§ 260. Cutting and harvesting ice by adjoining proprietors. Whenever the owner or lessee of lands bordering upon the Hudson river shall require the ice formed in said river between the center thereof and said lands for the purpose of filling any icehouse now erected, or which may at the time of the formation of such ice hereafter be erected on any such lands adjoining the same, such owner or lessee of said lands and icehouses shall have the exclusive privilege of cutting and harvesting all the ice so formed in said river in front of and adjacent to said lands and between the same and the center of said river; provided such owner or lessee shall have indicated his intention of exercising such privilege by staking out so much of said ice as shall be required for said purpose, which said staking out shall not be required to be done until the ice has attained a thickness of four inches; and provided, also, such owner or lessee shall surround the cuttings and openings made with fences of bushes or other safeguards to warn all persons of such cuttings and openings. And, whenever any icehouse is located on an island in said river, this article shall apply to all ice formed opposite the shores of such island in both channels into which said river shall be divided by such island, subject to the provision hereinafter contained; and it shall not be lawful for any person other than the owner or lessee of such lands and icehouses, whether located on the banks of the river or on such island, to take possession of or cut the ice so staked out in said river or channel between the center thereof and his lands, and the same is prohibited after such owner or lessee shall have complied with the foregoing requirements.