Ice Company, incorporated in San
Francisco for the ice trade under the
firm name of the American-Kumum
Trading Company, about the same
year, a rough draft of an agreement
for the term of three years, to take
from the Russian Colonies not less
than 1200 tons, on payment of from
£20. to £2.3 per ton, and larger quan
tities if requied The Russian Amer
ican Company obligated themselves
to construct in New Archangel an ice
house for storing of ioe and other ac
cessories to aid in ths convenient lad
ing of the product on the ships for
cransp irtatiun
With the larger development of the
trade m the Colonies the Russian
American Company made an ar
rangement that the taking of ice be
transfered to Kodiak Island also.
The abundance of lakes found about
the neighborhood of Paul 8 Harbor
ottered all conveniences for the sup
ply, in addition to the winter being
but.' r, at New Archangel the van
abl-ues9 <>f the temperature made the
preparation of the ice diftioult.
^)n the termination of the contract,
ano^h^r agreement wa* entered into,
in the nature of a trade partnership,
after a conference in St. Petersburg
between the presidenst of i he Russian
AmernMii Company and Mr. Sanders,
repre» mting the Ice ompany This
prov il* l fi r obtaining, f*»r thecourse
of » v nt\ vears, from the Russian
Dt.nin.i 'its on the Northwest Coast of
Am noa, and oil the islands of the
Pacific. Ocean, ice, timber, stone, coal
and fish, to sell for mutual profit in
the p »rti» of Western America, and
Australia. The contract exceeded the
1'iiiiN „f the Company’s Charter but
p^rmiss »n whs given for this 1 y the
Russian government, and also an ex
elusive right to the export of ice from
northeastern Asia.
In the beginning of IS,VI the Hub
sian American Company constructed
in New Archangel and Kodiak, addi
tional conveniences to provide for the
storage of from five to six thousand
tons. At the same time they began
the mining of coal on the Iveuai Gulf
in English Hay, under the manage
ment of an engineer who was sent out
from Russia with all necessary equip
ment.
The Ice Company had not suffici
ent capital f« r competing with the
powerful rivals who competed with
them and they caused much difficul
ty for the Russian American Com
pany by evasions of terms of the ag
reement and non payment of sums of
money due In such a condition of
affairs the Russian American Com
pany sent out a m w Chief Manager,
Mr. Furubelm, who came by the way
of San Francisco and a new contract
was made. Negotiations with the
Americans were quickly concluded to
the satisfaction on both sides. The
old agreement was annulled, and un
der the new terms th« Russian Amer
ican Company was to sell the Amer
ican Russian Company on Jan. 1st
1N63, three thousand tons at the price
of $7. per ton at the ship in New
Archangel or in Kodiak. This was to
he sold in Oregon, California or on
the Mexican coast. In other places
the trade right was reserved by the
Russian American Company.
From 1852 to July 1st 1802 there was
exported from the Russian Colonies
27,500 tons of ice. The revenue of the
Russian American Company on this
article, with the freight on the Com
pany's vessels, amounted to the sum
of $250,000.”