The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-20
HOW WOULD YOU?
But the Iceman's Lot
Is Not so Happy
After All.
SOME BITTER EXPERIENCES.
Keeps One on the Worry
ing Committee
Constantly.

If you knew what it meant You
wouldn't like to be the iceman. You
would consider it an insult to be told
you were. The ieeman's lot is not a
happy one, the popular song to the con-
trary Notwithstanding. People seem to
think that this long suffering individual
has in him all the offices of the company
and is a stakeholder IN the workings of
providence as well. They hold him re-
sponsible for the price and for the quail
ity of the commodity he vends, when
his only duty is to place It In the re-
frigerator or on the front door step and
take the money for it.
A Spy man had a conversation with
an ice man the other day.
" How'd you like to be the Ice mani "
he said, with unutterable scorn, The
duck that wrote that ought to try it for
about twenty minutes and he'd feel like
thirty cents"
This followed dispute with a woman
who wanted fifty pound piece of ice
for five cents and refused to allow the
man to come into the house for fear he d
steal the cold chicken out of the refrig-
orator.
See that woman" he went on to
say. She's that way every day and
she's got husband that's worse. He's
at home sometimes when l come, and
he always wants to weigh the ice HIM
self. Won't believe my scales. He's got
pair of little spring balances that
won't weigh right above ten pounds,
but he don't know it, and he always
tries the ice on them before he gives
me the nickel. The other day he came
out with them and said he wanted five
cents worth of ice. Said 1t just like he
thought l might give him potatoes to
fool him. Well, l took out piece that
was pretty close to the right size and
he looked at il close.
Fourteen and a half pounds, ne
says. Call it nickel L says, but he
wouldn't. He made rue weigh the piece
and when I got it on the scales 1t didn't
weigh but a little more than ten pounds
and told him so. Then l put in enough
more 10 make it up to the right size and
when he went off he had a funny look
on his face
do you often have them like that?"
asked the reporter.
Worse, sometimes. There's one
woman on this route that tries to make
me fill wooden pail that holds about a
peck every time / come around, and
she don't want to pay more than a
nickel for it, either. The other day she
called me thief ana a robber and lot
of other things because l said the pail
held more than five cents worth.
Then there's the people who've got
refrigerators that hold just so much
ice, and the box is usually built in some
sort of cranky way, and they want the
too q laN ", ~,
off a piece TO make it the right size for
fear they'll lose weight by 1t. Some
folks think there are different kinds of
| ice. One woman called me down last
week for giving her ice that melted too
fast and she tried TO take my head off
when l suggested that she'd left the lid
of the ice box open. She made me go
in and look for myself, and sure enough,
the lid was wide open, and more than
that, the box was only about six yards
from the hot range.
"I'd get used to all that In time, l
guess, but about the hardest thing
have to do is to answer all the calls L
get. On hot morning on some parts
of the route, ] don't get any rest until
every piece of ice is gone. Sometime
therell be as many as forty after me
at one time. and all of them mad if
don't go to them first. They'd Ike me
to cut myself up for their benefit, I
guess.
And can't get mad They'd threat
en- to report me if I answered back, and
make a lot of trouble, may be. I've
got to grin and take it all There's one
thing that makes it pleasant on this
route, though. Down a little piece fur
Their there's family living in a three
room tenement, and they don't have
money enough to have ice regularly.
rAt. =
and there's three children and one of
thems lame, too. One morning the
first of the summer when we had hot
weather. the little lame Teller was sit
ting out on the front steps The other
children was running after me, begging
for pieces of ice, but he was too weak
to sun and had to Just sit STILL One
of the other little fellers begged a.
piece of ice for the lame lad and took
it over to him when l give it to him.
The lame chap got UP then and went
in the house, to give it to the old
man.
THAT sort of set me to thinking, and
since then I've been saving a piece for
that family, and the little Teller is al
ways waiting for me. Some day, i
guess / went see him, he's getting sol
weak now. 1t amt nothing TO me, be-
cause the ice might melt anyhow But
it's a good deal to him and 1 was out
of work myself once.
That's one bad thing about the bust
ness, having scrap ice. When we leave
the house on the trips, the ice is
and we are held responsible
for every bit of it, barring some for
waste which amt enough to make UP,
and we have TO turn in enough money
at the end Of the trip to make up for Ii.
If man happens to have a soda foun-
tain or saloon on the route, it's all right,
because he can sell the scraps then at
full prices, but on a residence route like
this, he counts up pretty heavy some
days.
I'm thinking of leaving the business
soon and going into something else. It's
too tough for me. 1 don't want to be
the ice man."