Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
seoyonen oF
ga”
‘
FRANK LESLIE'S NEW YORK JOURNAL. 17
Ice.
Tue machinery employed for cutting ice on a
large scale, for cities and shipment, is worked by
men and horses in the following manner: From
the time the ice forms, it is kept free from snow
until thick enough to be cut; that process com-
mences when the ice isa foot thick. A surface of
some two acres is then selected, and a straight line
drawn through its centre. A hand-plough is pushed
along this line until the groove is about three inches
deep, when the marker is introduced. is is
drawn. by two horses, and makes two new grooves,
21 inches apart, the gage remaining in the original
groove, The marker is then shifted to the outside
groove, and makes two more. Having drawn these
lines over the whole surface in one direction, the
process is repested in a transverse direction, mark-
ing all the ice out into squares.of 21 inches. The
plough, drawn by a single horse, follows in these
grooves, cutting to a depth of six inches. One en-
tire range cf blocks is then cut out with the ice-
saw, aud the remainder are split off towards the
opening thus made with an iron bar, shaped like a
spade, and of a wedge-like form ; avery slight blow
is sufficient to produce that effect, especially in very
cold weather. Platforms are placed near the open-
ing made~in the ice, and with a hook the ice is
caught, and by a sudden jerk thrown up the slide
on to the platform. Beside this platform stands a
bull, charging straight at me. I had only just time
to throw myself on one side flat on the ground as
he thundered’ by me. My next move was to scram-
ble among a small clump of trees—one of great size,
the rest were mere saplings, The bull, having
missed his mark, turned again, and first revenged
himself by tossing my saddle up in the air, until,
fortunately, it lodged in some bushes; then, laving
smelt me out, he commenced a circuit round the
trees, stamping, pawing, and bellowing frightfully.
With his red eyes and long sharp horns, he looked
likeademon. I was quite unarmed, having broken
my knife the day before; my pistols were in my
holsters, and I was wearied to death. My. only
chance consisted in dodging him round the trees
until he should be tired out. Deeply did I regret
having left my faithful dogs, Boomer and Bounder,
behind. The bull charged again and again, some-
times coming with such force against the tree that
he fell on *his knees; sometimes bending the sap-
lings behind which I stood, until his horns almost
touched me. There was nota branch I could lay
hold of to climb up.
How long this awful game of * touchwood” lasted
I know not; it seemed hours. After the first ex-
citement passed off, weariness again took possession
of me, and it required all the instinct of sclf-pre-
scrvation to keep me on my feet. Several times the
bull left me for a few scconds, bellowing his malig-
sled, of the.same height, cayable of containing about
three tons,which,
when loaded, is
d:awn upon the
ice to the front of °
of the storehouse,
where a_ large
stationary — plat~-
form, of exactly
the same height,
is ready to receive
its load, which,
as soon as dis-
charged, is hoist-
ed block by block
into the house by
horse-power.
Forty men and
twelve horses will
cutand stowaway
400 tons a day.
When a thaw or
rain occurs, it
unfits the ice for
market by ren-
dering it porous ;
and occasionally
snow is imme-
diately follewed
by rain, and that
again by frost,
forming snow ice,
which is value-
less, and must be
removed by the
plane. A plane is
gaged to run in
the grooves made
by the marker,
and shaves th2 : :
ice to the depin of three inches; it is drawn by a
horse until the whole surface of the ice is planed.
The chips thus produced are then scraped off, and
if the clear ice is not reached, the. process ‘is re-
peated. If this makes the ice too thin for cutting,
it is left in statu quo, and a few nights of hard frost
will ada below as much as has been taken off above.
Our engraving shows the process of ice-cutting
at Rockland Lake, near New York. The Rockland
Lake Ice Company is one of. the largest in the
country, delivering an enormous quantity of the
article in New York city. Their ice-houses: are
located on the margin of the lake,
— a
A Timely Rescue.
Tue next morning, when I went to look for my
horse, he was nowhere te be found. I put the
saddle on my head and tracked him for hours; it
was evident the poor beast had been travelling away
in'search of grass. I walked until my fect were one
mass of blisters. At length, when about to give
up in despair, having quite lost the track on stony
ground, I came upon the marks quite fresh in a
bit of swampy ground, and 2 few hundred yards
further found Master Gneytail rolling im the mud of
a nearly dry waterhole, as comfortably as possible.
1 put down the saddle and called him. At that
moment 1 heard a Joud roar and crash in a scrub
behind me, and out rushed, at a terrific pace, a black
nant discontent; but before I could pass over to a
ICE CUTTING AT ROCKLAND LAKE, NEAR NEW YORE,
better position he always came back at full speed.
My tongue clave to the roof of my mouth, my eyes
grew hot anc misty, my knees trembled under me,
1 felt it impossible to hold out until dark. At length
I grew desperate, and determined to make a run for
the opposite cover the moment the bull turned to-
wards the waterhole again. I felt sure I was
doomed, and thought of it until I grew indifferent.
The bull seemed to know I was worn out, and grew
more fierce and rapid in his charges; but, just when
I was going to sit down under the great tree and let
him do his worst, 1 heard the rattle of a horse
among the rocks above, and a shout that sounded
like the voice of an angel, ‘Then came the barking
of a dog and the loud reports of 9 stock-whip; but
the bull, with his devilish eyes fixed on me, never
moved, Up came a horseman at full speed; crack
fell the lash on the black bull's hide; out spurted
the blood in a long streak. ‘The bull turned sa-
vagely to charge the horseman. The horse wheeled
round just enough to baffle him—no more; again
the lash descended, cutting like a long flexible
razor; but the mad bill was not to be beaten off by
awhip, He charged again and again; but he had
met his match. Right and left, as needed,{the horse
turned again and again, sometimes pivoting on his
hind, sometincs on his fore-legs, The stockman
shouted something, leaped from his horse, and strode
torward to mect the bull with an open knife be-
tween his teeth, As the beast lowered his head to
charge, he seemed to catch him by the horns. There
was a struggle, a cloud of dust, a stamping like two
strong men wrestling; I could not see clearly; but
the next moment the bull was on his back, the
blood welling from his throat, his limbs quivering
in death,
A Courteous Gentleman. °
A TRADESMAN, living in the Rue. St. Honoré,
possesses a young and pretty wife, who is passion-
ately foad of the theatre, but being continually
occupied in business, he is rarely able to indulge
her. A few days ago she got a ticket for the Porte
St. Martin, and t2lling him that it had been given
to her, asked him to accompany her. He promised,
but when evening came, was unable to go. The
wife, who was en grande toilette, was furious at her
disappointment; but determined not to be baulked,
she made her servant accompany her. On leaving
the theatre she was followed by two young men,
who were very insolent. ‘To escape them she called
acab that was passing; but the coachman made a.
sign that he had some one in the vehicle. She was
turning away, when the cab stopped, and an ele-
gantly dressed young man jumped from it. «see,
ladies,” he said, with a low bow, “that you are
annoyed by two insolent fellows. Deign to accept
this cab—I will seek for another.” The trades-
woman accepted with thanks, and the gentleman
handed her and her servant in with: the greatest
politeness, She
gave her address
to the cabman,
and the vehicle
drove off, Arriy-
ed near her own
residence, she
- stopped, and ask~-
ed what was to
pay. * 21f. 75¢e.,”
said the cabman.
“What, 21f.
cried the trades-
woman in aston-
ishment. “ Why,
you have only
come from the
Porte St. Denis,
and have notbeen
half an hour on
the way.” «Do
talk non-
driving the gen-
tleman about
since morning.
_ But where is he?
Disappeared 3”
On discovering
._ ° that his fare really
had disappeared,
the man thought
the women were
in. connivance
with him to cheat
him, and he be-
« came very inso-
lent. The tradeswoman had not money ‘enough
to satisfy the demand of the cabman, and he gave
her and her companion into custody. They had to
pass the whole night in the guard-house de la
Lingerie, and were not released until the next
morning, when the tradesman claimed them, and
indemnified the coachman, ‘The tradeswoman vows
that she will never go to the play again without
her husband.
Tlonor your Bus —Every man is a debtor
to his profession, from the which, as men do of
course seck to receive countenance and profit, so
ought they of duty to endeavor themselves, by way
of amends, to be a help and ornament thereunto.
* Power or mz Irws.—The Jews, though scat-
tered over the face of the earth, yet maintain a
secret and indissoluble bond of union and common
interest. In every country they are, as it were, the
servants; but the time may come when they will
virtually be the masters in their turn. Even at the
present day are they not, to a great extent, the ar-
biters of the fate of Europe? Maintaining, on the
pone hand, the bond between the different States, by
| the mysterious power of wealth which they possess
, and onthe other, loosening the ties of sccial life,
i and introducing or fostering ideas of change and
| revolution among various peoples? In the Jewish
nation stirs the Nemesis of the destiny of Enrore.