The Evening critic., 1885-01-31
THE ICE HARVEST,
Prospects For the Coming Sum-
mer.
A COLD SNAP DESIRED.
Description of the Process Employed
BY the Workmen on the Kenne-
bee River The Va
rious Plants.

The apprehensions Of the leo men Of this
city that tho ice crop ON tho Kennebec this
season would prove failure, were some
what lessened by the action Of the Great
Falls Ice Company in beginning their
harvest on Monday last The Kennebec
River has been frozen over from shore to
shore for some time, and is now yielding
good ice of a desired thickpess.
Tho laboring men along the river who
had been watching the indications" sent
out from the Signal Bureau for continued
cold snap have got the cold snap, and have
donned their fur caps and rubber boots and
picked up their harvesting implements and
gone to work. The work during the ice
season furnishes these people with the neces-
saries of life until the spring.
The demand for Kennebec ice In Wash
ington is far above that for ice furnished
from the other rivers. 1t is puror, free
from air bubbles and more crystalline than
any other ice in the market Though good
ice is being furnished by the artificial ice
companies, the demand for natural ice in
creases yearly.
Mr.. Fenwick, of tho Great Falls Ice
Company, was found in his office, corner of
Ninth and L streets northwest, by re-
porter of The CRITIC this morning and
asked what the prospects for good supply
of ice the coming summer were.
much better than they we're two weeks
ago." replied Mr. Fenwick.
AT that time the prospects were rather
gloomy, but the cold wave has reached
the harvesting regions with great severity,
freezing the Rennebec to a desired thick
ness. We began our harvesting last Mon
day.
How many plants have you on the
Kennebec? 2" asked the reporter
"Three," replied Mr.. Fenwick one at
Green's Lodges, one at Haley Works aud
the other at Booth Bay. We use the Ken
nebec ice exclusively. The establishment
at Green's Lodges is the largest, and has a
capacity for storing $4,000 tons. The
capacities Of the Others are about $4,000
tons. The plant at Booth Bay Is used
| principally for winter shipment"
"how many men are employed during
the harvesting season.
about 275 men and 40 teams, all told"
"How is the ice harvest conducted"
asked the reporter.
'"The process is fraught with great cost
and labor. Very often when the ice has OBJ
tained thickness of but few inches,
very heavy snow will fall, then this snow
has to be cleaned off with snow -scrapers.
This operation is what costs the most, and
is quite frequent, having to be repeated
several times during the season. When
the ice has reached the requisite thickness,
which is from IL to 16 inches, and the
snow cleared away, the next process
| comes, which is planning the snow from the
surface Of the ice to make 1t smooth.
| "This is done by snow planers drawn by
| horses. Then a marker is run over the
ice field, which is laid out just like corn
field, dividing it into blocks 22x32 inches
in size. Then heavy ice pillow, with q
blade like chisel, cuts out the blocks To
about two-thirds of their thickness. The
plows are drawn by horses. 1t requires q
steady horse and an expert driver, as great
care has to be taken 30 as to cut the blocks
uniformly. Canals are cut in the ice from
the works on the shore. The field is cut
off in sections of about forty blocks. These
sections are drawn up the canal by horses
to an endless chain elevator; then the blocks
are separated by men with crowbars aud
| placed on the elevator which dumps the
| blocks on truss-way, on which the blocks
| slide to the ice-houses and are stored"