Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
ICE HARVESTING: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:iceman.gif|left|thumb| | [[Image:iceman.gif|left|thumb|200px|A well-known figure was the man delivering the ice.]] | ||
[[Image:imp986.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Ice card. Residents wishing a delivery of ice would place a card like this in their window. The upper number indicated the number of pounds to be purchased. Weights began at 12.5 pounds and went to 25, 50, and then 100 pounds. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]] | [[Image:imp986.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Ice card. Residents wishing a delivery of ice would place a card like this in their window. The upper number indicated the number of pounds to be purchased. Weights began at 12.5 pounds and went to 25, 50, and then 100 pounds. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]] | ||
ICE HARVESTING. As a rule, ice-cutting in the United States took place in January and February, and in the early part of March. When ice was thick enough for operations to begin it is scraped, if covered with snow, and, if rough and wavy on the surface, is sometimes planed. It took 100 men, working ten hours daily, six days to cut and store 9,000 tons of river ice for the Thomas J. Mulgrew company. In January, 1886, there were 46,700 tons of ice harvested commercially in Dubuque; the | ICE HARVESTING. As a rule, ice-cutting in the United States took place in January and February, and in the early part of March. When ice was thick enough for operations to begin it is scraped, if covered with snow, and, if rough and wavy on the surface, is sometimes planed. It took 100 men, working ten hours daily, six days to cut and store 9,000 tons of river ice for the Thomas J. Mulgrew company. In January, 1886, there were 46,700 tons of ice harvested commercially in Dubuque; the | ||
Revision as of 03:12, 11 June 2012
ICE HARVESTING. As a rule, ice-cutting in the United States took place in January and February, and in the early part of March. When ice was thick enough for operations to begin it is scraped, if covered with snow, and, if rough and wavy on the surface, is sometimes planed. It took 100 men, working ten hours daily, six days to cut and store 9,000 tons of river ice for the Thomas J. Mulgrew company. In January, 1886, there were 46,700 tons of ice harvested commercially in Dubuque; the packers alone put up 12,200 tons according to the History of Dubuque County.
When the snow has been cleared away the field was " prospected" for the best point to begin cutting. Holes were bored and a measuring rod was inserted to test the thickness. The rod was marked in inches and the lower end was turned off at a right angle to hook on to the bottom of the ice. It paid best to cut the thickest ice even if a smaller quantity of it was gathered. The preference was given to that part of the field above the ice-house, if on a river, in order to gain the help of the stream in floating the detached ice down to the house. The further away from the house the cutting took place the more the time, labor, and. money required to harvest the crop, especially as the channels for floating the cakes to the house were always likely to freeze up over night.
The ice field was marked off in the harbor by a gasoline-powered circular saw. Each ice cake was marked off 22 inches square. After the marking, making a groove 11 inches deep in the ice, the circular saw cut "floats," ten cakes long and two cakes wide.
These "floats" were floated down a channel cut in the ice to a mechanical chute extending from the company's large ice house to the river. All along the channel were men with pike poles to keep the "floats" moving towards the chute. At the river end of the chute, which was 150 feet long, men used steel bars called "spuds" to break the "floats" into individual cakes each 22 by 28 inches. A water wheel at the end of the chute caught each cake and sent it up the chute to the ice house.
The ice house was divided into five compartments. Men with pike poles were stationed at each compartment opening to divert the ice cakes from the conveyor into the compartments. Inside each compartment were twelve men who moved the cakes into orderly rows with all space used. All ice cakes which appeared defective were pushed off the conveyor to the ground. Delivery was made to homes and businesses displaying an "ice today" card in the window. In 1910 one ton of ice cost fifty cents including the cost of delivery.
At one time there were five firms cutting ice from the river.
Using an ice pick and axe, the delivery man (shown in the picture) chipped a block of ice, stored beneath heavy canvas, to the size desired by the customer. Carried with metal tongs to the customer's kitchen, the ice was placed in wooden chests that served Dubuque families for many years as the method of refrigeration. Melted ice was caught by a drip pan that had to be regularly emptied to prevent it from overflowing onto the floor. In January, 1886, there were 46,700 tons of ice harvested; the packers alone put up 12,200 tons. The leading packers were William Ryan, George Rath, Strobel & Son, and Zumhoff & Son. The last of Dubuque's three major ice houses to carry out "ice harvests" was CONLIN AND KEARNS.
In 1903 the Board of Health took the initiative in helping to provide the people of the city of Dubuque with purer ice. It ordered that no ice for domestic consumption (drinks etc.) could be cut below the north line of the ice harbor. It was explained that it was unsafe to use ice that was cut below the ice harbor where two sewers emptied into the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. The newspaper announced that the order of the Board would place several of the city's ice firms at considerable additional expense, but that any violation of the order would lead to arrest and fine.
<youtube>3x9rc-54s-I</youtube>
---
Source:
Harvesting the River: Harvesting: Ice: Ice Harvesting Process ... www.museum.state.il.us › Home › Harvesting › Ice
Home Page of ICE, Harvesting & History. http://www.museum.state.il.us/RiverWeb/harvesting/harvest/ice/ice_harvesting.html.
Ice Harvesting from YouTube user: 3x9rc-54s-I
Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-21-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml