Wait Till the Summer Comes

1895

A good story is related of a small tradesman in a Welsh town. Last winter a large lake near the town became frozen over for the first time for many years, and large numbers of people from a neighboring city came over for the purpose of enjoying some skating. As this sport was a novelty to the residents they became also desirous of entering into it and besieged the local iron monger for skates.

Incredible as it may appear, this individual had never heard of such articles, but, disdaining to admit his ignorance, replied that he had not any in stock. Wearied at last, however, by repeated orders for skates, he remarked to his wife:

"Mary, we must lay in a stock of these skates, for, look you, if there's such a great demand for them now, what will it be in summer, when the tourists come?"


Done With

Artist — I sold a picture yesterday.
Friend — Ah! What are you going to do with the money?
Artist — It's already done with. My landlady bought it for half the board bill I owed her. — Detroit Free Press.

The Skater's Paradise

1895

Holland the Country Where All the World Skates When There Is Ice.

Holland is the paradise of skaters. In that odd country, "where up trains run on the down line and the cows are tied to the ceiling by their tails," a great many things go by contraries, and skating is one of them. The weary waiting for a black frost to solidify the waters of deep lakes and treacherous ponds, which in England tantalizes the possessor of "Acmes," prevents his sleeping o' nights and drives skatemakers to suicide, is to the Dutchman an unknown mortification.

Skating is indeed almost the only violent exercise for which the Dutchman has any liking, and in the winter he holds high carnival on the ice. The number of skating clubs between northern Brabant and Groningen is infinite, but it is the provinces north of the Zuyder Zee — Friesland and Groningen — that the best skaters are to be found. These are the classical training grounds of the Dutch ice artists.

When there is likelihood of a frost, the only thing necessary to secure a good "surface" is to open the sluices used for irrigation and inundate the great flat meadows. The operation is superintended by representatives of the skating clubs in the neighborhood. A place of some 6,000 or 8,000 feet in circumference is staked out around a given point, the water is allowed to float in until it is of a convenient depth, and the sluices are then closed. Directly when the ice is sufficiently thick a number of workmen are told to keep it clear of snow, should any fall, and to sweep it carefully at frequent intervals.

Then begin a succession of skating competitions. These competitions are got up by the local skating club. Sometimes they are international, but clubs and individuals are constantly competing among themselves. The prizes offered on these occasions are often of a considerable money value, and the funds for providing them are supplied by the small sum charged for admission to the skating ground and the entrance fees paid by the competitors.

The competitions are usually of three classes — swiftness, elegance and the clearing of obstacles. The latter is amazingly difficult, even to experts. Yet there are in Holland a large number of skaters who can with ease and grace clear, in full career, the straw covered spaces intended to represent natural obstacles upon the ice. — London Standard.

Profitable Scallop Fishing

New York, 1895

The baymen at Jamesport have hit upon a profitable scheme for catching scallops when the boats are held at their moorings by the ice. The enterprise has proved most remunerative. Two or three of the baymen club together and cut a horse shoe shaped hole in the ice, about 150 feet across. They then draw their dredges through the space of open water. One man can easily draw a dredge over the bay bottom in this way and can catch from thirty to sixty bushels of scallops a day. Such a catch will average from fifteen to thirty gallons worth. In New York scallops bring $1.25 a gallon.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 1, 1895, p. 2.

She Died a Heroine

New York, 1895

A Young Girl Sacrifices Her Life in Saving Two Children.

Lillian McMullen, a fifteen-year-old orphan employed at the stock farm owned by Joseph Fahy, the watch case manufacturer at Sag Harbor, was drowned Monday afternoon while crossing Peconic Bay on the ice between North Haven and Shelter Island. Since the recent blizzard the people of North Haven who go to Shelter Island to do their trading have been obliged to walk over on the ice or remain at home, as the ferryboats were frozen in. During the mild weather of Saturday and Sunday the ice became thin in places where the tide runs swiftly. On Monday Lillian, whose relatives live in New York, lost her life while making the trip, but she died a heroine. With her when she set out upon her journey were ten and eight-year-old daughters of Superintendent Gordon of the stock farm. The three were trudging merrily along on their way home from the island, having crossed the bay in safety a few hours before. When half way between the island and North Haven Lillian stepped in an air hole, which was covered with snow and a thin coating of ice.

The two children hastened to her assistance and they, too, fell through. Lillian, instead of trying to get out herself, gave her attention to the little ones. She bravely grasped the rough edges of the ice and held on until the children climbed to her shoulders and thence on the ice. Then she warned them not to come near her again.

Lillian had become chilled and was hardly able to move after she had placed the children in safety. She struggled to pull herself out, but her strength soon failed her and she sank out of sight. The body was probably carried out to Gardiner's Bay by the strong current.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 22, 1895, p. 1.

Fishermen Have a Narrow Escape

New York, 1895

A party of six eel spearers narrowly escaped drowning in Jamaica Bay on Monday. The men, three of whom were Edward Ganz, Henry Wimpler and James Hadin, of Canarsie, were at work off Sands' Point cutting holes through the ice. They had cut a circle of holes around them, thus weakening the ice on which they stood.

Without warning the ice cracked and gave way, precipitating the six men into the water. Other eel spearers ran to their aid and, with the help of their long spearing-poles, succeeded in pulling them out.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 15, 1895, p. 1.

MacMillan Party Intact

1916

Battle Harbor, Labrador, Sept. 8. — The Grenfell Mission schooner George B. Cluett, which went to the relief of the Donald B. MacMillan Arctic expedition in July 1915, has returned here, Only Captain H. C. Pickles and the crew are aboard, MacMillan, Dr. E. O. Hovey, who led the relief expedition, and the other scientists of the party having elected to remain for a time in the northern part of Greenland.

The MacMillan party wintered aboard the Cluett in Parker Snow Bay east of Etah and Captain Pickles reports that on July 28, 1916, when the Cluett left North Star Bay, Greenland, about twenty miles north of the expedition's winter quarters, all the party were in good health and had an abundance of supplies.

The MacMillan party were joined by Knud Rasmussen, the Danish explorer, who has been engaged in that region in mapping out the coast, and it is understood that they will return by way of Denmark.

The Cluett was just able to get clear of her anchorage through a narrow lane of ice, and after four weeks of battling with heavy ice, reached open water at a point about the latitude of Durban Harbor, forty miles north of Cape Dyer. Throughout August fog and southerly head winds prevailed. The hull of the Cluett on her arrival here appeared to be in good shape, in spite of the hard winter through which she passed, and her buffeting by the ice on her trip south. Her engine has been out of commission since last October and her propeller shaft and rudder chains are broken.

The crew seems to be in good shape, despite the shortage of food and other hardships through which they passed. The winter's diet of salt horse and bread was varied by a supply of birds and sea pigeons, which were netted in large numbers, and whale, sea walrus and Polar bear meat.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 6.

Crippled By Fall on Ice

1919

Fractured Bone Can Never Heal, Say Physicians.

DENVER, Colorado — Joe H. Ruffner, widely known mining man, secretary of the Sons of Colorado, will be crippled for life as a result of falling off a patch of ice, according to the report of a physician who made an X-ray examination.

Ruffner is 49 years old. The fall resulted in a fracture of the femur bone of the hip, of such character that it can never heal, according to the examining surgeon.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 12.

Scottish Laddie Was Brave

1901

At Wellshot quarry, in Cambusiang, Scotland, during last winter, a frightful accident took place. One pleasant afternoon a group of lads were sliding on the ice when suddenly it gave way, and five lads were left struggling in the water.

Their cries drew the attention of a boy named Thomas Martin. He pluckily threw off his boots and succeeded in dragging lad after lad to the bank. One youth still remained in the middle of the pool, a lad named William Chalmers. Martin managed to secure several mufflers and cravats, which, tied together, reached the drowning youth, but he was unable to make use of them.

Martin, now much exhausted, again entered the water and with much difficulty brought the last boy ashore. Both were much exhausted, and Martin had to be carried home. The brave lad is only 11 years of age and not too robust in health. The quarry at the spot mentioned is said to be fully 20 feet deep.

Ice Boating Sure To Recover Fame

1920

WINTER SPORT BOOMS AFTER WAR LAPSE.

Many New Racers Being Fitted Out and Contests Are Now in Planning.

DETROIT, Mich., Jan. 1. — It is expected that the ice boating sport will again come into its own this winter after a lapse during the war period.

Already the announcement of a new club out Grosse Pointe way, which will foster the sport has been made and should inject added impetus to the season's prospects.

The fact that many of the skippers were overseas last winter together with the mild weather that provided little ice, served to put a damper on the sport, but the ice sailors are making more elaborate plans than ever to make up for lost time and some spirited racing is expected.

Among the new boats are the Kangaroo, built by Sid Mitchie and said to be a boat that will climb over any obstacle and leap the open water. It was designed by Mitchie himself. 100 Proof owned by Captain Bill Footes, is another and is credited with the fastest trip to Canada and return.

Frank Diegel and his Moonshine, one of the fast ones, will be in better racing form than ever and many spirited races between the Kangaroo and Moonshine have been staged in the past and probably will be repeated this season.

N. P. Neff is busy overhauling his Stonewall and expects to make her faster than ever. Charles Hilgendorf's White Lightning runs true to its name and should make trouble for the others as will a number of dark horses.

Leonard Neff will pilot the Wasp again. This boat has captured the Frontenac and Dodge Bors trophies, and is again being put in sailing trim after a two-year layoff due to the war.

The Lake Shore Ice Yacht Club is the latest addition to the ice boat club ranks and will conduct some big regattas. The Grosse Pointe and L'Anse Yacht Club, pioneers in the game hereabouts, also will make every effort to boom the wind and ice racing.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

$50,000 Prizes For Skating

1920

NEW YORK, N. Y., Jan. 1. — According to his manager, D. R. Scanlon, Boddy McLean, the American ice skating champion, will receive $50,000 for competing in live races against Oscar Mathieson, the Norwegian title holder, at Christiania, Norway, on Feb. 8 and 9.

The races will be held on a quarter mile track and the victor will be declared the world's champion. The distance will be 500 metres, 1,000 metres, 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres. McLean met Mathieson in this country a few years ago and beat him eleven out of twelve races. The races, however, were held on a small track.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Wild Ducks Freeze in Ice, and Fly Away with the Lake

1919

Hunter Catches One of Struggling Birds by "Hind" Leg and Pulls It Down — Then the Whole Flock Becomes Exhausted and Falls Into His Eager Hands.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Here is a real duck story. It is from South River, N. J., and the correspondent swears to its truthfulness. He walked five miles to deliver it to a South River editor, but has since been missing. The story follows:

Mayor-elect George L. Burton is never happier than when aiming his shotgun at a flock of ducks. However, according to a friend, he has never been known to bag a single duck until the recent zero weather. Here's how it happened: He was snugly stowed away in his houseboat when a flock of ducks flying over the bay with loud squawking awakened him at 10 a. m.

He rushed on deck and discovered he was surrounded by a flock of ugly ducklings, who threatened to carry away his boat. The leader of the squawky tribe decided, however, to take a swim in the icy water.

No sooner had they alighted than they were frozen fast by the zero weather. George noticed that the ducks were struggling to get away, but could not force themselves from their icy mooring.

This is my chance to get one, murmured Burton. Seizing his trusty gun, he jumped on the meadows and set out to bag a few. His approach frightened them, and with one supreme effort they struggled into the air, carrying with them a heavy sheet of ice, which bound them together. They flew directly over his head and were so low that George caught one of them by the "hind" leg and pulled it loose.

The loss of this duck — a large one — made the ice too heavy for the rest of the flock, which began to settle slowly. As they were circling over the houseboat, the old drake became exhausted. He could not hold up his end and, with a resounding crash, the entire flock fell through the cabin door.

When George returned he found he had captured a whole flock of ducks without the use of his gun. He is now telling his friends that he shot them.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

Man, 82, is Clever Skater

1919

Wants to Have Fun Now for He'll Be Too Old Soon, He Says.

VANCOUVER, B. C., Canada. — Though skating is primarily an exercise for the young, boys and girls in Vancouver have no monopoly of the sport, for John Williams is an enthusiast on the blades, in spite of his 82 years. As soon as outdoor skating was possible this winter Mr. Williams headed for the natural rink in a local park and put in a strenuous two hours, covering possibly ten or twelve miles in that time.

The old gentleman does not care for indoor skating, and reserves all his energy for those odd years when it gets cold enough to skate outside on the coast. "I must get all the fun I can while it lasts," he says, "for I'm afraid that in a few years I'll be getting too old for this frivolous exercise."

Very Cooling To Think Of

1910

Artificial Ice is Purer and Can Be Sold Cheaper Than Natural Product

No longer are dealers and users of ice compelled to stand sentinel over nature, with all her vagaries, and wait for ice to be frozen for them. Only a few years ago ice was gathered from anywhere and everywhere, and none could guess what sort of refuse contaminated the waters, rivers, canals, ponds and pools where it was gathered.

No longer does the citizen in the midst of a mild winter take alarm at the prospect of no ice or ice at an almost prohibitive price on account of its scarcity. The manufactured ice is purer than that of nature, without flaw or blowhole, free from admixture of snow and therefore more lasting.

Artificial ice is one of the great discoveries of the last few years and has been reduced to such system that it can be sold at a good profit cheaper than that which was formerly sawed out, loaded in vehicles, hauled to railroad or steamer landing and shipped by rail or by sea to the vast and ugly storage houses, where it was taken from masses of sawdust as it was sold.

Memory Lost After Fall on Ice

1903

As the-result of falling on the icy sidewalk, Samuel A. Chapman, of Boston, a student at Annandale College, is suffering from a peculiar malady.

On the evening of January 20 Chapman, in company with two other students, called on friends near the college. On their return Chapman slipped on the icy path and, falling backward, struck the base of his spine. He suffered no immediate effects, and being helped up by his companions, walked on to the college. Next day he was unconscious, remaining so for two days. Upon regaining consciousness his memory was a blank. In about two weeks he made some progress, looking to the improvement of his memory. He is nineteen years old.


Cats' Eyes

Cats and other beasts of prey reflect fifty times us much light from their eyes as human beings.

Aged Ice Regarded Safe for Health

1910

PHILADELPHIA. — The Natural Ice Association of America, including dealers in natural ice in Philadelphia, has begun a "campaign of education" to inform the public that aged ice is free from bacteria.

Bacteria are the little wigglers in water that get into the insides of people and often give them typhoid, diphtheria and other diseases. A quart of water contains a million or two of these bacteria. Some of them, not all, are dangerous to health.

But the natural ice men say — and they produce scientific argument to support their assertions — that although the bacteria are frozen into the ice when the water congeals, they are killed off so rapidly that in 24 hours 90 per cent of them are dead, and within a few weeks the ice is sterile — absolutely free from bacterial life of any kind.

One Philadelphia natural ice dealer said recently: "Natural ice is cut in December, January and February. Seventy percent of it is used between June and September, when it is anywhere from sixteen to twenty weeks old, and when the bacteria are frozen in it, and have been without air, motion, warmth and food from four to five months."

A paper recently sent out with the endorsement of the national body of natural ice dealers says:

"The buyer of ice should really be as anxious to obtain, and the dealer in natural ice as quick to advertise, that he sells old ice, as the green grocer is to seek trade on the strength of the freshness of his tomatoes or peas, and the butter and egg man on his new-laid or freshly made products. Old ice is pure ice, sterile ice, free from bacteria harmful or helpful."

Dr. Edwin Jordan, professor of bacteriology in the University of Chicago and at Rush Medical College, says:

"Experiments have shown that when water freezes the great majority of typhoid bacteria that it contains are immediately destroyed. Those that survive die off progressively. According to Park, not one in a thousand lives in ice longer than one month, and at the end of six months all are dead. Relatively few epidemics of typhoid fever have been proved to be due to the use of ice."

Dr. Charles H. Lawall, chemist for the Pennsylvania dairy and food commission, said that bacteria can live without air, and that a temperature of 32 degrees was not fatal for a long time to many kinds of bacteria.

—Oelwein Daily Register, Oelwein, IA, Sept. 27, 1910, p. 2.

The Sun's Heat

The sun is hot enough to melt, on its surface, an envelope of ice.

—The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, ND, July 6, 1920, p. 2.

Lassoing Fish Through Ice

1905

Unique Sport Enjoyed on a Potomac Branch Stream

In Hardy county, W. Va., the south fork of the south branch of the Potomac resolves itself into a series of fishing or swimming holes connected by riffles. The water is from two to five feet deep and quite clear.

When the ice forms on these ponds the men and boys indulge in a unique mode of fishing.

Three holes are cut in the ice in line across stream, at which are stationed as many men with snares or strip loops of soft copper wire that will tighten on being drawn round an object. These men kneeling by the holes watch for the fish to pass.

The others in the sport go, some to one end of the pond, others to the other. Those downstream, by stamping or beating on the ice with rails, start the fish upstream, when the men stationed at the holes try to snare them. The men upstream in turn drive the fish back past the holes.

The process is repeated again and again, until the mess of fish is obtained, or the enthusiasm of the fishermen is exhausted. — Country Life in America.

Plan to Play Ice Baseball

1915

Big Leaguers Get a New Idea — Scheme In the Making

Winter baseball played on the ice by major leaguers will be offered to New York fans who can't get enough of the old ball game in the summer, if plans of the promoters pan out.

"Wild Bill" Donovan, Heine Zimmerman, Rube Oldring and Harry McCormick are the promoters, and they reason it this way:

The winter rent on the Polo grounds could be paid from the proceeds of the skating ball game; the games would be played on skates with an indoor baseball; the ice would benefit the sod of the field, and the tariff on pleasure skaters when games are not in progress would leave a nifty profit.

The plans are only in the making, however.


Athletics Sign Boy of Seven?

The claim has often been made that Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia American League team, signs his ballplayers when they are infants, and Jack Doyle, Chicago White Sox scout, claims to have the dope in one case.

"I got a tip on Davies, an outfielder," says Doyle, "watched him in several games and decided to sign him.

"I found he had been signed by Connie Mack when he was only 7 years old. He is only 17 now and was with Mack's team last season."

All Comforts of Home While Hooking Trout

1915

Rancher Invents Fishhouse, in Which Stove and Camp Chairs Help Some in Zero Weather

B. Maynard, a rancher in the mountains near Bozeman, Mont., who is a devotee to the art of fishing, has contrived a unique fishhouse by means of which he and his friends can enjoy all the comforts of home while pulling in the sportive trout in below zero weather.

A good sized tent was boarded up four feet high on the inside, a floor put in it and a trap opening about a yard square was cut in each of the four corners. A stove was set up in the center with the stovepipe running up thru the canvas and several camp chairs were added for furniture. The tenthouse was mounted on wooden runners and tied in a convenient place at the shore of Madison Lake.

On fishing days a horse is hitched to the house and it is taken to any part of the lake desired. Holes are chopped in the ice under the trap-doors, a good fire is built, then each member of the party chooses a corner, seats himself on a camp stool and drops in his line attached to a short length of pole. The trout can be plainly seen at the hook and are easily captured. A number of record catches have been made this winter. A ten-pound steelhead was one of the prizes recently hooked.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 9.

Melting of Winter Snows in Alaska

1899

Daily Freshets

To most people who live in the temperate zones, the annual freshets occasioned by the melting of the winter snows and by the unusually heavy rains of spring are a matter of familiar observation. Under a higher latitude and in the neighborhood of glaciers, other phenomena are to be studied.

An English traveller in Alaska has the following to report about the rivers of that country:

The Takheena, like most streams of glacial origin, was subject to a daily rise and fall. The distance of its sources caused the water to increase in volume and in swiftness from noon to midnight, after which it continued to decrease from midnight to noon.

The daily rise measured from six to ten inches, according to the heat of the weather; the daily fall measured from five to eight inches during the time the fine weather lasted.

After a few days of cloudy, rainy weather, I found the river falling from day to day about as fast as it had risen during the fine weather.

It is worthy of remark that during fine weather I invariably found the wind during the daytime in the Chilcat valley blowing up from the sea. It began in the forenoon with a gentle breeze, which gradually increased to a smart gale, that died quite away by sunset. During the night there was either no wind, or else it blew in the contrary direction. This regular movement of the atmosphere no doubt has much to do with producing the regular daily rise and fall of the river. — Youth's Companion.