Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-04-08

me New York Herald, which has all aIono
.'ou'ly maintained that there was PLENTY :,
.'e on hand or in process of harvesting -
..ep the price from going much, if anv
-oose last years figures, now admits that tbs
contrary is the case that the price has .lre.d,
advanced, and that it is likely to advance
still more.
l., The mild hammered winter ~h;oh -
lately drawn to an insipid clos. y ..n .ss
herald was pleasant while il lasted bu, ~
counter effect Is likely to be felt far into the
;e,' DOT only meteorologicalIy. accord.
.ne " the penny science of patent medicine
..'"Anacs' out also IN reducing considerable
."e popular indulgence in a favorite Ameri.
ean luxury. Goodness, it is said, is TO he !.
rare and high priced sensation. and a discon =,
IS 10 be taken of the ultimate hereaf,sr on
account OF the excessive and prolonged be.,
mat Is so near at hand The price of ice has
s au'anced little, and it is not improbable
'hat II may advance still m1re'
FOR once there may be a good deal NJ
u, ruin and reason in the claims of the ice men
Iheif harvest during the past season was ex.
" small compared with the supply of
tne previous year. Usually il begins abou,
the middle Of November. Last WIT, h..d
~ ton OF ice was cut before the third If Jan-
uary, and none at all after the 10th of Eeh.
ruary. While it is believed that there IA
enough Ice stored throughout the coun,rv
iuiIy TO satisfy the demand if it were .nron.
cry distributed the situation is a feminine
one ior dealers who are disposed to exaaoer
a'e the scarcity and force the consumer To
pay whatever they may choose to demand
The competition in the trade is so urea, in
New York, however, that it is hardly within
the power OF few men to do this. Ice i.
now shipped from great distances to anv no;n,
~nere II can find the best market, and high
price here would speedily attract an unusual
iorelgn supply, even at the expense of less
important places.
New York's actual annual consumptiop of
ice Is about one million tons, an amount
which implies. however, another million of
waste, thus making the whole demand about
two millions of tons. Maine has on the Ken.
nebec River alone storage capacity for l 400
700 tons, on the Penobscot there is room for
half as much more. From this quarter.
therefore, If there were an ordinary crop
New York city could look for sufficient ice TO
make up for the sadly demoralized behavior
OF our own rivers during the winter. But
Maine, too, has had what down Casters"
call "soft season. Verv little has been
cut even in the northern part of the State
that is more than IL inches in thickness. One
Boston company has obtained full supply
OF 1t from IL to 20 inches in thickness, but
this can only be done by what the icemen call
cultivation" which in this case consisted in
perioratlng the ice field in many places and
sinking it so that the water could rise and
form new layer on top. This process often
fails of success, a sudden thaw DESTROYING
even the good old ice which the water has
sotened, and causing great loss
Much thin ice has been gathered on the
Hudson and Connecticut rivers and Lake
Champlaln This, as was remarked bv an
important dealer the other day, is Just as
good for the consumer, but lessons the profits
OF the dealer, because it costs more for hand
ling. The thickest ice cut in this State is
probably not more than 10 inches, while last
year it varied from Is to Is. 1t is estimated
that the amount of old ice stored along the
Hudson does not exceed POO, 900 tons, and the
new crop has not been over 100000 tons
great deal of this, it must by remembered,
goes elsewhere than to this city Said Mr.
w. A. Ballantine, treasurer of the Knicker-
booker Ice Company, yesterday much ice
must be brought here from distance and
the freight charges will increase its price.
Lake Champlain ice, for example, which
comes to US by way of the Champlain Canal,
in small barges, costs double what Hudson
River ice does. In an ordinary winter we
gather all the ice that is required by our trade
and transport it in our own boats. Now we
have to charter schooners to bring the great
est part of it from Maine"
BY the scale of prices adopted by the Re-
tail Ice Dealers Association of New York,
families using from Is to so pounds daily will
pay from 10 cents to 81. per week at present,
but higher scale will probably 60 into effect
AS soon as the weather gets little warmer.