L.W. Martin was in the business for about forty years. His pond was about one mile up Wills Creek known as Shady Cove. The wagons were yellow. My father William Edwin Bevan bought his land from Stephen Priest in 1897. It was quite a section of land which had a natural indentation along a stream that ran into the Ohio River. Since our livehood depended upon the ice business everything had to be done at the right time. Deliveries had to be made each day, but time also had to be planned for the preparation of the pond. The pond had to be drained in the summer, all debris removed, and scrapped throughly then left to dry out. In the fall the water was turned in and the spillway opened so the water could be kept at a constant level. The tools were sharpened and thoroughly checked as to the number; then placed in the tool house. The straw was ordered and delivered. It was also stored. The sawdust was piled just inside the ice house.
The man that owned the Steam Engine, (Mr. John Sanders of Wintersville, Maurice's grandfather) was hired and all available men were contacted by the
grapevine (I will explain later) since we owned the only telephone in the valley. After a week of below freezing weather then things would really hum in the valley. That was a real tip for all concerned to be on their toes.
Everyone would listen for the Chug, Chug, Chug of the steam engine coming down Paddy's Mudd Road. It was used to operate the conveyor belt. Then they would really know that it was time for them to don their winter clothes and
go to work. If any snow had fallen; it would be removed. The ice had to be from 9 to 14" in thickness to be economical, because some would be lost in thawing. The men must really know how to handle the saws, tow the ice by
the gigpole and keep from falling into the icy water. The ice was scored by a plow drawn by a horse or a gasoline engine. The spaces must be correct as the dimensions of a cake of ice was standard for a given weight. The ice
was sawed and then towed by the gigpole to the chute. The endless chain conveyor would carry it to the lowest level first; then as the house was being filled the next level would be used. The ice was placed flat on a straw covered
floor then each layer would be placed on each other. The straw would be used for the ends. It would be necessary to quarry the ice in the summer as the layers would thaw together. Straw was used to cover the ice to keep it
from thawing too much. It took five good days to fill each house. If the weather was right one could get about two crops of ice from the pond because the water would freeze where you cut the ice first. Some ice was stored in
another top building to be used for commercial winter customers. All windows and doors were secured so that no warm air could enter. We had a large retail trade for summer and a year round commercial trade so we were always
happy when we got the ice houses filled. Each cake would weigh 200# and at that time ice was selling at 80 cents a cwt.
Since so many sub-divisions were built on the hills and sewage piped down into the valley it was too dangerous to cut the ice on the pond so in 1916 my father built an artificial plant. During the summer of 
1917, men had been sent off to war so I was my father's helper at the plant. I would stove the furnace, remove the ashes, oil the boiler, feed pumps and watch the water gauge while my father slept a few hours.
I also carried 25# of ice to the water works each summer day for about ten years. As I said before we had the only telephone in the valley operated by the Phoenix Phone Co. and my brother called it Folke Fone--truly he was right
because it was the communication center of the village and was in constant use especially to call the Doctor. Dr. Edward J.C. Sanders was the one who made house calls during the day or night. He would travel by street car to
Alikanna; walk to our house and pick up a lantern which was only a candle in a lard bucket; because he would be traveling up and down the creek and over the hills. He was quite dubious about the light until he tried it one dark
night and from them on it was part of his equipment.
In Alikanna we could boast of having the first four family house or condominium called "Bed Bug Row" owned by a prominent family in Steubenville. As long as I can remember we had folks on relief; since my Dad was the Island
Creek Township Trustee, he wrote out store orders for clothing, coal and groceries. One wonders at times where nicknames originate. One day one of the men took his order to the famous Paul Castner Store for flour; he was given
a certain brand but refused it and demanded "Pillsbury's Best" so from that time on he was known as Pillsbury's Best Bill". I also got the name of "Ice" from the gang on the corner as I carried the ice to the water works. Some
say that nothing comes from Alikanna. What about the Stone for large paper mills around the world? Coal from the Castners mine? The good times at Stanton Park and the beautiful Casino overlooking Half-Moon? There we raised five
ministers--5 Doctors--Eisenhowers Pilot, many nurses and teachers. In looking over the territory at the present time one would think that I was telling a falsehood because there are no trace of ponds, buildings and etc. Since
New Route Seven was built the dirt was hauled to fill in the area. So it will only be the oldsters that remember the territory and it's parage of red, yellow and blue wagons every day.
