Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-10-09
ICE.
chat About Maine's Great Winter In
dustry.
..What's going to be done in ice this VIII


gentleman addressed, to the Journal report
Or seIce is something on which you can't
c.culate Now you see it and now YOU
don't Here in Maine ice operators reap a
harvest when the mild weather in other Sec
,;ons of the country interferes with the bust
ness on the Hudson and in other places.
Last winter prosperous season for
Maine ice men. We cleaned out our stock
souared up our debts, and had little some
thing left besides. But this winter we NAV
nm behind. You can't tell
.'Any new houses going up on the Kenne-
bec:'
yes few. Russell of Boston is erect
ing an enormous house at Dresden near the
head of Swan Islanl The Knickerbocker
lee Company have been tearing down some
oftheir old houses at Farmingdale and re-
placing them with new ones The houses
torn down were among the first erected on
the Kennebec. There have been great i'm
movements in ice houses, as well as in other
things, within a few years. Old-fashioned
ice-houses were barn-like structures. and
permitted great shrinkage of ice But the
modern ice-house is clapboarded, double
vailed and ventilated. The shrinkaee in
them is trivial"
THE GREAT Ice YEAR
"Was last winter an unprecedentedly pros
porous one in your business?"
''No, the winter of 1870 was the bonanza
season in Maine. Everybody went to putting
up ice that year. 1t went up, up, up, to slI
a ton, and averaged from S. to So. This
year the highest price reached was about the
first of August when the commodity touched
$3.50 ton. Since then it has fuctuated
considerably. To-day ice is worth about 50.
That is the price for A l, first-cass ice"
where is most of the ice in Maine cut."
'On the kennebec. Probably there are
ten times as many tons put up on the Kenne-
bee and its tributaries in other parts of
the State. The ice harvested on our river is
Of good quality, clear as crystal, and very
thick"
SPECULATION.
eyes, they try to bull and bear in the ice
business well as in other branches oftrade,
but the spectators are comparatively harm
less. Most of the older men in the business
are long-headed, shrewd fellows, who know
when to buy and sell to advantage Ofcourse
good season sends dozens of men into ice
packing who know nothing whatever of the
business, and in most cases they have to buy
their knowledge and pay dearly for it, too
But putting up ice is business, and colos-
sal one. 1t is not gambling. many sup
pose. Some men make or lose pile in
year or two, and then quit. But it is like
everything else. Men who have courage and
capital and stick to ice for a term of years,
accumulate fortunes. prosperous year
may retrieve for several unfortunate ones.
Parties should be cautious how they go into
any new business
FREIGHTs.
81 see by the New York Herald that ice is
being exported from Sweden to this country.
Do you anticipate any danger to American
firms by this new departure?"
"Not all. Freights from Stockholm to
New York are about twenty shillngs a ton.
This eats up all the profits We can get all
the vessels we want for 81 ton to New
York and from so to 30 cents to Philadel-
phia.'
"Why do they take freights cheaper to the
Quaker City than to Gotham"
"For several reasons. Schooners can get
good return freights of coal. They save
port charges and He'll Gate pilotage."
ARTIFICIAL Ice.
They manufacture most everything now
a-days. You would be surprised if you
knew how much machine ice is made by
chemical process. Many Southern cities
are almost entirely supplied in this way. In
New Orleans there are several enormous con-
Germs which are extensively engaged in the
business. The introduction of such manu-
features is affecting our trade down South
very much. The ice is of an inferior quail
ty, of course, but it answers the purpose.
"Where do you market your ice?''
"Oh, everywhere. New York city alone
consumes a million tons annually"
"Out of Maine, where do they get ice?'
"on the Hudson. on Lake Champlain. on
the ponds in Massachusetts, and in other
places"
W hen do You cut the best ice?"
in January, before much snow falls
towards spring. when the days grow long,
ice begins to rot, and is of an inferior quail
W. This latter crop is used mostly for pack
Ing and refrigerator purposes"
How much ice is there at present I'M
shipped IN the houses down river?'
About 5000 TONS Most of this is sold,
however This year will clean out our
houses, and We can start afresh in January
vessels are still lading, and the river below
"aFdner Is full of schooners. Why, the ice
BUSINESS disburses hundreds of thousands OF
uOilars every season among Maine laborers.
helps hundreds of workingmen tide over
the winter
W hat is the future of the business?"
rrooably for a term of years ice cutting
VII pay profit in Maine, if it is not