Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-05
ICE PROSPECTS ARE POOR
Thus Far the Weather Has Been Decidedly
Too Bslmy.
HARVEST OF CROP NOT YET BEGUN
lee Men Arc waiting for a Freeze
that IL n Freeze and Then They
VIII Get Down TO
business.

What shall the harvest be? That qucs-
tion without reference to the familiar
hymn, is the burden on tho icemaus MIND
at this time OF the year. He is concerned
in the ice crop and the uncertain meteoro-
logical conditions OF a Nebraska winter give
him more or less uneasiness. At this time
the year II Is a question whether or
, IUt the harvest will produce sufficient
quantity OF congealed aqua TO supply the
ensuing summers demand. II all depends
upon the weather, and, although the Ice
man processes no particular desire TO put
humanity through the ordeal OF a long and
severe cold spell. he is nevertheless praying
for continuous performance Of the frigid
wave.
IL requires about 10000 tons OF Ice 20
make the summer endurable to the people
of Omaha. and the iceman will not be
happy until he has that quantity OF the
stun securely stored away In his houses.
The Omaha fee supply Is taken from the
reservoirs of the water company, where II
freezes clear and pure. and from the river
and Cut on lake. There are three reser-
voirs, one at Florence. one at Walnut Hill
and the other at the Burt street pumping
station.
The ice at these places is only about six
inches thick at present. and will not do for
commercial purposes. IL will have to
freeze on a few additional inches before II
will be ready for cutting.
The harvest may begin next week or II
may begin next month. the time for starting
the work being no less uncertain than the
weather. AS soon the ice attains the
| proper thickness several hundred men will
be put to work by the ice company to cut
| and store II. The harvest last year did not
| begin until the first week in February. and
there is no indication that II will start any
earlier this year. 1t will take about thirty
| days to put up the $4,000 tons required by
this company this year.
south Omaha Outlook.
II the cold wave predicted arrives on
schedule time the packers doing business
at South Omaha will commence harvesting
| ice on Monday next. Reports received Thurs
| day from the ice fields showed that seven
and one-haf inches was the thickness at
Cut OFF lake and eight inches at Ashland.
Swift and Company put up more ice than
any of the other packers in this vicinity.
Their houses at Cut on lake have ca
pacity of 100. 900 tons, and at the company's
lake in Ashland a capacity OF 10000 tons Is
provided for.
| At the little town OF Memphis, near Ash
| land, Armour has a lake covering about
| 100 acres OF ground and ice houses with d
capacity OF $4,000 tons. The ice on the
Armour lake was eight inches thick Thurs
day and General Manager Howe directed
that the plowing OF the field be commenced
at once. Mr. Howe said that he expected
the coming cold wave would add two inches
to the thickness OF the ice. and II so he
would commence cutting on Monday
The Hammond Packing company puts mp
| about so 900 tons OF ice at Cut on lake, at
least that is the capacity of this company's
houses.
The Cudahys have ice houses at Seymour
lake where about 1000 tons are put up
annually. This ice is from artesian and
spring water and is considered very good
The same may be said Of the Armour lake
at Memphis.
The Omaha Packing company purchases
its supply of ice from Swift and Company.
as It has no field of its own.
The ice put up by the packers is used
almost entirely for cooling purposes, the
great blocks being broken into chunks about
the size OF a base ball and dumped into the
coolers in refrigerator cars This icing
of cars goes on summer and winter and
gives employment to a large number OF men
at all of the packing houses. The icing of
boxes of meats consumes a great deal OF the
product.
, Very little ice Is now used at the packing
houses for cooling purposes, as all are pro-
vided with icemaking machines. Cold stor
age rooms are kept at an even temperature
by the constant working Of these machines
and thus very little natural ice is used ;or
cooling purposes around a packing house.
Some natural ice Is used at Swift's in the
beef cooling department, but as a rule the
temperature in these plants is reduced by
artificial means.
All Of last years Ice crop was exhausted
: some time ago and Swift is now selling ice
which Is two years old. Unless the de-
mand becomes too heavy this 2-year- old
ice will last until portion of this year IS
!, crop is harvested. Within the last few
months Swift has supplied ice to several
: cities in Kansas from the South Omaha
and Ashland houses. The local trade In
South Omaha, however. has been furnished
. lately with artificial Ice made in Lincoln.