New-York tribune., 1908-03-12
LETTERS TO TILE EDITOR
HUDSON RIVER ICE.
That Crop Be Hermeti-
cally Sealed after HmTest.
TO the Editor OF The Tribune.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: The editorial in your paper of Thursday,
March 5. / have before me. and in justice TO the
'ice man wish to make few statements You
the report Of the State Commissioner of Health
concerning the sanitary condition of the Hudson
River ice field cannot be regarded as altogether
satisfactory II certainly is not If the natural zee
as sold in New York City is detrimental to health
it certainly should be sold allowed to be
solo But is it? Allow me TO call your attention
DR.. Porter's article The Pollution and Self
Purifcaton of Ice" May I quote few extracts
from his report? He makes very thorough ms
toricaI review. both in this country and abroad, or
evidence of real supposed danger Of ice in the
transmission of typhoid fever germs. and l wish
to quote few extracts from his report:
In reviewing these epidemics. which constitute
the practical evidence of epdemological natIT e
upon which to Judge of the dangers OF the
ice infection it appears that it is case of tread
ing upon very thin Ice. Out of some six epidemic7
was the number of cases reported greater than a
dozen. Four of them might be termed merely in
testinal disorders due to decomposing organic mat
ter, and to specific OF the two epldeinlcs
them were as stated above of such d nature as.
judged from our present knowedge and later iS e6-
cradle doubt upon the alleged cause of TINS N
fecton.
Next I wish to quote from that part OF ttS re-
port which touches upon 'selfpurihcation He
takes the case OF an ice crop harvested from p
polluted section of river. where the water was haii
sewage. and through the different self-purlfying
agencies % per of TIE bacteria are removed
which he says. exceeds the efficiency of the sand
filter by two hundred times. His report in ;tseir
goes TO prove corclusivey thai there is no article
os food on the market to-day In a better sanitary
condition than natural ice stored in our ICE
houses and as harvested on the Hudson River
You make the statement that the masters ana
crews of river craft unwilling 70 use for drihk-
ing purposes the water over which they sail am
willing wager that there ia scarcely vessel on
the river but what has OF river water cooled
by river ice, for drinking purposes Ihey use no
spring. we'll Croton water. for. as they say. II
will not keep sweet" BY actual experiment 1t has
been found that Hudson River water Will stay pure
and sweet longer than any known.
wish to show YOU also the absurdity of a letter
sent from the Health Department TO us. as wei
nearly all if not all. the local harvesters IN
this section. Dr.. Porter says in this letter that
the field located the river at this point IS SUD
sect to such sewage pollution and contamna ton
that any ice cut therefrom would be a source OF
danger THAI should he ignored. one party 70
whom this letter sent housed his ice from 4
section of the river remote at least two mics
from any sewer and that sewer is merely drain
fcr the surface water. The uearest field to 'lls
same drain is less than thousand feet dis
tant.
know also that the ice stored in my ICE
house from investigation by of the most thor
ough and honest bacteriologists known. Is as pure
as any water ever used for drinking purposes
How about manufactured ice. about which the
doctor is sant7 Is the water used in these manu-
factories taken from the Hudson River or some
mere polluted stream? Are the methods used SAINT
tary? Are the bacteria. IL any frozen OUT, as is
done in natural ice? VIII you go about the upper
part of New York in the spring OF the year and
see if you can any natural ice setting out on
the sidewalk for hours at time. as have seen
time and again. with manufactured Ice, where al
the filth of the city can collect upon 1t?
In conclusion, | would suggest that law pc
made and enforced that the ice harvested on the
Hudson River, after storage of at least thrHe
months TO eliminate all bacteria, be hermeticaly
sealed sold only in the original package 10 the
consumer in order 10 avoid the possibility OF Il
great epidemic in New York City, which has been
freer from typhoid fever than any city not using
natural ice from the Hudson River
FRANK s. HONLAND.
Athens. y. Y, March :, 1903.