Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, January 22, 1905, Page 4, Image 20
THE OMATTA ILLUSTRATED HEE. 9 annary 22. Omaha's Big Ice Crop How It is Being Harvested in the Ice Fields ' .' " iiMt .- m w f il l ii ' -r -- ' -- 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 T I r 5 Tzi . .--r nnnrnrn t-T" 58 aixiifcii iroiX)c3 I' 1 i fat it ,V I. " "1 I i f "j ...... ' A ... v T r. !.,. 7 T 'i T"T4( "... ' r,'v vm it. ' . ' m jar .r..' ..' vf .1 ."tic !. -ailfc.?. ? 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 & ;i1 :-5 .. ' , " ;y 'Cn v V ;"'ir -.s '-' r' Wif Ifeil U' fhH .'.i i,x r d't V. hiJ u. J p 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