Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-06
A PRACTICAL ICE TRUST.
All the Companies Agree Upon . Scale Of
Prices.


Prices.
For one year at least, dating from the Is,
instant the people Of the District will enjoy the
advantage of an ice trust, the ice companies
doing business here having entered into an
agreement under which the price of ice has
been advanced 100 per cent to the consumer.
Every company here is a party to this agree
ment, and as the individual dealers. those who
sell from their own wagons, are entirely de-
pendent upon the big companies for their sup
ply of ice, these small dealers are, Of course
governed by the prices Of those from whom
they purchase and must, therefore, also raise
the price. So, during the year ending July /,
1893, the people Of the District will either pay
twice as much for their ice as they have paid
during the last year and half, or they will do
without it.
WHAT THE COMPANIES SAT.
The ice companies state that during this and
last season they have made nothing, and that
the advance made by them was an act Of abso-
lutte necessity. They state, also, that the ad-
vance merely raises the price Of ice to what it
was year and a half ago. They do not deny
that last winters crop was a full one, nor do
they deny that the demand for ice has de-
creas ed. 1t is contended by them that 80 per
cent OF the ice gathered in the north is lost be-
loss, together with the cost Of transportation
and the handling and delivery Of it here, rem
ders 1t impossible to adhere to the former
prices. 1t is for these reasons. they say, and
not because OF any desire to unduly Cypress
the purchaser, that the advance hf been made.
The cut in prices, the older companies con-
tend, was made by those companies manufac-
turing their own ice, and the present advance
or resumption Of the old prices was due to o
suggestion of these manufacturing companies,
who now realize that it is impossible to make
the business paw under the low prices.
Notwithstanding these contentious, it is a fact
that the business Of the manufacturing COM
panies has increased to such an extent under
the cut prices that they are today compelled to
purchase natural ice to supply the demands Of
their patrons The companies state that there
has been comparatively little objection offered
to the advance by their patrons, very much
less than was anticipated, in fact, and that the
agreement will be strictly adhered by every
company to 1t.
NO ICE ON SUNDAY.
Another agreement between the local ice COM
panies, which also dates from the LIST instant
is one which will prevent the delivery hereafter
Of ice on Sundays. The companies state that
this agreement was entered into at the request
of their employees, who claim that it is hard
ship to compel them to work on the Sabbath,
thereby robbing them Of the one day Of rest to
which they claim they are Justly entitled. Such
a demand was made by the employees of the
different companies at the beginning of the
season, and a bill looking to its enforcement
has been favorably reported in Congress. No
advantage whatever accrues to the companies
in this matter, they claim, and the agreement
was simply made for the benefit Of q class of
employees who are among the hardest worked
men in the District
THE NEW RATES.
The rates under the new agreement are as
follows: At wharves and depots-25 cents to
40 cents per 100 pounds, according to quantity.
To retail trade, stores, restaurants, &C., deliv-
cred from wagons-35 cents per 100 pounds.
Family trade-50 pounds or more at one de-
livery at the rate Of so cents per 100 pounds
25 to so pounds at one delivery at the rate of 60
cents per 100 pounds. Is pounds for 10 cents
pounds for 5 cents.