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Jim's Ice and Sand Business

ICE BUSINESS

    Harvesting ice was an important job in this area in the early 1900's. Jim Milota was one of the last to operate such a business from his farm (now owned by Frank Caes) during the years from 1934 to 1947. This farm borders the north bank of the Wapsipinicon River, northwest of Toronto, Iowa.

     The ice on the Wapsi was cut into blocks and stored in an ice house which was a building made of wood and located on the bank of the river. During the beginning of the business, the ice was sawed into 28” by 16” blocks by hand and later a power saw, made by Mr Milota was used. This consisted of a regular circular or buss saw, that was used for sawing wood, mounted with a Model T Ford motor for power, on a frame that was equipped with skids. This machine could easily be pulled or pushed when sawing ice.

     A sloping type elevator, operated by a gasoline engine, was used to lift the chunks of ice from the water to the ice house. A great amount of sawdust was used between the walls of the building and the ice as insulation for keeping out the summer heat, and some was used between the blocks of ice to keep them from sticking together.

     Mr Milota delivered ice every other day by truck to the towns of Massillon, Lowden, Toronto, some to Wheatland, and some throughout the rural area. The ice was weighed at the truck and the sawdust was hosed off with water, that was stored in a tank on the truck, before it was taken into the customer's home. It was then placed in an ice box for the purpose of preserving food. It was meant to be used for cooling only, and not for making ice water, or to be placed in the mouth as candy by boys who followed the ice truck with such intentions in mind.

SAND BUSINESS

    The sand business was accomplished by using a cable that was attached to a tree on the far or opposite side of the river and on the near side where the sand was to be dumped, the cable was fastened in a higher position. A large bucket was so attached to the cable, so that when it was pulled by a John Deere tractor, it would scoop up sand from the river. When the tractor ceased to pull and the tension on the bucket was released, it turned over, dumping the sand on a pile and then the weight of the bucket would cause it to slide back in the river. The John Deere tractor was also equipped with a loader which was used to lift the sand from the pile onto trucks. This sand business was discontinued in the '60s.

              Mrs Everett (Ruth Nieting) Kruckenberg

I REMEMBER WHEN -

. . . . . . the Lincoln Highway was cemented by counties. Cedar County was mud longer than surrounding counties and it gave both the Kemmann and Freund Garages an opportunity to be at the onset of the mud to sell chains. The services of the farmer to “pull out” the poor motorist was also much in demand.

     LeRoy Boettger