The Ice Business of the United States - Part 2

Editor's note: The following article was originally published in the New York Tribune, November 16, 1858. Thanks to Contributing Scholar Carl Mayer for finding, cataloging and transcribing this article. The language, spelling and grammar of the article reflects the time period when it was written.

Workers guide a horse pulling an ice-cutting rig on the Hudson River, circa 1912. (Photo Credit – New York State Archives # A3045- 78_830)

The preceding part of this article describes the general features of the ice business as carried on alike, or nearly so, by all the companies and firms dealing extensively in the article, whether they supply the market of New-York, or Boston, or other large cities; and we will now proceed to give separate accounts of the business in each city.

Nearly all the ice used in New-York and Brooklyn is furnished by two extensive joint-stock companies — the Knickerbocker and the New-York — which, as they now exist, were organized about three years since by the union of several of the principal firms in the business. By thus consolidating their capital, and placing the direction of the various departments of the business in the hands of a few experienced persons, there is such a command of facilities as almost to defy competition.

The Knickerbocker Ice Company was formed of three leading firms —  viz., Messrs. John  D. Ascough & Co. (previously known as the Knickerbocker Ice Company), Alfred Barmore & Co., and C. R. Wortendyke & Co. — and its business dates from March 1, 1855. Its capital is $900,000, divided into 9,000 shares, at a par value of $100 each. Its officers are: Richard T. Compton, President, and Wm. J. Wilcox, Secretary. Its office is at No. 432 Canal street.

The New-York Ice Company was organized in 1856, from the former New-York and Brooklyn Ice Company, (which had been formed a year before, with a capital of $130,000) and from the Independent and the People’s Companies. Its present capital is $500,000, divided into 2,000 [sic: 20,000?] shares, having a par value of $25. It is incorporated under the general laws of the State of 1855, and its affairs were managed by nine Trustees, &c. Its officers are: A. Thorp, President; Wm. Jackson, Secretary and Treasurer. Its office is at No. 440 Canal street. Its stock is pretty widely distributed, and perhaps not more than one third is held by ice-dealers.

The amounts gathered by these Companies are so immense that whatever is provided by other parties seems small in comparison, even if it is, of itself, a large quantity. The greatest amount collected last winter, outside of these Companies, was taken, as we are informed, at Athens and Catskill, by a dealer formerly interested in the New-York Ice Company, and was somewhat more than ten thousand tuns.

According as the businesses has increased, attempts have been made in each successive season to secure a greater supply for the New-York market. The whole amount actually obtained during the last four seasons has been about as follows:
In Winter of 1854-'5 .... 200,000 [?]  tuns.
 "          "  1855-'6 ........ 363,000         "
 "          "  1856-'7 ........ 500,000          "
 "          "  1857-'8 ........ 500,000          "
The greater part of the last season was quite unfavorable, much more so than the preceding, or a greater quantity would have been secured. Until near its close, the ice-dealers expected a very short yield; and some offered 75 cents a hundred pounds, to be supplied.

The sources of these supplies are situated at considerable distances from the city, and mainly at different points upon the Hudson River, or near it. From the following statements, one may form an approximate estimate of the amount of ice that now is housed (or is sought to be housed) annually, from each source:

The Knickerbocker Company have ice-houses with storage capacity as follows: at Rockland Lake, houses covering four acres, and capable of containing 120,000 tuns; at Highland Lake (Fort Montgomery), 30,000; at Esopus, 23,000; and at Rhinebeck and other points on the Hudson, over 60,000 tuns. Rockland Lake is at a distance of 33 miles from New-York, and about a mile from the Hudson River. Its shape is somewhat elliptical, and resembling an egg; its length is about a mile; its circumference two and three-fourth miles and twenty rods; and its area 285 acres. Its area is indeed much less than than is generally supposed, even by those familiar with its appearance — and we have heard doubts expressed as to the correctness of its surveyor's report. Its surface is 146 feet above high tide in the Hudson. It is surrounded by a graceful sweep of hills. To the north of it is Verdrietege's Hook — a bold headland, which rises majestically from the river, just below Haverstraw Bay. This lake consists of unusually pure water, and the ice obtained from it is as clear and solid as possible. Its outlet is one of the sources of the Hackensack River. Highland Lake, near the Hudson (almost half a mile from it), is opposite Anthony's Nose, and a few miles below West Point. It has not been accurately surveyed, and its exact area is unknown, but it is not probably more than one third of that of Rockland Lake. Its vicinity is called Fort Montgomery, after the old fort of that name of Revolutionary celebrity, which was there erected. Near it was old Fort Clinton, of equal renown.

The New-York Company obtain most of their ice from the upper part of the Hudson. Last winter they gathered in Athens about 75,000 tuns; at Catskill, some 60,000; at New-Baltimore, 12,000, &c. This company owns Crystal Lake at New-Rochelle, from which about 15,000 tuns were taken last winter, though the usual yield is more. This lakelet has a cutting surface of about forty acres, and the storehouses there erected cover an acre of ground. This company also obtain[s] ice from near New-London, Conn., as well as other sources in this State. In March last, several of their storehouses at Athens were destroyed by fire, involving a loss of over 25,000 tuns of ice.

The conveyance of ice to this city is effected entirely by barges, towed by steam-tugs. These are of peculiar construction, and in several respects are very different from those formerly used for the same purpose. A few years ago they were built to carry two hundred tuns — but now to carry six hundred. On each barge there are usually three hands, regularly employed for the season. In taking the ice out from the storehouses and loading the barges, from fifty to sixty men are sometimes engaged, and a portion of these are employed permanently. The Knickerbocker Company has 14 barges, with an aggregate capacity of 6,000 tons. The New-York Company has twelve barges, with aggregate capacity of 5,000 tons, half of them old and half new. The latter cost from $12,000 to $13,000. The companies sell at wholesale to the ice dealers, who come with their wagons to the barges, and obtain their supplies. Ice-dealers who are stockholders, in either or both companies, pay the same rates for ice as those who have no stock in them. At the barges all ice is sold by weight, excepting the shovel ice. The prices of this year are — From 100 to 2,500 lb, 30 cents per 100 lb; for 2,500 lb and upward, 20 cents per 100. Shovel ice is sold by the basket (holding a bushel or so), and the price for that quantity is 25 cents.

The New-York Company sells at wholesale entirely, and thus has no wagons nor horses except those used at the storehouses. The Knickerbocker Company has a retail business, supplying its customers daily like any ice dealer, but this part of its business is much more extensive than that of any single firm. It has 100 or more wagons, of which about 75 are in regular use; 50 in New-York and 25 in Brooklyn. The number of wagons and horses kept by dealers depends, of course, upon the extent of their business. Most of the dealers have from 12 to 20 horses; some not more than two or three. The whole number of dealers is in the vicinity of 40. The list given in Wilson's Business Directory for this year, comprises 23 names, beside the companies, which have in all ten offices at their barges, &c.; but, as just intimated, there are a considerable number of extensive dealers whose names should have been given. The whole number of ice wagons used in the city is over 300; of which about one-sixth, perhaps more, are drawn by two horses. The most noticeable feature about the ice-wagons is their solidity of construction and consequent weight. A single wagon averages from 1,700 to 1,900 lb; and some weigh 2,100 lb. A double wagon will average from 2,500 to 3,000 lb. The average cost of the single wagons is $185, and of double wagons of the same class, $200; for spring wagons the prices are $200 to $250.

The following is a comparison of the retail rates of this Summer and of the last. It is a statement of the number of pounds of ice furnished daily during the season, to families, counting-houses, offices, etc., for certain fixed sums:
                                           1858.              1857.
For 6 cents ................... lbs. 8 to 10           12
For 9 cents ................... lbs. 14 to 15         20
For 12 cents ................. lbs.  ---    20         30
For 15 cents ................. lbs. 25 to 30          --
The prices of larger qualities are compared thus:
                                             1858.              1857.
For 50 lb  daily ................... 26 cts.             20 cts.
For 100 lb  daily ................. 50 cts.             38 cts.

The great hotels, and the ocean and river steamers are the largest consumers of ice; and, after these, come the butchers, fish dealers, confectioners, &c. These classes of customers are charged for ice by the tun, as delivered, viz: in 1858, $3.30; in 1857, $3. The consumption of ice at the very largest hotels probably averages, for the whole year, as much as two tuns a day; in Summer amounting to three tuns or more daily, and in Winter to only a tun or sometimes less. The Cunard and other ocean steamers take twenty tuns or more for each trip.

For the successful prosecution of the ice-dealing business in New-York, quite a large amount of capital is (or hitherto has been) requisite, because of the system of giving long credits to customers. During this season, however, the ice dealers have to some degree introduced a system of collecting their bills from families oftener than formerly — say monthly, and in some cases weekly. The independent drivers (i. e., those having each but one or two wagons) have hitherto been the only class that collected once a week or month. Part of the butchers pay monthly, while others (of a higher class) pay quarterly, or as often as their customers pay them. A great many families do not pay their ice bills but once a year; but this numerous class is among the best portion of Ice customers.

Some of the New-York ice dealers have been in the business for over ten years, and a few for a longer period. These have fairly earned whatever competence they have thereby acquired. As a general matter, persons do not remain long in the business; they find that the profits of one season are counterbalanced by the losses of another; and with that natural love of change which affects all Americans, they engage in some other pursuit, that promises a more uniform remuneration for equal labor.

Senator Preston of South Carolina said of Massachusetts that, though she was the most prosperous State in the Confederacy, she literally exported none of the products of her soil but her rocks and her ice. The succeeding tabular statement concerning the ice business in Massachusetts was prepared in 1855, and its statistics refer mainly to the preceding Winter. It lacks much of being a complete return for that period, and still more of representing the present condition of the business in the State:
                             Tuns of Ice
Countries        prepared for market.      Value  annually.          Capital invested.      Hands employed.
Essex ................     13,900                                 $76,200                       $25,000                       65 
Middlesex ........ 366,200                                550,400                       660,700                    362
Bristol ...............      16,200                                   10,000                         16,000                       10
Plymouth .........          800                                     2,500                          3,000                         8
                        -----------------                   ----------------            -----------------         ----------
                        397,100                                   $639,100                     $704,700                     445
 
Every county of Massachusetts contains several beautiful sheets of water from which ice may be gathered. At short distances from Boston there are a score or more ponds of considerable size, from which are yearly obtained the vast quantities of ice used in that city, and exported from it. If these were at greater distances in the interior, there would be additional cost for bringing their ice into the city, or to the wharves for shipment, which would enhance its retail price and diminish its consumption. As matters are, the transportation of ice to the seaboard from the towns where it is now obtained, forms one of the largest items in the business of some of the railroads entering Boston.

The County of Middlesex has much the largest share of the ice business of the State, as is evident from the preceding imperfect table for 1855. The returns for 1850 show that the value of the ice obtained in Middlesex, “as an article of merchandise,” was $148,000; but this did not cover one-half the value of what was that year gathered in the county, even if we suppose that the merchandise ice was all returned, which probably was not the case, for the amount collected for private use was certainly not less than that exported. In 1853 several more ponds and streams were operated on than there were three years before; and from these new sources there was taken in 1853 a larger amount of ice than, according to the returns, formed the entire Middlesex crop of 1850. The county contains[,] with the exception of Wenham Pond, all the most celebrated ponds from which ice is taken in Massachusetts for exportation. These we will enumerate and briefly describe. The most noted are Fresh and Spy Ponds (and with these, adjoining the latter, is Little Pond), which cover an area of about 200 acres, Until about 1846-7, the ice used in the Boston trade was almost wholly (say nine tenth) taken from these ponds, and mainly transported from their houses to Charlestown and Boston on the Fitchburg Railroad, which passes midway between them, and the branches constructed from it to them. Fresh Pond, the most important, is about five miles north-west from the State House in Boston, and half a mile from Mount Auburn Cemetery. It is pleasantly nestled among hills of a moderate height, and ties within the limits of Cambridge, Watertown and West Cambridge, about one third in each. It is one of the principal resorts around Boston at all seasons, the route to it being one of the most attractive drives in the city's suburbs. In Summer, boating and fishing are the chief amusements. From a description of the scene at this pond at the time of gathering ice, written in 1855, we condense the following:

"On a pleasant afternoon of a Winter's day, hundreds of sleighs may be found there filled with well-dressed persons of both sexes, full of life, on the qui vive to witness the wonderful operations before them. If they are making their first winter visit, the sights before them are strange indeed — the silvery pond glaring under the oblique rays of the sun; the dark blue water from which the ice has already been removed; the curious and huge buildings that fringe its shores; the hundreds of laborers with scores of horses that almost darken the pond; the methods of removing the snow and snow-ice; of cutting the marketable solid, of floating it through narrow canals, and of storing it by steam power. All these operations fill the crowds of spectators with admiration, and they feel paid if they have made a journey of thirty miles merely to witness them. It is quite common to cut and, by steam-power to house, two tuns a minute, and this is only a moderate rate; and when a sufficient force is at work together, six hundred tuns are often stored in a single hour. When there are several parties on a single pond, each laying up ice at this rate, the scene cannot but be exciting.”

Spy Pond, in West Cambridge, is a mile N. N. W. from Fresh Pond, and is somewhat smaller than that. About a mile north of Spy Pond is the southern end of Mystic Pond, or Medford Lake, which stretches northward for a mile or so, and lies partly in West Cambridge, Medford and Winchester. Horn Pond, in Woburn, one and a half mile north from Mystic Pond, is surrounded by evergreens, and is so remarkable for its beauty as to attract many visitors from a distance. Souhegan Lake, or Reading Pond, in South Reading, eleven miles north of Boston, is large and beautiful, and the source of Saugus River. Spot Pond, in Stoneham, eight miles north of Boston, is a beautiful sheet of soft and pure water. It covers an area of 283 acres, and is 143 feet above high-water mark at Boston. Beside these, are Eel, or Long Pond, in Melrose, (formerly north part of Malden); Malden’s Pond and Asabet [sic: Assabet] River, in Concord; Sandy Pond, in Groton; Mill Pond, in Townsend;  —  all noted for their ice crops, and there are several others, though as yet less celebrated places.

Wenham Lake, in Essex County, was for a consid[er]able period of much celebrity for the ice, resulting from it having been used for export to London, and having received the “special approbation” of Queen Victoria. It is otherwise called Enon Pond, and received this name about 1636 [WIKI says 1638], from the circumstance that the first sermon in the town was then preached on its border by the celebrated Hugh Peters[,] Minister of Salem, from the text: “At Enon, near Salem [Aenon near Salim] because there was much water there,” (John Iii., 23.) It is about a mile square, and is probably the most beautiful pond in the county, presenting an exceedingly romantic appearance. It is six miles north of Salem, and twenty from Boston. In the town of Salem there are three pretty ponds, one of which, Spring Pond, on the border of Lynn, has a surface of 60 acres.

But we have not space to notice severally all the valuable sources whence ice is obtained in large quantities around Boston. Silver Lake, Plympton, Plymouth County, is one of these. Jamaica Pond, which formerly supplied Boston with water, is another, and from which 10,000 to 12,000 tuns of ice are gathered yearly to supply Roxbury, Brookline, &c.

During the last ten years the aggregate storage capacity of the ice-houses at the ponds in the vicinity of Boston has been more than doubled. In 1847 the total (exclusive of the ice houses on the wharves at Charlestown and East Boston, in which ice is stored for short periods) amounted to 141,332 tuns, of which at Fresh Pond 86,732 tuns; at Spy Pond, 28,060; Little Pond, 2,400; Wenham Pond, 13,000; Medford Pond, 4,000; Horn Pond, 4,000; Eel Pond, 2,000; and at Saumer’s [SP?] Pond, 1,200. In 1848 the total was 159,600 tuns, showing an increase in year of 18,228 tuns, of which at Fresh Pond, 2,228 tuns; at Spy Pond, 3,000; Silver Lake, Plympton, 5,000; and at at Souhegan Lake, South Reading, 8,000. In 1854 the total capacity was 300,000 tuns; and there has since been some increase.

In January, 1856, the report of the Boston Board of Trade stated the following: “The money permanently invested in wharves, ponds, ice-houses, tools, &., for carrying on the ice business in and near Boston amounts to about $600,000. This, of course, does not include the working capital, nor the money invested in ice-houses abroad. There are twelve Companies engaged in the business, employing in the Winter, when all are at work, 1,200 to 1,500 men. The business has trebled within ten years.”

The domestic consumption of ice in Boston and vicinity has, for the last few years, been about 60,000 tuns annually, supplying 18,000 families, hotels, stores, and factories, and employing (in 1856) 93 wagons and about 150 horses in distributing it. In 1847 the domestic consumption was but 27,000 tuns.

The amount of ice yearly exported from Boston is usually two to three times greater than that used in supplying the city (in some years a still larger proportion). This export business brings in vastly greater receipts, and usually proportionate profits. In a subsequent and separate account we will give a full exhibit of this export trade.

The following is a summary of the whole ice business of Boston as reported to the Board of Trade in January, 1857, by Messrs. F. Tudor (the originator of the trade) and T. T. Sawyer, formerly Mayor of Charlestown: The gross sale, at home and abroad, approaches a million of dollars. In the preceding year, 1856, there was paid for railroads and wagons, $100,000; to laborers, $160,000; towns for taxes of ice-privileges and ice in store, $1,500; wharves, $20,000 to $25,000; aggregate so far, $281,500 to $286,500;  for materials used in shipment and otherwise useless, $25,000; for freight on ice shipped, $365,000 -— or in all over $570,000.

The ice-dealers in Philadelphia have for the least two or three years done very well. In the season of 1857, the companies and firms on the Schuylkill, 25 in number, obtained 120,500 tuns. This was a somewhat greater quantity than was obtained in 1856; and its quality was also far better. It ranged from 6 to 18 inches in thickness, and was very clear and solid. Even in the best seasons, Philadelphia imports considerable quantities of ice from Boston.

Baltimore and Washington, in favorable seasons, secure in their respective vicinity a large portion of the ice used by their inhabitants; but, in unfavorable seasons, the greater portion is imported from Boston, &c.; and, in all seasons the best and thickest ice, such as is used in the first-class hotels, is likewise brought from northern lakes.

To Charleston, Mobile and New-Orleans, great shipments of ice are now made for each season with much regularity, particularly to the latter city, where there is at least $200,000 invested in ice-houses, wharves, &c. To some extent ice has been sent to New-Orleans, and to other towns on the Mississippi River, in flat-boats from Illinois and other northern States which have access to that river.

At Chicago, the principal supply of ice is obtained from Lake Michigan; but a portion is received from sources in the interior.

We have now presented the principal facts concerning the business of gathering ice in this country, and of preserving it until used, with the details of its consumption in the principal cities. In another article we shall give an account of the export trade, coastwise and foreign, and trace its progress to the present time.

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