Show HOW TO liGHT A flRf WITH ICE B02MABXABLE USE TO WHICH IT CAN BE PUT This Is Possible When the Sun Is Shining and You Have Clear Ice How Its Done BY THEODORE WATERS Two very surprising things may be done with ordinary ice First you may make a burning glass out of ice which will burn holes in paper and even start a fire in the woods The only tool you will need will be a pocketknife and with this it may be well to remember that no boy need freeze to death in the woods when the sun shines and there Is plenty of ice around He may make his fire as follows Select the clearest ice you can find In frozen ponds will often be found a little hillock of ice caused by an eddy in the water beneath be-neath Knock off a piece of this clear ice and whittle it into the shape of a double convex lens You should have no trouble doing this for ice can be cut very easily with a pocketknife Perhaps it may be well to inform the uninitiated that a double convex lens is one which bulges on both sides That is it is shaped like figure 1 It gathers up the rays of sunlight and concentrates them against one spot which is called the focus point Ordinarily a lens is made of glass but ice will aerform the same feat if correctly shaped First cut your ice into a flat piece a little thicker than and as round as a silver dollar It might be well also to leave a long sliver on one side of the circular niece I I c Frr1 IIa 1 1I 1 J 17 I bv ll a 35ri z r t 1 x 1I 1 e j 1 BUILDING FIRE ON THE ICE to serve for a handle When you have cut out your flat circular piece scraue ward the center until you have rounded round-ed off both sides A little practice will enable you to do this evenly although you may waste or break two or three pieces of ice in the effort As you go along with the work of scraping put the round piece or lens in your mouth every few minutes The heat of the mouth will not only Dolish the lens but It will smooth away those extremely fine ridges or knife marks which might otherwise interfere with the concentration of the light When your lens is finished it nould look like figure 2 By holding it a proper distance dis-tance from a piece of paper sayabout an inch it presently will set the paper on fire The other feat spoken of above is the making of a good magnifier out of a piece oi ice If you are in the woods some winters day and wish to examine exam-ine some minute object thoroughly you may do so very readily with ice Pro f if ceed as when you made your lens only instead of making slightly convex sides make your lens in the shape of a ball down the edges gradually working toOl to-Ol sphere Opticians often sell glass balls filled with water for magnifying purposes The ice will act the same as the waterfilled glass ball and It is wonderful how much you may add to a days enjoyment in this very simple way There are winter insects branches of trees dead leaves and bark snow and ice all of which will reveal hidden wonders under this very slmcle microscope which nature places within with-in the reach of any Ingenious boy Of course the city boy may also amuse himself with ice quite as readily as his J country cousin and he may do it Inn summer time if need be with the help of the commodity which the ice man leaves at the door every day |