Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-07-27
. THE RISE IN ICE.
What the Ice Men Have to say
Some Particulars of the Ice Busi-

THE RISE IN ICE.
! What the Ice Men Have to say
Some Particulars of the Ice Busi-
ness.
The recent sudden rise In the price OF ice in
this city to consumers has caused quite a rip
pie Of excitement among our citizens, and some
STAR reporters were sent out to hear what the
| ice-dealers have to say about the matter. The
| first person called upon was Mr. c. Church
| representing the Independent Ice Company.
This company does large business In the ice
immense stores on the Kennebec river thou
sands OF tons TO other ice companies and deal
ers all over the country. Mr.. Church may be
having made II part of his regular business
for many years. He was found up TO his elbows
In orders for ice. These orders were mostly
from large Ice dealers In different parts of the
cOuntry-several of them from Maryland and
Virginia, who see the prospects of an Ice famine
ahead and are laying their plans to meet it.
! The subject turning upon the newspaper dis
cusson, Mr.. Church said very few persons
know how the case really stands. nor do the
public know that there is really danger OF an
Ice famine before the hot season is over, One
woul6tnfer, he said. from the published CORE.
spondence in THE STAR, that contracts had been
entered into between the Ice dealers and the
consumers generally In this city, and thai
the dealers are violating their contracts
with consumers. This is not the case at ali
he could only speak for the Independent Ic3
state that so far as his company was concerned
That In not single case, where contract had
been made, either written or orally, for the sun
ply OF ice through the season at stipulated
figures, mad there been any violation OF sIca
contract. The Independent Ice Company hl1
but few contracts with household consumers
STIPULATION In some cases had been made bv
them with some of the government departments
ana public and private Offices in the civ aud
IN no case had they been broken. The genera
scarcity OF this article, and the sudden demand
Iof IL from every quarter has had the effect
naturally enough, to raise the price and where
DO St1pulatlOl5 have been made with consu.
mefS Tor supplying them throughout the season
at nAeu rates they are regarded as transient
customers, and should not COMPLAIN at the
rise. " ~
Scr Where does the Independent Ice
Company obtain their ice from? ?"
c." Wholly from the Kennebec river where
they have site and fce-houses built: NOT a
pound comes from any other place."
Sar -" Have the company sufficient sup
ply for the District for the season %
CT think so, but our supplies would SOON
cities ?7 --- '''i0i
Sor -" Do you furnish to other c,ties?n
Yes, quite heavily, but not half so
lreely as we could. We propose to look out for
the District first and outsiders afterwards"
here MI. Z. ran over his orders, showing so
many tons tor dealers in Baltimore Richmond
Norf0lk, Alexandria and several smaller cities
and towns In Maryland and Virginia and fur
Their south also from New York
star -. How do the prices 10 Maine cornnarn
with those OF last year,
c." Ice last year On the Kennebec river was
drug at 81 per ton, and we carried over 8. 900
IONS IL Is now selling for all the way from s.
10 81 per ton there, while prices here are not
more than double that OF last year-at whole
Sale.n
S.ar:-"What are your retail rates here, deIly-
ered?" - 0--''-
C.:-'Delivered from wagons at houses or
places OF business, 100 pounds or more for CD
cents; 20 pounds, 30 cents; 30 pounds, 35 cents;
25 pounds, 20 cents; and less than % pounds AT
one cent per pound"
S0T:-''What at the wharves?"
C:-"Fofty cents per hundred to transient
trade; OF course we furnish our dealers who
sell from carts at less prices than those given"
Sdr:-"Do you place any restrictions upon
your cartnen and dealers who sell from wagons
as 10 price, or let them charge as they please?"
C.:-"Certainly We do. They are every one of
them required and bound not to charge more
than the retail prices stated We control them
as 1ar as the maximum rate Is concerned"
Ndr:-" Ihen you admit that there has been
city," 49, 't'''
c." Certainly there has, and there may be
still higher rate. The heated season is not
and demand Will very likely increase the pres
emu IlguIe5. other cities are IN Ipuca worse
Sdr:-" How is that?n
c." There is not city In the United States
from Boston to San NDancisco at the present
tlIle, where ice is selling so cheap as in this
city. and none that has so good prospect OF a
supply through the entire season; yet these
people complain. Ice retails in the city of Bos-
rates here"
nom whom do they mostly conner"
Go. yes; people would complain IL the |
rates We're half at those stated. Many of those |
VINO complain are restaurant keepers; some
from 9s
keepers; but perhaps most of the compl hints |
come from flye-cent customers, on whom there
has been no rise"
Sdr:-"What quantity of ice have you now
In store On the Kennebec?"
C.:-"AbOut 0,G00 tons
Sdr:-" How many ice-houses have you
there?7
c." Nine, with capacity OF about 80 900
Sor:-" Do you I'LL these every year,"
C.:-'Yes, although sometimes it has to be
done by cultivation, when the season is not
cold enough
Yar:-'What do you mean by cultivation"
Cit frequently happens early In the cold
eight or ten inches, that very heavy snow
storms come covering the ice two or three feet
thick and preventing it freezing thicker. We
then have to get men and teams with scrapers
and other appliances and remove this snow
from the entire field Of operations After this
Is done we put our groove pl0ugls TO work and
groove 1t all over 10 depth WITHIN sl2 inches
Of the bottom OF the Ice These grooves let In
the cold air to near the water and accelerates
freezing. In this way Ee thicken our ice,
which otherwise would remain fer weeks at
about the same thickness Sometimes til,
operation has 20 be repeated two or three times
before we get 1t thick enough. This is what
We Cal cultivating ice. 1--we depended entirely
On nature we would sometimes fan In our
crops
Sicr:-" Why is the Kennebec river preferred
10 other large rivers In Maine for gathering |
tce?"
c." For the reason that there are less fac
tories and lumber mills On that river, and the |
water is purer."
Stdr:-''How about the Androscoggln and the |
PenObscOt rivers?" |
C.:-'The Androscoggin has large cotton tar
tories at Lewiston Falls, which injure thu |
water, and the PenobscOt Is filled with SaWdIst |
and other debris from the large lumber trade, |
the water almost It's entire |
length, making 1t almost impossible to get clear |
ice"
YGr:-"How does the Kennebec ice compare |
as 70 quality with other Ice In the markeJ?p
Git stands at the front for purity and it |
cannot be surpassed, as this river takes It's rise
in the Moosehead lake region, In the northern |
part Of the state, and Is fed by almost tnnu-
meraole mountain streams nearly its entire
length. There can be no purer river water"
Sdr:-'How does the rate OF freight here |
compare with that OF other cities?"
C.:-"The freight TO Washington from the
kennebec is the same now paid to New York.
Philadelphia and Baltimore. This Is owing to
the fact that we were never better prepared
TO take large class OF vessels than now, as we
are having ouT channel deepened."