Evening star., 1912-06-30

nance, is today equipped with the omni-'
present gasoline motor.
'"The ice business isn't what 1t used to
be-" said Capt. Davis with a sigh. as he
watched the big blocks being whisked up
from the hold and sent skiddtng down the
slide. Time was when, the New England
ice fleet was one of the biggest factors IN
the summer coastw1se trade. But now
and he waved his hand, as though to In
dicate that the whole had vanished into
thin air. When / took my ship at Bath
the other day and started up the Kennebec
after my cargo Of Ice 1 went for thirty
miles up the river and didn't see but one
icehouse until l got to the one where
took on this cargo The river bank look
ed as lonesome as a frog in the ocean. AT
the house where we loaded they hadn't
harvested any ice for two seasons past:
this stuff we are unshipping now was
harvested three winters ago.
But the call for Kennebec Ice was so
poor the following summer that 1t didn't
take out a quarter Of the supply and the
summer succeeding that was no better.
We left that icehouse quarter full as 1t
is. Twenty years ago. when I'd sail up
the Kennebec after cargo of ice. I'd pass
d
tons every mile, and l never was out
of sight of two or three ice vessels after
cargoes. This time | didn't see an ice
ship the whole way. The ice men In Wash
ington tell me that this will be the last
cargo of ice that they will ever get down
from the northern icehouses.
THE cause? Oh, it's these new and
improved methods of manufacturing ice
Anybody would think that, with ice to
be had on the Kennebec for the cutting.
and the freight only 20 cents a ton from
the icehouse to Washington. including
the unloading here, no manufactured
product could compete with it. But they
do; do so with such success that the ice
business of New England is killed as
dead as the stagecoach business was
killed by the railroads.
Twenty years ago Washington got all
it's ice from the Maine rivers: now this
cargo of mine, / am told, will be the
last that will ever come up the Potomac
1t was a pleasant sort OF work, this ice
carrying continued the old captain,
growing reminiscent. Ice is one of the
cleanest cargoes ship can carry. Then,
too, it packs well in the hold of a ship.
and, no matter how rough the weather,
there was never any shifting OF cargo
at sea-one of the greatest dangers
sailing ship has to contend with in storms.
Another thing, there was always plenty
Of ice, which was a most appreciated
luxury to officers and sailors in long, hot
days when the wind would barely move
us down the coast.
What would we do with ourselves
then? Oh, there Is always plenty to do
on shipboard, painting ship and tidying
things up and figuring out various
changes about the different parts of the
vessel that would make her more COM
Portable or more easily handled. Then,
too, after the hurry of leaving port there
is always a lot to do for several days
when a ship gets to sea. so that when
calm spell would come a little quiet rest
was not at all unwelcome.
"Oftentimes I would take my wife and
children with me, as I have now, and, of
course, having my family aboard, made
the ship just like home, so there was no
anxiety to have the voyage over. Yes,
they were pleasant trips. bringing those
ice cargoes down, and I'm sorry it's all
over" And he breathed another sigh
Capt. Davis has his family aboard the
May at the present time and will prob
ably take them to Cuba, to which port
he will sail after taking on cargo for
Havana at Norfolk The family consists
of his wife, daughter. son and sons wife
One would think that women would find
it uncomfortable and cramped, travelling
thus in coasting schooner, but the May
is fitted up bountifully with cabins as
handsomely finished in hard woods and as
daintily furnished with everything that
contributed to human comfort as any
hrSt-cldSS MOTEL. In the bedrOOmS, which
are about ten by twelve feet, are large
double brass bedsteads. securely fastened
to the floor, together with comfortable
rockers and lounges, while the sitting
room is in no wise different from that n
some high-grade apartment house. The
bathrooms are furnished with porcelain
tubs and bowls. while the flooring and
wall paneling are Of glazed tiling. Alto
gether, the living quarters on the May
might well be called luxurious.
s'Tn had weather. said Cant Davis
he surveyed his little home in the aft
part of the vessel. I'VE are much more
comfortably fixed than people on land
We have everything we want right here
to our hand and we do not have to go out
of doors to get even the luxuries of life.
OF course, I have to be out on deck in
bad weather. but I am but a step from
my f1reside below, and when 60 in
haven't lot Of mud to clean Off or track
over our new rugs. Then there's no
having to run to the grocery or drug
store for this and that Everything s
right here. I guess the life upon a mod
. ern sailing vessel Is just about as COM
Portable any that modern civilization
has devised"