New-York tribune., 1879-02-01
THE ICE CROP OF THE HUDSON.
NOW THE HARVEST is GATHERED.

HOW THE HARVEST Is GATHERED.
,,p,p GROWTH OF THE BUs1NEss-PRFsENr MAG
xITuDE OF oPERATIoNs-vALUABLE ICE STA
TIsnCs.
,,voN An OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBCNEl
KINGSTON, Jan. 29.-The collection and
a.orvaton of ice for human consumption, and espec-
m ts shlpment ~ warm countries, constitute busi-
ss enterprise which belongs 70 the present cen
err and the time and circumstances OF It's origin are
donhcss st fresh in the minds OF many OF the older
t,baotants And yet. recorded knowledge and infor-
tton as 20 It's early development are somewhat soanty
rd ,n,perfect while almost entirely without any
ntnente statistics in regard to its progress during
late years ,u
be first man to embark IN the business in this country
aud a man Of indOmitablc will ana perseverance he
uroyed TO be- Starting in the smallest possible way III
he Winter 1905, and using implements OF the rudeSt
oorstructoA he continued about alone in the trade
untf 1882, at which time the whole amount OF Ice
adhered was only 1852 tons; all OF which was taken
tro,n Fresh Pond" Cambridge, Mass, an amount
loss than is now annually stored in the smallest house
on the Hudson. About this time Mr. Tudor conceived
d, ot shprinc ice TO southern ports; the demand
t his nroduct having been thus far entirely local
PM In this project. as well as IN MS previous
onerations at home he met with dlscouTagins
influences and many obstacles. No vcsseI coulo
he obaiped to carry his ice shpowners were airalu
II would melt 50 the passage as TO endanGer the
.,fev Of the vessel He finally purchased an od oiIS
himself which was hastily rehtIed for tie new u1Hc
and loaded with In this he TOOK passage anu s'u
for Havana. On his arrival there however lie"
and greater obstacle presented Itself The people Aue"
nothing about Ico had never seen 1t; and Whio HIS
strange commodity from a Northern cAino ""e
yapidly melting away in the hold OF DIS O4u
brig he had TO create demand foF u among
The people. He paid Tor the privilege OF keeping
rcbcr OF ice water standing the hotel bars Al first
the natives astcd It under protest and quickly spit 1t
"a aCrq dofi l4l IA.
however, they became convinced of its harmesneSs
they began TO Ike It and it drunk freely by the
hotel patrons MI Tudor then took away these free Ice
pitchers and started shop Offering the fee for sale.
The hotel customers missed the and cooling bever-
ac, And thus was the demand for ice created in Ha-
,ana and from that began the foreign ice trade
Sometime after this Mr. Tudor obtained large con-
tract from the British Government to furnish the Army
withice at Calcutta; il included the royal signature OF
Queen Victoria herself. Under this contract, winch lie
held for uumber OF years although the amount oi zee
furnished would seem Insignificant, ne teaII%.d
large sums Of money, the prices obtained being very
high. The business was now slowly developing ana IN
ls47 about 70 900 tons Of ice shipped from the
Port Of Boston Up TO this time, however nearly all
The ice had been from the various ponds and lakes
in the vicinity OF Boston, and ONLY about 600 men aud
go horses were then engaged 10 the work. From ths
time forward, progress became more rapid; the nome
demand increased largely, new uses and adaptations
OF ice became more apparent.
SPECIAL FACILITIES OF TIE HUDSON.
The special facilities Of the Hudson River for the pro-
duchou and storing OF ice began TO dawn upon the mnd
ofa few New-YOrs capitalists. c. l. Worendyke CO.
and BarmOre & Co. built two or three houses IN tms
vicinity one AT Roclland Lake, one the Roudout
Creek and another at Flatbush The ROckand Lake
house was the first on the river and from this point the
best and purest ice always obtained, although
there is no longer any RocKland Lake Ice Co.. as
appears on many New-York ice-carts. The Ice
from this lake Ia sold with the river Ice
pdiscrimiDately The first ice-hOuse on the
Hudson proper was erected the west shore at Fiat
bush This house was twice rebuilt and enlarged, and
now one Of the largest and best the river being
BIO feet long 90 wide, with 35fect posts, and having
4 capacity OF g., 900 tons. 1t Is owned 10y the Old
Kuickcrbocker Ice Company, which was Incorporated
March l. ls55-the oldest company on the river, and
very much the largest having storing capacity OF over
600 tons an much larger than the asgre-
gate capacity OF all the other companies on the river
put together
There is now more ice taken from the Hudson River
than any other stream body OF water in tne world
perhaus Its proximity to NewYOrk City, with its I'M
uense demand for home consumption and general SHIP
ming purposes renders this product peculiarly yauaDe;
and it would be difficult to select more favorable point
for securing the desired supply The large amount Of
help required the cutting season s readily at hand
and would, indeed be otherwise idle The total amount
Of capital invested in docks. buildings, machinery I'm
PIGMENTS. barses, tugs and horses can scarcely
be estimated but 1t must aggregate very
large amount. Between Albany and NeWburg
there are about seventy different iCe-houses, rang
ing in capacity from 10000 $4,000 tons. These var-
Gus houses arc anG operated by seven regularly
incorporated companies and some eighteen or twenty
private companies and individuals The KnickerbocAeI
Company have thirty-our bouses. with storage capa-
CITY 600 600 tons They have three jO0Oon houses
one at scEodack at Athens and the other at Fiat
bush The other principal houses are located at Cox
eacke Hudson Catskll, BarrytOwn, Rhinebeck, ESQ
pus staats sbursh, West Park, POughseepsie and Mar
borough The following table shows the number OF
houses and the total capacity Of each regular company