A Fun Trip for Old Timers By Norris Chambers There was a time when
folks who lived in the country
had no electricity, no gas and no water supply. Kerosene, called coal
oil in
those days, supplied fuel for lamps and lanterns. Wood was burned for
heating
in fireplaces and heaters and was used in cooking stoves for meal
preparation. Water
came from wells, cisterns and dirt tanks. These tanks were dug in low
areas
that caught and held water when it rained. Water
was usually taken from a
cistern or well with a rope and bucket. A few industrious farmers had
windmills
set up over the source and the wind pumped the water into a large metal
tank. This
tank was elevated and water was run through a pipe to the kitchen. Some
kitchen
faucets had a sink beneath them and some had only a small tub that had
to be
emptied periodically. In
spite of this lack of utilities
we enjoyed a freezer or two of homemade ice cream occasionally. Most
grocery
stores and a few other businesses had an ice house and sold blocks of
ice at a
very nominal price, even in those depression days. The ice house was
ordinarily
a little closet-like room in the building or a small structure outside.
The
little compartments were well insulated with hollow walls filled with
saw dust.
Most of the places that sold ice provided 12-1/2, 25, 50 or 100 pound
blocks.
Some of the larger markets kept 200 pound blocks but these were usually
chipped
into smaller sizes when sold. All of the blocks were scored for easy
separating
and it was not a problem, using an ice pick, to separate a large block
into
smaller ones. When For
some unexplained reason these
trips were usually scheduled for a Friday. Maybe a nice trip was
supposed to
start a weekend that would be filled with fun! Regardless of why, when
the
important day came the school bus and driver arrived at the
school’s side door
and prepared for fun-seeking anxious students to “load up”!
We loaded quickly and
were soon on our way to the county seat to tour a plant where ice was
made. It
never occurred to me to wonder where the ice came from that was stored
in the
little rooms at the stores. Clifton said that he hadn’t lost any
sleep
wondering about it. Our friend, Elbert, commented that there was one
thing he
was sure about. The primary ingredient of ice was water. We had to
agree with
him. When
we arrived and walked into the
big brick building we entered a small office. A smiling man greeted us
and told
us a few things about the freezing of water to make ice. Another man
entered
from a door and announced that he would be our guide. He told us to
follow him
and he walked back into the main building. We were surprised to see
what
appeared to be a very large swimming pool. The large room with the pool
was
considerably cooler than the one we left. It was almost too cold for
comfort. “This
vat,” the guide explained,
“Is where the ice is frozen. If you will look you will see many
rectangular
containers on the bottom. These are removable metal boxes made exactly
the
right size to hold a 200 pound block of ice. The water you see covering
them is
treated with a chemical that keeps it from freezing until the
temperature is
many degrees below the normal freezing point of water. The proper
amount of
purified water is placed in the cans and when it freezes in the cold
liquid it
expands to fill the freezing container. The metal form is then removed
with a
hoist and the block of ice is removed. The form is then refilled and
placed
back in the freezing liquid. The freezing pool is kept cold by using a
compressor, condenser and evaporator. We use ammonia as a refrigerant.
The big
compressor, which we will see, is powered by a steam engine. He
continued to
explain the refrigeration process. We were shown the boiler, the large
compressor and the big molds being emptied. If the block of ice
didn’t slide
out when the hoist raised the form a worker started warming it with hot
steam
from a hose. The big block then slid out and the overhead hoist moved
it back
to a refilling area. The blocks were then slid into a chute where long
saw
blades moved in and scored them at the correct place to produce
saleable sizes
for the dealers. Everyone
enjoyed the trip but felt
bad about the report they would have to write. The report didn’t
bother me but
I was having a little trouble finding something that was real fun on
the trip. We
were blessed with the fun part
when some sort of stinging insect, maybe a bee, wasp or hornet, flew
through
the bus driver’s open window and stung him two times on his left
cheek. He
acted bravely and did very little moaning. By the time we arrived at
our school
his head had swollen almost to the size of a Halloween pumpkin or a
full size
basket ball. He survived! |