Yesterday Friends of the Clinton Library dropped by two books about general Clinton history. In one of them was two very pertinent and fun newspaper clippings. Here are the articles transcribed:
Page 24, Clinton, Iowa, Herald Saturday, February 28, 1981
Way back when: Ice that cooled came from river by Lee F. White Herald Editorial Consultant
Nineteen-inch ice on Mississippi River Pool 13 north of Clinton and Fulton this winter was a reminder for many years the ice that cooled things in the summer came from the river.
In more recent decades householders obtained ice from electric refrigerators which help preserve foodstuffs.
A city directory published in 1886 revealed that only one ice supplier served Clinton and none was listed for Lyons. The Clinton dispenser of the frigid material was O.G. Bauder, who operated under the name of Clinton Ice Co., 97 6th Ave.
As time passed things picked up a bit and by 1897 six dealers were listed- four in Clinton and two in Lyons.
George N. Chalker whose address was given as 915 S. 4th St., apparently was the top dealer as his name was printed in raised black letters. Chalker remained in the ice business many years but left it before the electric refrigerator became common.
Another veteran was Cummings and Co., 114 4th Ave S. Cummings got out of the ice business but continued to handle coal for many years, finally as a division of Camanche Building and Supply Co.
The river ice business began to wane after the Clinton Ice Cream and Artifical Ice Co., entered the ice business.
When "artificial" ice was introduced it was met with considerable opposition. Some claimed the "artificial" ice did not last as long as river ice frozen by Mother Nature during frigid winters.
But as time passed, the demand for "artificial" ice increased and pushed other dealers out of business. At least some apprehension was felt that river ice could be contaminated.
During the days when river ice was distributed and later when "artificial" ice became available, the ice wagon and its husky "ice men" had fixed routes. Householders used cards bearing number which indicated how much ice was wanted.
Delivery was made on chunks weighing multiples beginning with 25 pounds and moving up to 100 pounds. Not many of the big chunks were handled because of the weight.
Youngsters used to follow the ice wagons around to "mooch" pieces to suck but the "ice men" were not always in a generous mood.
Some private users of ice had their own small ice houses. They paid to have them filled with what was hoped to be a summer supply. All ice houses, large or small, covered stored ice with sawdust to control melting. When the "ice men" made deliveries they washed the sawdust from the ice chunks with buckets of water which came from the melting ice in the wagon.
The ice harvest began when the stuff was a foot or so thick. Special tools were used to saw out the cakes and load them on sleds drawn by horses to storage places.
The biggest harvester was the Chicago and North Western Railroad. It had a huge ice house bordering its tracks just west of South 14th Street. Thousands of tons were cut and hauled there for storage.
The ice was used to cool refrigerator cars hauling perishable fruit, vegetables and meat. During the ice harvest which was carried on just east of Little Rock Island, a special train was operated between the point and the ice house.
The ice harvest gave mid-winter employment to many men who otherwise would have been idle during the cold weather period.
The railroad ended its ice harvest when City Ice Co. came to Clinton, built a large "artificial" ice plant and used the product to cool the refrigerator cars. It was about the time that "artificial" ice and the electric refrigerator brought an end to the winter harvest of river ice.
Because of river changes through the years it would no longer be safe to use horse-drawn wagons or sleds across the Mississippi's channel to the Clinton shore.
Besides, who would want to mess around with all the problems of an ice harvest?
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