with 
them  into  the  hold.  As  the  lower  tier  is  completed,  it  is  packed 
all  round  the  sides  of  the  vessel  with  sawdust.  This  gives  addi- 
tional space  for  the  next  tier,  which  is  wider  than  the  first,  as  the 
sides  of  the  vessel  recede  from  the  keel ;  and  the  tiers,  increasing 
in  width  until  the'  whole  breadth  of  beam  of  the  ship  is  attained, 
are  successively  packed  as  described. 
In  the  shipping  of  ice  immense  quantities  of  sawdust  are  used, 
so  that  what  the  owners  of  saw-mills  used  to  be  bothered  with  to 
get  rid  of,  now  yields  them  a  handsome  revenue.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  ice  trade  of  Boston  alone  consumes  sawdust,  shavings 
and  rice  chaff  to  the  value  of  $30,000  a  year,  an  item  which  used 
to  be  thrown  away.  This  is  suggestive  in  connection  with  the 
injury  done  to  the  navigation  of  the  Penobscot  river,  in  this 
State,  by  the  sawdust,  edgings,  and  other  refuse  of  the  mills, 
which  have  accumulated  in  the  bed  of  the  river  below  Bangor. 
The  inquiry  would  be  worth  an  answer,  whether  it  would  not  pay 
in  part  for  the  expense  of  recovering  the  sawdust,  and  other  ma- 
terial, to  dry  and  sell  it.  A  greatly  needed  public  improvement, 
it  would  seem,  might  be  effected  at  a  comparatively  small  cost  to 
the  government.  The  whole  results  of  the  dredging  might  be 
made  available,  partly  in  this  way,  and  partly  as  a  natural  fer- 
tilizer of  the  best  quality. 
