The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-04-14

unmelted at the end OF the voyage. 1nlS was
| not his only trouble, for while the English
people in India were rejoiced at the arrival
Of cargo of ice, and encouraged Mr.. Tudor
| to try again, promising him a monopoly OF
the business, yet in many places the. preln7
| dice was so great that people would not BUY
il when brought to them for sale, believing II
to be unhealthy. 1t is said thatwhen the first
cargo Of ice was sent to New Orleans, mob
drove away the wOrkmen, and even Destroy
ed the houses prepared for storing the ice
when discharged from the vessel, till unable
to land her cargo she had to leave New Ut
The first ice shipped from Portland was in
1889. Then Mr. David Robinson sold small
cargo to go to Philadelphia; the Ice Tor the
ON sleds to the wharf at the Stroudwater
Bridge and shipped there
In the winter Of 1912, Mr.. Earl Carpenter,
an ice dealer of Providence. X. l., cut and
shipped number Of cargoes from Capisic
Pond, for his own use in his retail trade at
Providence, r. /. The same year, parties
from Boston, probably Mr.. Tudor, cut ice
at Duck Pond, Westbr0ok, hauling II into the
city at great expense, by ox-teams furnished
by the farmers We have found no record
OF other shipments Of ice from Pertland-al-
though there may be sone-until 1851, when
Foster and Cartwright, and after them the
Sebago Lake Ice Co., cut ice from the Canal
Basin, Libby's Corner, shipping In the hye
years, from 1851 to 1856, 104 cargoes OF ice, or
| IL, 483 tons. From 1856 to 1873, only about
thirty cargoes of ice, or 5,9OS tons, were sent
from Portland.
war, the ship "City Of Montreal was loaded
with /, 172 tons of Ice at Sturdivants wharf,
| on account of A. Shaw and others OF Mon
treal The ship cleared for Liverpool. and
her cargo was sold at a handsome figure to
the English government, and sent 70 the
Crimea for the use of the hospital service.
The opening Of the Portland 81 Ogdensburg
railroad offered better facilities for hauling
large quantities of ice than could be done with
teams, and in 1878, the firm Of ID. w. CLARK q
Co., consisting of Mr.. ID. w. Clark and Mr..
Ashbel Chaplain, conceived the idea OF in
creasing their business by building Ice. houses
at Sebago Lake, and bringing the Ice by the
=; q o. r. r, to tide-water for shipment
This plan they carried cut and began shipping
ice early in the spring OF 1874. =.
The business increasing, in 1880 they built
the house at Burberry Creek, Cape Elizabeth
with storage capacity OF about 10000 tons.
In 1882, the Clark & Chaplin Ice company
was formed, under the general law Of the
State of Maine, and the business extended by
enlarging their storage capacity until now
their ice-houses. situated at Sebago Lake and
Cape Elizabeth, also at Bowdoinham, and
Pittston on the Kennebec river, have a storage
capacity Of about 100000 tons.
The increasing demand for ice Is not alone
from the increase Of the population, but ruth
er from the chemical and antiseptic uses to
which it is put. This demand, which has
or thirty years, together with the frequent
failure Of the crop South, turned the attention
Of ice-dealers to the State of Maine. When
the thermal line runs during the winter
months north of the Hudson river, from
which New York City and Brooklyn, and
other cities in that vicinity obtain most Of
their supply, of 100000 tons annually, and
they come to the State Of Maine for ice, the
State has never failed. and Sebago Lake alone
could furnish enough for all. The winter Of
1862 and 1868 was warm. Mr.. j. l.. Cheesman
who had cut ice on the Hudson river, finding
the ice crop was likely to fail In that locality
came from New York to Portland looking for
place for cutting and shipping Ice. Mr..
Clark recommended the Kennebec river, and
Mr.. Cheesman commenced operations imme-
diate.y, building houses, then cutting and
putting up the ice to ship during the summer
Of 1863. The advantages of the location in
dueed him to continue in the business, and
led them to commence building until now
there are about 80 ice-houses on the Kennebec
River, with storage capacity OF over 100000
new and unexpected turn Of this ice
trade developed in the summer OF 1878. The
ice crop was short in the West, and Ice was
sent by rail from the State OF Maine as far
west as Chicago and st. Louis. Three thou
sand tons OF our Sebago Lake ice went by
rail to Chicago, Cincinnati and other western
cities. The price OF ice Is, like other articles
of commerce regulated by the supply and de-
| IndQQ, DuL Lllt supply 10 CUutEOtlcu ny luC
winter weather, so that the thermal line at
which ice, of sufficient thickness to cut max
ingIin the rivers and ponds, indicates what
The price will be the following summer.
When 1t is a warm winter and but little or
no ice IS made on the Hudson river, and New
York City comes down east to the State Of
Maine for q supply, the price must neceSsari-
ly advance and the ice dealers and shippers
Of our State have the benefit. 1t Is possible,
owing to the greater purity.of the ice cut in
Maine over that cut from the Hudson river,
and that even moro Maine ice may be requir-
ed and the shipment TO New York become
more regular and permanent.
DIR. Mitchell Prudden has shown that the
water of the Hudson river, Is, very impure,
and suggested that the State Board OF Health
should begin vigorous inspection OF the ice
cut from the river. Philadelphia has aband-
oned the Schuylkill, and it may be possible
that New York will virtually abandon the
Hudson. Should that time ever come ice
property in the State of Maine would be-
come very valuable.
The record Of the shipment for the last
thirty five years devel0pes an interesting fact
and will show how the carrying capacity Of
cOasting vessels has increased. Ice Is always
shipped in full cargoes.
In the year 1851 the largest cargo Of ice
loaded from this point was the brig Sham
rock" 255 IL tons In 1852, the ship "Wil-
liams," 33l tons. In 1853 out OF 40 vessels
loaded, the largest cargo was the"Nat Blake"
315 tons and the average Of all the cargoes
shipped from Portland Is as follows: 1851,
IA tons; 1853, 1853 tons; 1868, 173 tens, 1865,
1873 tons; 1874. $40 tons; 1876, 432 tons; 1879,
494 tons; 1880, $50 tons; 1888, GA tons. 1884,
652 tons 1885, CSC tons. 4
Most of these years from 1851 TO 1880 are
the years of largest shipments from this port
but show eoncusively the increase In the
size of vessels that has been going on, espec-
tally during the last decade. At the present
time there are large number OF vessels In
the coasting trade that carry from one to two
thousand tons Of ice for cargo.
The ice business has increased very rapidly
and Is growing every year. We have 1t on
good authority that there are now more than
ten thousand individuals, firms and irc0rpo-
rated companies engaged In carrying on the
ice business in the United States. During
the winter months, the cutting, storing, and
occasional shipping of ice from the water,
gives employment to about 10000 men at
time Of the year when there Is but little en-
ployment to be obtained and the amount paid
annually to these men Is probably over thirty
million dollars. The capital invested in ice
houses, land and Ice privileges, tools, machin-
cry, and the manufacture OF tools and mate
rial employed in the business is about forty
million dollars.
The storage capacity Of the ice-houses in
the United States is over thirty million tons
OF ice. The waste of this Ice rs full forty
per cent, some dealers consider 1t fifty per
cent, but probably there are now sold over
twenty million tons OF ice annually in these
United States. The ice dealer OF to-day IS
able by the means of machinery TO handle
large quantities of ice very rapidly. An end
less chain run by steam power will lift three
to four thousand tons Of ice out Of the water
and elevate it to the ice house in day; the
larger companies now uss an iceplane that
takes from the top Of every cake OF Ice as 1t
goes up on this elevator all the dirt and snow
Ice, cleaning and cutting off everything down
to the hard solid ice before 1t is packed away
in the house for summer use. --s
Other improvements have been made In
the machinery and tools for cutting, hand
ling and loading the ice, so that 1t is not now
at all uncommon for crew OF men to take
out of the ice-house, and places on board
vessel six hundred tons in day or one ton
minute for the working day..
The money returned for the ice shipped
South is SO much clear gain to the prosper
ity of the State, and is used to pay, for labor
in the winter season while cutting, and in
the summer season while loading and ship
ping.
Zee has It's medicinal uses, and is tonic
which produces no Injurious reaction. Its
refrigerating power preserves and renders
most articles Of food and drink more palata-
bic. BY its antlseptic powers fresh meat
and other perishable articles are preserved
so that by means Of the refrigerator car fresQ
meat, fruit and vegetables can be brought
from long distances to market, thus reducing
the price to the consumer, and fresh fish
/ from the ocean are carried far inland To