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Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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Historic Refrigerator From spring water to kerosene to electricity, we've been able to keep our foods at least cool Carlis B. Wilson In the days before electricity came to the small farms, life was without ice and refrigeration. In the hot summer days it was a desirable thing to have a cool drink of water when working in the heat of the day. Today that would be no problem: Just fill the cooler with drinks, and pack the cooler with ice from the refrigerator. What does one do to keep the cool spring water cool when the temperature outside is 95 degrees in the shade? One way is to cool a fruit jar with the cool spring water, then fill it to the top with fresh cool water. Wrap the jar with brown bags or a wet grass sack. When in the field where the work is being done, find a nice size rock in the shade and place the jar of water with the wrapping attached under the rock. The rock at first should be cooler that the jar of water. This bit of ingenuity works well for a few hours and refreshes the workers. Other ways of cooling and preserving were to use the running spring water, or a nearby cave or sink hole. There are many of these in in Adair County. I remember on one occasion the minister from the Antioch church was to come on a particular day to visit and have a meal with us. The adults bought a case of pop and placed it in the running water at the spring, in a shaded area. This was much better than warm soda pop. Sometime the fresh milk would be cooled after milking, for the evening meal of cool milk and hot cornbread. Refrigerator and no electricity I remember the day the first refrigerator was set in the kitchen. As a young boy it was quite a mystery to me just how it was going to cool or make ice without electricity. How is it going to work without electricity? I asked. You will see. replied the adults. A storage tank of oil was set up outside and a copper tube ran into the refrigerator. When all was in place and oil in the storage tank it was time to start the refrigerator. The cover was removed from a small burner and then lit. As the small blue flame began to burn, it was still a mystery to me just how the hot flame was going to make cold ice? Later in life I became a little wiser and now understand the transfer of hot and cool temperature having to do with changing the Freon or other types of coolants used to bring a temperature change in the fridge. The hot temperature is moved from the contents and chilled by the presents of the cold temperature. Electricity is just a better way of powering a motor to run a pump that moves the Freon through an orifice tube to change it from liquid to vapor. Side effects accompanied kerosene use With the use of kerosene there was always the ever-present odor from the burnt kerosene oil. Another more modern experience I witnessed was when Grandfather Josh Wilson moved to Columbia to work for a contractor. He rented an apartment in a large house which was near the place where the US Postal Service is located on Burkesville Street, today. There was a two burner kerosene stove on which he was cooking some biscuits. When he served the biscuits for breakfast, they tasted like kerosene. Needless to say as a five year old boy, I didnt eat many biscuits that morning. Some things do improve with time. E-mail the author : cbwilson34@yahoo.com This story was posted on 2004-12-10 07:08:57
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Local History by Carlis B. Wilson:
The Horse Shoe Family Quest - Part Four Young Girl Draws Large Crowd - ca 1946 Growing Up On A Small Farm 1944 - 1949 Family Quest - Part Three Rocks and More Rocks Box Supper and Mystery Prize An Exciting Time - ca 1905 The American Chestnut Tree Family Quest - Part Two View even more articles in topic Local History by Carlis B. Wilson |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
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