When shipments are made in vessels, runs are set up from the ice house, to discharge over the vessel’s rail. As the distance is often considerable, the elevation of the runway is high near the house, and if the ice is taken from the bottom courses it is necessary, in some cases, to elevate the ice on to the vessel runway. The ice can be lowered into the hold with tongs. A gig, to take on two cakes at a time, handles the ice with great celerity, a counterweight returning the gig to the deck after the ice is discharged. Ice cakes are packed closely in the hold, being trimmed to shape, when required. Six or eight inches of sawdust are placed at the sides of the vessel, and, perhaps, ten inches of short shavings on top. Hay can be used, but sawdust is the best. Hatches are thoroughly caulked, and the hold is not opened until the end of the trip. The pumps must be sounded every day. IN MARKETING ICE, painstaking supervision of details is constantly required. Resources should always be in efficient working order when required. A sudden hot spell often doubles the demand for ice, and the utmost exertions will hardly keep pace with it. Enterprise in extending trade should not be overlooked, and the efficiency of the service rendered is of special value in this direction. System and supervision should be extended through every department. In retailing ice, as conducted in the large cities of the North, no detail of management is deemed trifling. Many ice dealers take pride in having neat and convenient wagons for their retail business. As a handsome wagon and a fine team are the means of attracting favorable attention, so there is nothing which causes more unfavorable comment than ill-kept stock and untidy wagons. The quality of ice used for domestic purposes is now closely scrutinized, and cleanliness on the part of those handling this commodity, is expected. Ice wagons are usually furnished with an ice scale, an ice axe, several pairs of ice tongs, an ice shave, a bucket, and sometimes a broom. The ice cakes are cut as required, cleaned, weighed, and placed within the customer’s refrigerator or ice box. [Illustration: FIG. 59. A POPULAR ICE WAGON.] [Illustration: FIG. 60. ANOTHER ICE WAGON.] The use of coupon tickets is a great convenience. The customer is furnished with a book at the beginning of the season, and for each delivery of ice he receives, a ticket is given back to the ice dealer. These tickets, having the name and quantity indorsed on them, avoid errors and disputes. STRENGTH OF ICE.--Two inches in thickness of ice will usually bear up a man, four inches in thickness a horse, and ice five inches thick is generally safe for a team of horses and a loaded wagon weighing two tons. Eight inches in thickness will bear up 150 pounds per square foot of surface, if distributed over an entire field.