Daily Kennebec journal., 1881-08-23

An august Afternoon In Haine. =
Wits Monster lee House :. r..,...,

"lceboro', shouts the condue,or ssI,o
oofo' echoes the brakeman, and the train
pauses a moment at a little station two mile.
above Richmond, and then goes rumbliny on
its way again. We step on the wooden n,,,
FORM and look around. To the east tho a.,
very Kennebec goes ripping and sasb;no
seaward. All around are trim fields. and
mere and there neat farmhouse. Rv tho
river at iceboro' is the largest single ice.
mouse In the State, if not in the world W.
see outlined against the clear air, above the
steep root. the tapering topmasts of a large
schooner, with bit of red bunting floating
The ice business is getting to be an imnor.
tant industry Of Maine, and the crystal har-
vest gathered on our rivers and ponds every
winter is OF immense value. We advise our
readers who wish to avoid the heat of the
city, to visit one Of the great Kennebec
houses on some of these sweltering after.
moons and watch the process of shipment
some forty workmen are employed in the
summer months, at Iceboro' loading scboon.
| 's "AneSA ehC u lie w Ill Ice
Company had over four hundred men on
their payroll, and disbursed about sll 900 a
month as wages. The men get 81 80 dav.
and as they have to pay but. So week for
board can save money. Their ice house is
4O4xl57 feet, with 80 feet posts. 1t is 70
feet from the floor to the ridgepole.
This great house is divided into ~
compartments, which hold over 1000 tons
OF ice each.a Last winter this company
stored 10000 tens of ice in their one house
at IcebOro,' in addition to what thev cut at
Wiscasset for winter shipment They have
now only about 1000 tons of ice on hand,
and are shipping at the rate of $500 tons a
week to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk
and Galveston. Ice is very cheap this year.
but freights are correspondingy low To
Philadelphia and Baltimore they are 60 cents
ton; last year they were from 81 100 to
Sl.25 ton. Mr.. George Lawrence of Au-
gusta, member of the firm, has entire charge
of the operations at Iceboro', and labors
early and late for the company. He leaves
this Guy On Tue SIN q CLOCK morning tram.
and does not return until eight at night
Then. very often, he has to hunt the city
over for men to work for him.
A few hundred yards below Haynes & De-
Wits house, we can see through the trees
the freshly-shngled roof of the new houses
which the Knickerbocker folks are putting
up, and which will have a storage capacity OF
from 30, 900 to 40, 900 tons. If the coming
winter should prove as mild as that of 1880
about million tons of ice will be cut on the
river. In addition to filling their houses the
companies would all ''stack" ice on the
shores. kennebec ice has a national reputa
ton, and the men who have ''privileges" on
the river will continue to make money year
by wear. 1t is said that nearly all the eligible
sites on the river for cutting and storing have
been pre-empted. and that but few houses
more can be erected. Be that as it may, ice
cutting is now a leading winter industry Of
central Maine. employ ing thousands Of mer
and horses and putting in circulation among
the laboring classes a vast amount of money
1t is business which is all gain to the State
and which 'shard times" cannot affect. The
more ice shipped from Maine, the richer the
people.