New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-15
EARLY DAYS OF THE ICE TRADE.
BOSTON USED TO SUPPLY NETWORK WITH ICE
From, The Roston Herald.


That there was very considerable local con-
sumption of ice prior TO and during the Revolution
was secured did the IDEA Of expor'aiion to the 90
nestle ports take pTac,cai snaP' Dhon renrn
the crop Almost certain. while her arg ,Heet 9:
sailing vessels afforded an easy means oil shlpine'
TO the coassWise markets by S95 the trade had at
tanned considerable importance, bnt no one, so Iar
AZ is known. had seriously con'emp ated an eS-
port trade with foreign lands Boston, however;
had an enterprisinG merchant in the person ..
FREDERICK Tudor #no IN me !esr n"il ,rso ~
Massachusetts ice to the island OF Martinique.
where ycl.ow fever was then epidemic and whore
well laughed Of, but. being Of an obstinate
on his own pond loaded ii on his brig Che
Fayorite). sailed as his own suporcarso-and pore
the resulting pecunary loss with his own peculiar
From his point Of view, however. it was not a
faiure at all and only the second war with Great
Britain checked mis- undertaking. Ten years passed,
and then II appeared that John Bulls memory was
cation. which resulted in a monopoly for him or
MODIFICATION OF the very heavy port dues IN Iayor
Of all vessels bringing carSocs of ice. Mr. TUDOR
at once built storehouses At Kingston The capiial
can possessions. and the company which he e.
tablished secured the monopoly Of the trade with
with wonderful rapidly
In 1873 this same enterprisirg Bostonian decided
to ship a cargo of about two hundred tons TO Cal
Gutta In spite Of !hs greatest care IN Pacn,ng
her destination; but the remaining one hundred
tons was marketed at a good price, though not
larry success. The venture was sufficiently sue
cessful however: to warrant repetition, and q
trade was established that grew steadily. In lNS
Mr.. Tudor had extended his mercantile conquests
10 South America, and held high court at Boston
as the acknowledged ice king OF al the world
1t seems wellngh incredible that until 1891 New
York City imported It's tee from Boston. with an
ineXhaustible supply at its very doors. No New
Yorker saw the golden opportunity II remained
for three countrymen. resident near Rockiand
Lake. to perceive the anomaly. Nature had kindly
formed a hollow in the crest OF the billy range
that forms the west bank OF the Hudson ard had
filled it TO the brim with the purest water. The
Lake surface 15s feet above the river. and
thirty miles 10 the southwark lay the growing
metropolis Of a young Republic that even then
Inonarches Of Europe Yet it was with tie cx-
tremest caution that these humble men proceeded
10 inaugurate what is of the principal
branches Of river traffic. They dug n pit during
the summer and when winter came filed ii with
the solid crystal cakes that New-York now knows
az Rockiard Lake Ice. When summer came again
they built rude cart. with wheels made from the
croSS-sectlors Of a log and allowed ii to trundle
down the steep incline to the water side, carrying
about ton OF ice The New-York Steamboat
Company took II to the city full. and brought II
back empty. as long as the supply lasted, and tho
result was so satisfactory from financial point
of view that the business continued. Two
years later the firm of Barmore. Fcltor & Co pur-
chased landing at the riverside below tho lake
built an !cchouse capable of holding fifteen hun
dred tons, formed company into which seventeen
noghbors put 800 apiece. and the great Knicker-
booker Ice Company was founded.