The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-04-05

demand II Il were properly distributed, thc
situation Ia tempting one for dealers VINO
are disposed 10 exaggcratc the scarcity ana
force the consumer to pay Whatever tney
may choose 10 demand. The competition
In The trade Is 30 great In New York, how
ever, that II Ia hardly within the power OF
few men to do this. Ice Is now shipped
from great distances to any point where u
can find the best market, and high price
here would speedily attract an unusual Tor
cign supply, even ut the expense OF less
important places.
Much thin Zee has been gathered on the
Hudson and Connecticut rivers and Lake
Champaign. This, as was remarked ny an
important dealer the other day, Is Just as
good for the consumer, but lessons the
profits OF the dealer, because II costs more
for handling. The thickest ice cut IN TINS
State b probably not more than ten inches,
while last year 1t varied from fifteen 10
eighteen. II Is estimated that the amount
of old ice stored along the Hudson does
not exceed 200, 900 tons, and the new crop
has not been over 100000 tons. A great
deal OF this, II must be remembered, goes
elsewhere than TO this city. Said Dir. W. A.
RaI,antiue. treasurer of the knickerbocker
Ire COMPANY, Yesterday: "Much ice must
be- brought here from distance, and the
freight charges will increase its price.
Lake Champlaip ice, for example, which
comes to us by way Of the Champlain
canal in small barges, costs double what
Hudson-river ice does. In an ordinary
winter we gather all the ice that Is re-
quired by our trade and transport 1t in our
own boats. Now we have to charter
schooners to bring the greater part OF II
from Maine"
PROBABILITIES AS TO THE ICE SUPPLY.
"Do YOU think there win be anything
like an ice famine or corner in ice this
summer" 80,
"No, do not. believe the supply will
be found to equal the demand, II great
part OF 1t Is not kept back by spectators.
Still, the people cannot look for low prices.
We ourselves are buyers OF ice. The crop
Is about enc third less than 1t usually il.
think that the lively competition which en-
lists In the ice trade in this city will prevent
anything like serious corner What ice
there is is already distributed in many
hands. We have had other warm and open
winters, much more so than the last,
which have not caused great scarcity OF
ice. That OF 1873 was such one, and al
though the competition was then less than
it is now prices did not mount very much.
Three wears before there was q real scarcity,
and 81 q hundredweight was the prices
For a little while we got ZIG ton. There
was no ice at all on the Hudson that year,
and the Maine haryesters held theirs for the
very highest bid. At such times there is
notmuch money made by the dealers-it
nearly all goes into the pockets OF the har-
yesters."
From the standpoint o. New York
company, which do YOU prefer season
when there is little ice or one in which ii is
PLENTIFUL"
"The season when it is plentiful. Our
profits are then very much greater than
when we have to buy ice ourselves
wherever we can get 1t. Many things con
duee to increase the expenses OF the ice
companies this year, and one which is OF
10 little importance is the cost Of oats with
which to feed the horses that are driven
before our wagons. Last winter oats were
thirty cents bushel; now they are sixty
five cents. In order, besides, to prevent
our icemen from leaving us at the most
critical time Of the season, when ice was
ripe and ready to be cut, we advanced
their wages on demand. So you see our
position is not nearly so good as it was last
year."
According to recent reports from Maine.
the Kennebec ice-gatherers are already de-
advanced prices-from twenty
five TO fifty cents per ton higher than
they were last year. They are counting
upon another season like that OF 1850. when
ice was so scarce that it was imported from
Norway, and when they demanded and got
almost anything that pleased them. In the
opinion OF those who know, however, they
are destined to be disappointed.-N eu
Tork Herald, 4h