Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-07-27
MAINE ICE IN NEW YORK.
II Forms Large Part Of the City's Supply.
So One OF the Dealers Declares.

| Here is where we make our dividends"
| said the New York ice dealer as he sat
on The veranda and ioyously watched the
| mercury hump Itself past the - degree
| mark. Then he continued:
The ice business is far more extensive
| complicated and hazardous than is com
| monty supposed. There is more than
5000 800 invested in the industry in New
York city and it gives employment to
many thousands of men and horses i'm the
course Of year. Besides the two or
three large companies in the business
there are about dozen small ones. and
more than ~ private dealers who pur-
nhase their supplies from the larger pro
a maximum full crop of ice is about
3.9g0ho tons when it is harvested. but by
The time that this immnesc quantity is
dwiudled about half, through melting and
breaking. The principal source of supply
for the 3.een,H 40 inhabitants of New York
Brooklyn and Jersey City and smaller
adjacent places are the lakes and the
Hudson river.
'-Whe the crop at these sources of
supply is short. it has to lie supplemented
hy shipments from Maine. whence large
c1rGoes are now arriving here almost
daily to Offset a deficiency of about
l,mn,"@ tons in this years Hudson river
product.
Formerly the large companies had
>torchouSeS in New York city. but they
were abandoned more than 40 years ago
Every time that even a single wagon
went to one of them for load. the whole
house had TO he opened. and the waste
from melting was so great that the store
house system entailcd heavy losses:
storage on hargeS was. therefore subsu-
tutCd in its place. The ice Keeps fairly
well on the 'arges in cold weather. but
in summer there is waste OF from 20 to
- per cent. from tn" melting of the cargo
of each barge on a single trip from the
ice houses To the city. counting from the
landed here.
The bargcS land their cargoes at be-
tween s. and 10 depots in different parts
of New York city and Brooklyn. and the
ice is Immediately carried away for dis
trihutiOn among consumers The ice Is
landed from the barSes mainly by means
of tclm-hOiSting apparatus and much
waste IS caused through breakaee during
the process of landing. Only the whole
cakes are suitable for general trade but
the broken pieces of good size can he
utilized at a discount from the regular
prices by ice cream manufacturers, meat
packers and refrigcratinG warehouses.
Now York city and Brooklyn are laid out
into districts and each distributing sta
tiou has 4 certain number of regular ana
extra wagons for delivering the ice to
consumers.
There arr, about $40 regular wagons
and 200 extra wagons. the latter being
express wagons and other vehicles, but
hcSidcS these there is also a large num-
Der of wagons run by pcddlerS. VINO haWk
lee in the poorest ncighborhoods, where
they sell it in small quantities 70 suit the
small purses of their Impoverished Gus
TONER'S. ts1ch OF inc TtShIii NtEoh' -
drawn by two horses and operated by TWO
or three men. About 1000 men are con
stautlN employed in the ice business III
New York in summer.
From the time the ice leaves the
houses at the sources of supply until II
is delivered to the customers. both fam
lilies and the, heavy customers. iuliy ~
per cent. is lost by melting and heavy
"The getting of ice from Maine is no
'cinch. although most reopie seem 10
81 S,,l- * tnilfIinsF' 4 n.
The vessels that bring it to New York
are chartered They have certain num-
Der of lay days At the wharves, after
which demurrage is charged for every
dav on which they remain unioadod The
cargocs range from 800 to 1000 tons each.
and have to be unloaded ut the expense
of the companies. which use steam hoist
ing machinery for the purpose and do
the work as quickly as possible. Wagons
cart the ice away for distribution as fast
rs they can. but there Is much loss from
melting and breaking.
THE loss from melting ranges from -
10 co per cent. and sometimes is as much
as 20 per cent. according to the care with
which the ice is stored and the length of
time il is on the way here. The average
waste from the melting of ice from
Maine is fully % Is per cent. The larger
the cargo the smaller the relative loss
from melting. There are always from
l5.oeo to 20.o00 tons of ice annually brought
10 New York from Maine ny officers of
some of the smaller local companies. who
are personally interested in the ice pro
duct Of that State but this year should
there he prolonged excessive heat. the en-
tire deficiency of 100000 tons in the llud-
son river crop may have to be procured
from the old Pine Tree State.
''fhe best dunnage or packing for ice
cargoes is composed of mill shavnEs. ana
hay is next best Green boughs are also
used. but they are not so good. Some
times the ice is carelessly dumped into
the vessels without any dunnaEc and
lcckloads of lumber are carried for pro-
lection against the sun. 1t Is in such IN
stances that the loss from melting runs
up TO the highest percentage.
''Vesseis that bring ice from Maine. of
course, are subject to wind and weather.
but they are so long on their way here
sometimes that ii seems us II their
shippers must have dropped anchor at
some intermediate port and gone ashore
% see their wives. 1t is therefore. neces-
sary to keep lowed bargeS running he
tween New York city and the Hudson
liver ce-houses. and in emergencies the
vessels are towed at great expense all
he way from Maine direct TO the docks
n New York. which has already been
lone several times this season..
Are you suffering from rheumatism?
Cbnvnoc, IroJactr;n oil hoe n,,ro1 xhnn.