Ice in the Summer, Naturally

Your grandparents or great-grandparents could probably tell you about a time when there were no refrigerators or freezers. Food had to be kept cold in a cabinet that had a large block of ice in it. The ice was delivered to each house every week by an "ice man." He brought the ice from an ice house where it was kept frozen-- even in the summer.

Do you know where the ice came from? It came from nature. Every year in January or February, ice was cut from many lakes and ponds near the town of Wautoma. When the ice was thick enough, the snow was plowed off a large area. Men used a long hand saw to cut out a block. Horses carried the blocks to a small house. In the house, the ice was stacked. Sawdust from a local sawmill was packed between each block. The whole house was filled with ice and sawdust. The sawdust kept the ice from melting during the summer. Each day during the rest of the year, the ice man went to the ice house, filled his truck with ice blocks and delivered it.

Many years ago, the water was clean and unpolluted. Men could cut large blocks of ice from the ponds and lakes to be used in food preparation. The water in Wautoma pond was very clear. It tasted good. One "ice man" remembers that children would follow the delivery truck hoping to find a small piece of ice to suck on. A block of ice cost a family about 15 cents. During the hot summer months, many people bought the ice, put it in a window and directed a fan on to the melting ice. This blew cool air into a room. This is how homes were cooled before the invention of air conditioners.

As you go to your freezer and fill your glass with ice cubes or enjoy a bowl of ice cream, remember a time when it was not so easy to do that. The long and hard process of harvesting ice and keeping it all summer long is only a memory today.

Source: Reetz, E., Come Back in Time Vol. II. 1982.

 

The Man Who Planted
Trees for You

There once was a man who did something special for you. He planted trees for you. This man lived more than 100 years ago. While most of the people around him were cutting down trees, this man was planting them. In the late 1800's logging companies were cutting down the forests in Wisconsin. The lumber was used to build houses and buildings in the growing cities of our state. However, the logging process left the land bare except for stumps. Almost no one at that time replanted the forests.

Walter Macon Ware lived in Hancock, a small community in Waushara County. In 1876 he was celebrating his 41st birthday. The United States was also celebrating a birthday. That year, our country was 100 years old. Mr. Ware saw what careless logging was doing to the land around his house, and in 1876, he decided to give his country a birthday present. He replanted the land.

Many large pine trees were growing in a marsh near Hancock. The marsh provided a perfect place for the trees to grow because the soil was very moist. There were many old, tall trees, but there were also small, young trees growing underneath them. Mr. Ware wondered if he could replace the forests by taking the young trees and planting them on the land that was now bare.

In 1876, the Ware family worked very hard to carry 1,876 small trees to their new home. Mr. Ware dug each tree out of the soft marsh soil. He was very careful and made sure that the roots were not harmed. He loaded the trees into wagons and oxen pulled them to the place that they were planted.

The trees began to grow and a new forest replaced one that had been cut down. Mr. Ware knew that the logging companies and the lumber was important, but he also knew that it was important to replace what had been taken from the land.

Many of the trees Walter Ware planted are still standing today. You can see them in Waushara County near Second Avenue and County Road O, about four miles northwest of Hancock. In 2002, the trees became 126 years old. They have provided a home to many birds and animals over the years and are a reminder of what one man did for the land he loved.

Source: Allison, B. and E. Durbin, Wisconsin's Famous and Historic Trees. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Books, 1982.