Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-25

TOW along the PenohSCOt and weeping among those that dwell on the banks of the Kennebec.
 It is not surprising that this is so, since ice is one of Maine's chief staples, and severe winter means small out side demand for frozen blocks from Bangor and Augusta, while q mild sea son is the forerunner of a big ice mar ket and perfect stream of shekels into the Coffers of those who supply it. In lSS1S, for instance, the crop to the southward failed completely, and the ice speculators could not get to Maine fast enough, Wages were good. work was plenty, every man who wanted it got employment, and cutters and dealers made fortunes. In the winter of lS90-l hardly ton was taken from the Hud- son, and New York, the biggest ice mar ket in tho world. was without it's usual supply. The excitement this caused among ice cutters, dealers and brokers was almost akin to the gold fever of lS49 whilo it lasted, and ponds and streams were cut in Maine that had never before been made to yield up ice.
 Big fortunes were realized by those who were shrcwd enough to sell their product out at reasonable prices, for not only was there a great demand for Maino ice from New York and other easterIf cities that usually get all they want from nearby sources. but there was also strenuous call from the west. One Maine firm sent four ice laden trains of 20 cars each clean through to St Louis, where the very profitable price of $lO ton. sceinS that it costs only about 60 cents to barely harvest it. was obtained. Some there were, however who failed to bC satisfied with the earth as reward for their ice harvesting ln- bors, They wanted the planet fenced in and these held their product for $20 a ton and stacked vast quantities, belivv- ing they world get what they asked in the fall and perhaps more. But their schemes fell through, and some of the | greedy ones lost fortunes by reason Of their greedineSS. They had not counted on the great loss that came from the melting of the stacked ice nor on the l lesseninS demand from the cities of the south and west caused by the high prices,
 IL was iu 1890 that some oue con l CelNeu tNS luea or securing lCe TOT America from the ponds and rivers of Norway. and a few cargoeS were actual ly brought hither from that faraway land, but whether much money was made thereby do not know. It was in IS9o, too, that boom for artificial ice was begun, and many plants for its man. ufacture were set up. Certainly the ap- pearanco of made ice is beautiful. and it was freely predicted iu 1890 that na- lures work in that direction would soon be altogether superseded by mans, but for some reason. so far. natures still holds its own.
 The first icehouse ill Maine was put up in 1881 on the Kennebec river near Augusta and the Tudors of Boston, the pioneers of tho ice business in New Eng land and probably in the United States, shipped that winters harvest to the West Indies. The first cargo taken from Maine was shipped in 1926 on the brig Orion. She was frozen in that winter near Pittston on tho kennebeC, and when the river broke up in the spring was loaded with irregular cakes, hauled aboard as they fioated past This ica was sold ill Baltimore at good profit, but the venture of the Tudors five years later was a losing one, and it was not till 1860 that cutting and selling ice be-