The New York herald., 1871-01-15
THE ICE HARVEST.
The Prospects Of the Present
Season.
How the Ice II Gathered What il Costs 10 Collect
and Store It-The Toe Houses Already
Quarter Full

"Eleven inches thick. sir and "a clear as crystal
Just the very best Ice i ever seed. Why It's like
glass; you could read the Bible through it, or news
paper either.n
This was the first answer obtained day or two
ago my inquiries In regard TO the ice crop on the
HUDSON. Since then have been the entire length or
the river, ana this criticism mas been everywhere
confirmed. Never since the ice companies first
started have they had the chance OF filing their
houses with an article or better quality. Next sum-
mer. perhaps, "a in the last, they may forge some
excuses for high prices such the scarcity OF TIE
ice and the midness Of the winter and the rest or
the
RIaMARoLE or COMMERCIAL PLUMBER.
But BY sucn excuses alone can they defend them
selves for ontraging the decencies Of exror
tion. They cannot with any color of Justification,
pedde out the miserable "snow icen they imposed
upon last season, for the simple reason that such
an article Is happily not procurable except at
greater pains and cost than good Ice II 1t were OF
course, they would prove themselves worthy OF
their past brilliant record by gathering II and
charging Ave cents a pound for IT, They WILL at
least have to sell us good Ice because they can't
getany other
There are few more pleasing sights than the
garnering in OF the ice crop on the Hudson No
doubt many unsophisucated travellers have won
dered as they passed up the river In the summer
what on earth che %
HUGE WOODEN WAREHOUSES;
that here and there dot both shores were used for
but have been ashamed to air their ignorance by
inquirlng They are not employed for any very COM
mon article OF commerce. it Is clear, because by
far the larger part OF them are built on
the western bank and therefore out of the line
OF railroad communication. But probably, such a
traveller would scarcely at first believe that these
all Ice houses for supplying the thirsty needs OF
the cries OF New York and Brooklyn. "What y, he
would say "these vast piles OF buildings consecrated
to the storage OF the little frozen Jumps that enable
me to MAINTAIN my temperance principles even In
the fercest heat Of summer by making water still
palatable and wnolesome2 Impossible / have
heard In fairy tale OF q single widowed mouse
eating through an entire granary, but that even two
cities fun OF Christian people
SHOULD DRINK THROUGH
all these enormous warehouses is simply incredible
And yet such is the literal fact How many tons
OF Ice the thirsty souls OF New York and Brooklyn
manage to consume would be indeed nard TO est.
mate, and no reliance can be placed on the state.
ments OF the ice companies, as they have plain
interest in concealing the magnitude Of their bust
ness. The true figures however, evea II they were
procurabe, would be so vast that they would con-
vey no very exact idea TO the human mind, which
turns dizzy and confused when bswildered with BIZ
lions or billions.
Yet very good conception Of the
IMP0RTANCE OF THE ICE BUSINESS
road at the present season. As far as Poughkeepsie
Of course the water is too salt to freeze suicieny
thick TO be available for useful purposes. But be.
yond that point the frozen surface of the river ia
almost an uninterrupted scene OF animated indus
ice gatnerers whose dark silhouettes dot the white
expanse OF the ice ike crows feasting IN corn1ed.
And all the ice thus harvested IS absorbed
by New York. Brooklyn and Jersey City, with the
exception Of a small quantity taken by Newark and
the other interior cities OF the Kingdom OF Camden
doubtful the ice trade Of Boston IS araer ,nsn Sery CRY
own. But then, II 1t be, 1t must be remembered
word-wltn the West ana tne East Indies Central Central
and South America and even EurOpe-and that the
inhabitants OF the Hub itself are OF course far be-
hind US in powers OF consumption, even man for
man.
dustry, which, as its Importance deserves have now
reached a
HIGH STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT.
Nearly all the largest houses are on the least ac.
cessbe side OF the river he Will do well to stop
at some point where the ferry boats through the
ice. Rhinebeck, for instance, a very good point
as steamboat crashes ana plunges through the ice
across to Rondout three or four times day all
through the winter while within easy reach OF the
latter place there are three or four monster ice
houses Arrived at one OF these centres OF the bus-
ness he VIII be for tho moment astonished at the
PERFECTNEss OF THE ARRANGEMENTS
that have been made for gathering the ice The Ice
house seems bigger than ever, and looms up
nat wlndowless, wooden walls and angular roof
Creeping inside by small hole, it Is seen that the
walls consist OF two separate layers or panking the
space between which Is fllled with sa wdust one OF
the best known and valuable Of n-conduCtOrs
The house itself Is divided into compartments, each
compartment being about fifty feet wide and ENJOY
ing the privilege OF an Independent roof and part.
ton wall the latter constructed on the same model as
the outer ones. From floor 10 roof the building Is
tuhn Annl n1, "a
up In the spring Is almost dark. The noor Is
covered foot or TWO deep with sawdust and the
are packed In as systematically and closely as the
bricks in child's toy box In front OF the house.
facing the river there are several stages Of various
mechanical arrangement very similar In its prin.
epe or construction to the California pump There Is
sliding plank way leading down TO little platform
or "apronr as 1t Is called which Is Is kept foot or
two below the surface Of the water; ana when
pk e @ m eaed aea by weoen o
pieces OF the revolving chairs and pushed cd the
plankway until 1t falls through hole upon one OF
weight, IKE nine pin ball rolling back in the
cradles TO the players Once inside the house II ia
slid along until it finds Its proper geometrical
HOW is THE ICE CUT
into these regular biockss Nothing could be more
simple. There Is an ingenious saving apparatus
moved by q horse (which Is Of course shod so as to
easily walk over the ice and this cuts the ice across
and across about half its thickness leaving 1t still
nrm enough to bear good weight but
sufficiently cut to be broken or in regular blocks
Possibly most readers OF the HERALD have noticed,
as they have watched the unloading or q cargo oI
Ice that the edges OF the blocks for about half wa
down are rough, while the rest is clear and smooth
ana CLASSY The reason OF this Is that the upper
part OF the edge has been roughened by the saw,
while the lower part has been broken of The ice
gatherers begin cutting the ce OF course close by
the house. But they merely cut narrow passage
some fifteen or twenty feet wide which Is called the
ICE CANAL
This cana! frequently runs up mile or mile and
O half from the mouse, and the blocks are noated
along until they reach the apron OF the elevator
This Is briefly the way in which the Jumps or
frozen water that tinkle musically against the sides
OF our tumblers, as thirsty ana heated, we take a
summer cObbler, are collected.
And now, coming back to the beginning OF this
article what are the prospects Of tue present ice
seas0nf Are we for another year to be the Victims
OF the Knickerbockef and Washington ice compa-
niesorced 10 pay exorbitant rates for the meanest,