"He ran into an ice wagon, was thrown from his wheel under the hind wheel and his ribs crushed in."
In the days before refrigeration, let alone air conditioning, New Yorkers depended on ice wagons to deliver to them freezing blocks of comfort and survival. In Brooklyn alone in the 1880s, residents required 50,000 tons of ice each summer. That meant a lot of ice wagons on the streets and plenty of mishaps resulting from them, as the following stories from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle demonstrate.
••••••••••
“Undertaker Kane Was Thrown From His Wagon” (May 26, 1885): “Benjamin Kane, an undertaker doing business on Sixth Street, near North Fifth, was thrown from his wagon on North Second Street, after colliding with an ice wagon last Wednesday, and sustained injuries from which he has since died.
Mr. Kane, who was a young man and not long ago married was well known to the Fourteenth Ward. The young wife was so stricken with grief at the demise of her husband that her life hung in the balance for twelve hours. She is now considered out of danger.”
••••••••••
“Hurt By a Cake of Ice” (August 12, 1895): “John Hilken, 26 years old, at 427 Marcy Avenue, was loading his ice wagon at the foot of Hewes Street this morning, when he was accidentally cut over the eye with an ice pick. George Wood, another ice man of 60 Sumpter Street, fainted at the sight of blood and when an ambulance surgeon arrived to treat Hilken, he found that Wood was more in need of attention. Hilken’s wound was sewed up and Wood was restored to consciousness to be laughed at by fellow ice men.”
••••••••••
"The body of a man almost 50 years old, who was known as 'Pegleg Jimmy,' was found this morning in an ice wagon"
“Found Dead in an Ice Wagon” (November 24, 1902): “The body of a man almost 50 years old, who was known in the neighborhood of Montgomery and South Streets, Manhattan, as ‘Pegleg Jimmy,’ was found this morning in an ice wagon that had been left over night on Pier 49, East River. He was a cripple and walked with crutches, which were found lying beside his body. The police of the Madison Street station, to whom the find was reported, and who took charge of the case are of the opinion that the man died of exposure, as he was insufficiently clothed for the chilliness of last night.”
••••••••••
“Boy Bicyclist Killed” (August 13, 1897): “William McKenna, 16 years old, of 511 East Thirteenth Street, New York, met a horrible death this morning while riding a bicycle on Twenty-first Street, just west of Gramercy Park. He ran into an ice wagon, was thrown from his wheel under the hind wheel and his ribs crushed in. One of the ribs pierced his heart, causing instant death.”
••••••••••
“Train Smashes Ice Wagon” (August 14, 1897): “At 8 o’clock this morning a train on the Norton’s Point division of the Long Island Railroad crashed into an ice wagon owned by Peter Kappelman of West Second Street, Coney Island, at the corner of Railroad Avenue and West Twenty-first Street. The wagon was completely wrecked and James McCutcheon, 42 years old, of West Fifth Street and Sheepshead Bay Road, the driver, was thrown out on his head. He was not badly hurt.”