THE OMATTA ILLUSTRATED HEE.
9 annary 22.
Omaha's Big Ice Crop How It is Being Harvested in the Ice Fields
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PLOWING THE ICD READT TO BB BROKEN INTO RAFTS Photo by SUfI Artlt
MAKKIXQ THE ICQ REACT FOR PLOWINO-Fboto br BUff Artlit
BAWINO THB ICE INTO RAFTS-Photo fcy a Staff Artist.
IT takes 200 torui of Ice dally to keep
Omaha cool In summer, exclusive
of what the packers use. Borne-
Pil,3Pl ttniea 11 takes more. Occasionally
I 1 1 it takes less. It depends on ttie
weather, but the fig-ures given are a fair
s a mate of the total dally amount of Ice
consumed In the city. The retail price for
this concealed thirst reducer is about $1,000
per day. In other words It costs about
17,000 per week to cool the feverish brains
and burning throats on "the retributive
morning; after," besides supplying private
families and the trade.
This amount includes the chunk on the
In the world uiie so
much ice as the
Americans. Doubtless
this Is true . The
American lives on
Ice. He was not
always an ice-eating
anthropological quad
ruped, but he has
developed into one
gradually. He has a
class of
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CTIUTES THROron WHICH THE ICE 19 CARRIED FROM THE LAKE TO THE RUNAWAYS ON WHICH IT IS TRANSPORTED TO THE PROPER SECTION OP
THIS HOUSE Photo by a Staff Artist.
Ice water when he sits down the north side of Cut-off lake, and the tance from the other and Is cut the width
to the table In the morning. He naa roods David Talbot Ice company which controls ot an ordinary cake or ice.
served on Ice. He has his provisions kept the South Omaha Ice and Coal company. i
front doorstep which baa melted down to on Ice. And many of the dishes served aiBO nag an enormous plant on the shore Actually "Cut t Inn lee."
the size of a shirt atud on a hot summer's him are froen hard as Ice. He oegins 0f the lake. The crop gathered by the An Ice plow next goes over the ground
morning as well as the great cakes that with Icewater In the morning and ligura- utter company Is sold largely for domestlo and makes a cut into the groove for a dls
aro used at the soda fountain, behind the tlvely ends with ice cream at night. In consumption, while the Swifts sell it tance of six or seven Inches. The plow is
bar and In the refrigerators of the restau- summer, particularly, he has Iced tea, Iced largely in wholesale lots. Both companies like the marker. It Is an abbreviated rip
rants, meat markets and other provision soda, Iced beverages and. In fact, iced have been at work the past week and the saw with gigantic teeth and has handles
tores. Ice was once a luxury, but the everything. When at last the time comes ice company Is preparing to gather its like an ordinary plow. A team of horses
temptation to lock It In the safe over night to be laid away In the bosom of mother second crop. draws the nlow over the Ice verv eanllv.
so that the office boy won't waste it la not earth he Is packed In Ice. It Is ice, Ice, Ice Swift's had about 300 men and flftv team The ice Is then cut Into squares at right sullenly on the forward bars of the chute, been broken off like
so strong as formerly as It Is more plentl- from the time he leaves the cradle until he at work the past week and several smaller angles from the flrsrt lines and the cakes Then, Impelled by some unseen force, they "Say, what the h 1 are you fellows try
ful and cheaper than formerly. enters the grave. It Is not to be wondered ,jeaier. wer. -j.- at work t rpfire(i Dolnts ""e ready to be dismembered. bound forward, caught In a Bhelf of the ng to do up there. Slow up till we get this
has been detached Into a separate square
of Ice sixteen Inches across and with a
depth equal to that of the Ice, which at
present happens to be from fourteen to six
teen Inches. The great squares of crystal
are moving forward to where the chutes be
gin that lead to the colossal storehouse of
the Swifts. $-
Packing Away the Crop.
For a moment the hugh, blue cakes, clear
and white as a brilliant, toss and tumble
POLINO THE BLOCKS INTO THE CHUTE-Fhoto by ft
Btaff Artist.
failed to turn the entire crop. Three crops are harvested
cake he was after from the lake If the weather Is propltiousw
and It dashes for- Last year only two crops were gathered,
ward to "where a About 40 cakes of ice can be handled a
helper Is packing the mlnuto if everything moves smoothly.
Ice Jn the ..same ordof. Sometimes the. movement of the oakes la
that a atone mason not as smooth as It ought to be. Chate
would lay a founds- clog up; cakes of Ice go the wrong way.
Often they don't go at all even wltn th
greatest urging.
It is estimated that ice can be soused
upon a large scale for about 30 cent per
tlon. The shout has
come Just In the
nick of time. The
hcloer 1umDs to one side as the cake
crashes into the crystal wall and is crushed ton. This does not Include shrinkage, whlcn
by Its own force into fragments. Had it tB obout 35 Per cent- tno Insurance and a
caught the helper there might have been a number of other Items, which raises, the
pair of fractured limbs to reduce. actutt' cost f th to the packer to.
"I should call that rather excltlna- work." omethlng like SO cents per ton.
was the sally of a reporter.
"Rather? Well, I should call it more than
rather," was the laconic response. "I call
it a good many and more. If that cake
had caught me on the legs they would have
Ice harvesting haa developed from a trade a then, that the Industry of ice gather
Into a science. The crude methods ia vogue ng has grown to be such an Important
years ago in gathering tne crop nave given
way to means which Involve the establish
ment of largo and expensive plants. Ice
used to be gathered by band. . Today it is
gathered by machinery and the operation
Is an interesting one. Ice culture is the
one agricultural field, if the term may be
Indulged, which does not require sunshine
and warm weather to mature it. Unless
artificially produced, it depends upon ex
actly those elements which destroy ordi
nary crops, yet, paradoxical as it may
sound, It la a crop that is absolutely es
sential for the preservation of the pro
ducts which it destroy.
-
Social Value of the Ice Crop,
The human family ho become o de-
one and haa developed from a small; In
significant industry into a business of con
siderable magnitude and Importance.
Oat of Jack Frost's Hands."
There was a time when the Honorable
John Frost had a monopoly of the Ice
manufacturing business. In fact he con
trolled the market for years. There could
be no ice crop unless he said so, and if
he happened to cut off the supply in win
ter the ice dealer had things all his own
way the following summer, and a chunk
of Ice as big as a hickory nut was treas
ured like the rest of the family Jewels.
of the lake. The scene was Inspiring to
one who has never seen ice gathered upon
a large scale. Long before the lake Is
reached one gets a glimpse of the harvest
ers. A score of teams are at work scrap,
lng off the snow.
I'm no d d machine
Method in Everythlug.
Ice cutting has become methodical, even
to the size of the cakes. Each cake Is of
the same size and the Ice beds are marked
out a regularly as a corn field. In fact,
as one approaches the lake the Impression
Is gained of a vast grain field that has
Some distance out from the Bhore and endless chain which is moving them up the pile out of the way.
stationed at regular Intervals, a dozen men Incline toward the Icehouse. After going a If I do wear overalls."
are using the only saw that Is needed In certain height they drop through the chute The remark of the helper was called
gathering the crop. They are sawing the and slide down towards one of the decks forth by the appearance of another cuke
cakes into great rafts. They make a cut which extend around the Icehouse. These that had shot down the incline before he
the width of eight cakes. These rafts decks are one above the other the length was ready to receive It. It bounded for-
are then divided from tho main body with of the building and give it the appeoranca ward and was smashed against the ever-
spud pars that look like the pictures of of a gigantic pleasure steamer. growing wall of blue-white. Soon the ice.
Armour and Swifts house about 80.000
tons of ice in a season. The other packing
plants use a similar amount, but they have
no plunts In the city.
The David Talbot Ice company house
about 160,000 tons of Ice. They cut from
the lake for the trade and harvest from
the reservoirs for family use. The com
pany Is also putting In a plant to manu
facture ice. If the experiment proves
profitable It Is tho Intention eventually to
manufacture all the Ice for family use.
The packing companies use about 60,000
tons of Ice during a season. The Burplus
Is sold. From six to eight carloads are
used dally during the summer months for
satun's toasting fbrk, only they have two Each platform has an endless chain, and which Is being piled floor upon floor, cake tho refriKerator carB- ln tn winter the
tines instead or three. W hen divided rrom as the Ice slides into the platform it Is upon cake towards the roof will have be
the main field the raft Is the width of eight again picked up and moved along where come so high that It will have to be sent
ordinary cakes of Ice and thirty-four cakes men stand at the doors leading into the lee- jnto the store-house from the next higher
long. In other words, there are 273 ordl- house.' As tho cakes arrive they are shoved deck. This Is what the docks or plat
nary cakes of Ice in a raft. nto chutes leading into the Interior. Here forms of the building are for. They be
Men armed with spikes fixed to long are more men wltn pole, who direct the gn to pile it from below the level of the
poles then flont the raft toward the shore, i, .n.i,, th.m tntn the rinht dl-
been Petrified by aome force of nature Into where it finally enters a canal of open wa- rec.tlolT u ,. oasy Job this. It require, Tend the ice
everlasting white. Stretching away until ter through the ice which is strengthened ,,,. nd -trenirth. for the cakes are go- th. " .V?J "t !!.., u . !
are long, regular rows that remind one
Man, proud man, who haa Imitated about
pendent upon lo that it could scarcely get everything that nature produces, has also of the furrow, of a weU arranged vege
along wimoui it today. m army inea w p.imuucu iUKuiujr u mo table garden In the spring. Each row Is
get. along without ice during the Spanish flcial Ice. and In those countrlea where the exactiy the same distance from the other,
war. but the effort led to a acandal. weather cannot always be depended on the )lnes are M straight as If they
xnis ia prouaDiy not we oiuy um inai ice " mmuinwurai. u umi iuo punu
haa prevented aoandal. Many a reputation made a chemical Ice which could not be
has been saved with chopped ice. Many a used Internally. Today artificial Ice is
throbbing brow haa been cooled Into aome- produced by freezing filtered and distilled
thing like a normal condition on "the mom- waters. In Nebraska Ice Is still gathered
they seem to run together ln the distance on the sides with boards. At regular In-
ing after" so that the remorseful owner
could go downtown at the usual hour and
calmly look the world unfllnolUngly In the
eye. It robs many a sick bed of lta agony
and adds to the luxury and pleasure of
many a table. The lack of it would revo
lutionize the present methods of doing
business in many fields and the use of It
haa simplified and enlarged possibilities in
the commercial world.
from the usual sources and the business
has grown to enormous proportions. Ex
pensive plants have been built and the
work of harvesting the crop Is one of fas
cinating interest to every one except the
man who has to gather it.
, Consumption by Packers. '
The largest Ice consumers ln Omaha are
the packing plants. The Swift Packing
bad been made with square, rule and pen
cil. Marking out the Ice field is the first
work done. This Is accomplished with the
aid of a plow, which looks for all the
world like a magnified rip-saw fitted into
a pair of plow handles. The huge teeth
tervala the canal is bridged with planks.
One or two men stand on the bridge. They
are muffled from head to foot and their
feet are wrapped in gunnysack or burlaps.
It is a cold Job. They cannot wrap feet
nor body too closely, for there they must
Mand hour after hour over the cold, blue
rafts that are floating past under their
feet. They hit the rafts a blow with their
Tltantlc spears and the floating body is di
vided Into three equal part.
Stationed upon bridges across the Ice
of the marker are about three inches long canal farther along are other men. They
and cut a furrow the. depth of the teeth
as they are drawn along the ice by a
horse. On one Bide of the marker Is a
gauge. This consists of two flat blades
extending down from an arm fastened rig
idly to. the marker. The gage runs in the
last groove cut by the marker and ln this
It la said that the peogle of no nation company has an Immense plant built on way each succeeding Una la the aame dlt-
dlvide the raft again and make It narrower
and shorter. The canal is divided into two
chttnnels and onaveection is driven into ono
and the other half of the ruft Into the o her
channel. There are more bridges and more
men further along. They are armed with
ice spears and the raft has disappeared
after it reaches them. Each cake of Ice
agility and strength, for the cakes are go
ing down the chute into the storehouse
with railroad velocity and two cakes are
coming at a time. Some cakes are allowed
to go straight ahead. Some are swung to
the right and some to the left, but to turn
them and stop them with one of those long,
spiked poles requires as mucn energy as
to bring a lassoed steer to a standstill. The
men here are perspiring. They are mopping
tbelr brow. It Is good exercise, but mighty
lucky that it can be had now instead of
during the heat of the summer. They don't
need gunny sacks around their feet nor
cumberson thicknesses of clothes around
the body. They are too busy to get cold.
The exercise Is much too lively to be ham
pered with a superabundance of clothing.
Clothes are In the way now.
up the chutes to the deck next higher and
so on until the great storehouse Is full to
the to:.
Many Thousand of Tons.
The storehouse la divided into great
compartments, ten men being assigned to'
each chamber. The storehouse will hold
80,000 tons of loe. The packing plant uses
about SO.OuO tons of ice and the rest la aold
on contract.
The company also has contracts with
the Milwaukee, Wabash and Rock Island
railroads to supply each with 1,800 tons
to be used for refrigerator purposes. This
is now being loaded into cars which stand
on each side of a plaform built between
the tracks that extend along the front
of the Ice house. With the present facili
ties the packing company Is able to load
about 100 cars per day. It Is estimated
Kxamples of the Horry.
"Look out!"
The man shouted just in time. He has that it will take flv week to put In the enc nervous. Chicago New.
use of Jce for packing meat In car dropa
to one and two cars, according to the
weather.
Pointed Paragraphs
Play is the work a man does that lan't
compulsory.
If a man testa a coin with hla teeth ha
bites the dust.
A souvenir by any other nam would
probably cost less.
What would a woman do with a secret
If she couldn't tell It?
Dry bread of your own Is better than a
roast from your friends.
There ore some widows who will not
flirt but they are generally deaf and blind.
The boy who saves his pennies will be
in a position to blow in dollars later.
The handiwork of aome tailors seema ln
accord with the eternal misfltness of thing.
It takes the average man half bis al
lotted three-score and ten year to learn
that he doesn't amount to very much.
When a man attempt to speak in publla
for the first time the audience makes hltn
nervous but later on he make the audi
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CdurrjiG the xcb nnjj cLBAn or bnow-onb or thd barlt operation ir tho ich itAnvti-pbt, t Bta(t ArT.It
CLX-F ASHIONED PLATFORM WHERB HORSE) PCiVER LOADS THE ICE-PtlOtO Ij a BtaXt Arturti