The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-14
THE VARIOUS USES OF ICE.
,efore the Ice Cart Was Known
Naw York Had Water Enough.

[before the ice SATJ WAS AnoWu-
New York Had Water Enough.
From the New York Times.
ooa of the first expressions of surprise
;vo, nv visiting foreigners upon their ar
Esival at their hotels is at the universal use
In ice water. 1t is noticed chat although
E.,au for the first few days taste it by sips
|.nG most gingerly, they eventually look
t,-on it as a necessity, ant before re-
ks;rrinc are sure to ring Tor their pitcherful.
ItTiaIe also soon take fancy to mix ed
Els and. like the indians with ice cream,
f,o,n never to get enough. An Englishman
f3ay denounce oursinssitutions vehemently
\ nd make odious comparison with the old
Ecountry, yet in MS lnnermost heart he Will
<bank the kind Providence that led him to
liz paradise of sherry cobblers, mint juleps,
EaTg nocg, milk punch and brandy smash
fySifh plenty of ground ice in them. He will
In of a table in one of our gaudy bar-rooms
nd complacently draw his hearts delight
$.brougb two straws and playfuily carrom
tba harry, orange, wafer of banana and
EntSer surface ornaments with the third,
Dbile mentally struggling with the pro-
3voline conundrum why this "blarsted coun-
3trv, yer know" is so favored by the gods.
The late Larry Jerome used to tell of a
healthy cockney who learned the virtues
4 of mint iulep while in New York, and
Eventually went west to hunt the buffalo.
While among the Indians he taught the
chiefs how to compound the aromatic
d,ink. and thereafter wherever he went he
Tas followed by q tumultous crowd of the
redskins shouting rum grassw Some one
somewhere speaks of dying of a rose in
4 aromatic pain, and that is the way it was
With the Englishman's aboriginal friends.
When next he visited the far west there
"a of 70 of
but there were boundless fields of mint, and
thew were all that told Of the Englishrnan's
frstsyisit and of the fate Of the poor saw
4 aces who "loved not wisely but too we'll"
They died Of "rum grass, " and row colony
If Britishers is cultivating the soil their
nleped remains enriched.
It is not so very many years ago when the
ice cart was unknown in New York. Young
folks when told of this wonder how the
people of the thirties and forties got along
without it. Now the heavy, rumbling,
numbering, yellow cart goes triumphantly
through even the east side tenement dis
tricts, and finds plenty of customers. Ev-
cry family, however poor, must have its bit
of Rockland lake or other ice, and when the
thermometer reaches 90 the iceman is
obliged to fight his way through the swarm of
BUYERS that surrounds his van It's
luxury and a necessity as well, and the
grateful look of the poor infant painting
upon its mothers lap when a small piece.
vets it's parched lips is most eloquent praise
to the "Glver of every good gift" ''Ah"
exclaimed famous operate manager as he
was telling of the fever that kept him a
month in bed and led him to the brink of
the unknown lapd, Sin all of my experience
never heard sweeter music than when my
nurse was coming up stairs and the broken
ice in her big pitcher jingled against its
resounding sidesw
The New Workers Of forty or fifty years
ago, to satisfy their summer thirst, depended
almost entirely upon the pumps. They
knew not the advantages of ice crops for
summer use, and yet they were satisfied. In
fact when the subject of the introduction
of the Croton water was first mentioned it
aroused bitter opposition. So bright man
as Little Bitters," the District Attorney,
James r. Whiting, declared in public meet
ing that If any man within the hearing of
his voice would drink glass of the luke
warm, vile liquid, he would vote for the
scheme The acceptance or rejection
of the public enterprise was left
to the decision of the ballot box
Discussion led to the adoption of the scheme,
and while the use of the water in 1912 and
1913 was becoming general, somebody sug-
gested ice to make it palatable in the sum
mer time. And then ice began to become
a necessity Now the trade is big enough
for a trust and, perhaps, million of dol
lars is invested in it. Housewives in the
early days would put plate Of butter into
a cedar pail Of pump water, and that kept
it solidified even on the hottest days of
July. When company was expected the
spring water man was advised to be at hand
and 2-cent pailful of rock water would be
feature of the entertainment. There was
a noticeable distinction in the temperament
and flavor Of the two waters.
The procession that celebrated the intro
duction of the Crotcn water has never been
equaled in this city for picturesqueness
Then the fire laddies appeared to the great
est advantage, and their hand machines
we're simply suberb. They used to make
for the river front whenever a fire broke
out and drop suction pipe into it, which
supplied the first apparatus, and from her
would run the leather "leader," as the hose
was then called, 10 the back box of
the next engine, and so on till the
water reached the fire, which, mayhap,
was quarter of a mile away from the
river. Of course public cisterns of rain
water were placed IL front of the markets
and other convenient spots. The Croton
water was surpri,e and delight to the
firemen. II had tremendous force even
at the hydrants, and people disposed to
Slllllo dJ Uu6 uOoo-CaiO VI SdulAaItOuS VI JilOoS
days must bear il mind that with hose
attached to a hylrant the hremen could
throw a stream over a good-sized house.
The increase of ne demand for the water
by factories, steamships and so forth, has
so depleted the apply that sometimes the
steam fire engin.s have difficulty in getting
to work
One of these Gays, let us nope, we'll again
have an abun6nce of water for all pur-
poses. Youngfolks smile when the gray
boards talk ofthe good old days of Adam
and Eve, as tie song goes. Yet they would
be glad were water as abundant, as clear,
as free as it vas, say, thirty years ago. Just
think of sIDut of foaming water, 2 feet
in diameter and reaching hight of 30
feet in the City Hall park Another in
Tompkins prk (KLeines Deutschland, the
Seventeenth ward, and still another in
Union squire, but dome-shaped, and on
fair days treating the eye to a rainbow.
Think further of every residence having a
sidewalk hydrant, and the courtyards of
the nab'bs each with a fountain of pure
and sparkling water. Yet all this has been,
and unit we have it again i'll this goodly
town lei the old folks who enjoyed it boast
and the beardless youth take a back seat
until tb rush of the mighty waters roars
throug the new aqueduct from the Quaker
dam.
TheAte Mayor Eastman Of Poughkeepsie,
and ppprietor of her Eastman college, was
farlghted man. His pet hobby was the
draftof the great metropolis upon the
waite of the Upper Hudson. 1t would
guarhtee an inexhaustible supply. About
the tont OF that city the water of the Hud-