In 1900, Dawson City’s summer berry bounty – and the lack of ice to prolong its freshness – prompted a brief discussion about the merits of an ice plant all the way across the continent in the pages of the New York Times.
Though that summer’s news was about a month old when this article ran on Sept. 26, the writer felt clearly the irony of the need for anything chilly in the cold North.
(Alas, even after several searches in the Dawson City Museum Archives this summer, I couldn’t locate a photo either of the alleged ice machine stored in a warehouse and providing ice at 5 cents/pound, or of the warehouse involved. But am happy to report the wild raspberries, blueberries and raspberries are still abundant.)
PDF found online at the New York Times free archives.
meg walker 