Evening journal., 1893-05-20
THE ice KINGS COMB Inc.
Wilmington Consumers Have
to Pay Big Money.
BIG THREE" CONTROL THE MARKET

A Man who Buys ~. 800 Worth OF Ice
a Year Tells a Reporter why Ice Sells
at sc Ton In Wilmington aud So a
Ton in Philadelphia From SO to $40
Per Ton TO Small Consumers.
The consumers Of ice in Wilmington
are beginning TO ask one another the
question, "Why are we compelled to pay
SO and upwards a ton for ice when it rs
being sold in Philadelphia and other
cities for So tonY'
They assert that the three leading ice
companies doing business in this city
have formed combination TO keep the
price up to the highest notch, despite
the cheapness Of the commodity in other
cities
In order to test the feeling among
the consumers an EVENING JOURNAL
reporter stepped into the place Of bust
ness Of one of the largest ice cream man.
ufacturers yesterday afternoon and, by
way Of leading up to the matter at
issue. asked
What do you think is the outlook In
the ice cream trader
1T will depend entirely upon the
weather dnring the season. The bust
ness prospect looks very favorable to
me
''What davors do you find the best
sellersf"
vanilla is the standard. Next 20 It
at this stage of the season Is strawberry.
| Chocolate also has many lovers
Does much Of the cream made in
Wilmington go TO points outsider
u. .I..a O.. i.
Rehopoth, Salisbury and Crisheld.
"Do you send any into New Jersey"
Every little, il any You see, it takes
so many transfers to get it to points there.
The Salem manufacturers enjoy almost a
monopoly there.
"How many gallons Of ice cream do
you suppose are manufactured in VIII
mington In a yearY'
zone man says he made 30 600 gal
Ions last year. ! suppose Wilmington
consumes from 60, COO to 60 600 gallons
Of Ice cream in year, or one gallon for
every man, woman and child in the city.
This does not include water ices You
see, there are four wholesalers here. TO
say nothing of the many small manufac
turers
"ls the business growing
"Oh, yes lt has improved consider
ably within the past few years / can't
sag that it has doubled itself within the
last ten years, but still it has very
largely increased In the first place,
there are more people here.
"And they are eating more cream-it
Is becoming more the fashion,
"Nes. To illustrate. At one time
there was a trial over in New Jersey A
man was arrested for selling ice cream
on Sunday The judge, in his charge,
said that at one time ice cream was con-
sidered luxury, but that now IL had be.
come necessity. On the strength of
this charge the prisoner was acquitted
without the jury leaving the box.
"The public will have it nowY
"Oh, yes they have come TO regard IL
as one of the staple articles of food.
Hard on the Combine.
'Do you have your own ice house and
harvest your own ice, or do you have to
buy2"
II buy The reason l do it Is that,
should I build an ice house there are
seasons when there Is no Ice, and
would be at all the expense with no
assurance Of a harvest Of the natural
: product"
"what do you have to pay ton for
lce3"
ut costs us about SO per ton. OF
course the small consumers pay even
more than that"
81 see by advertisements that ice is
being sold in Philadelphia at 50 per ton
5 Why is It that you Wilmington consum
ers have TO pay "a more a ton than the
q Philadelphisnsg'
The only reason / can give is that
there is a combination of ice dealers here
formed for the purpose Of keeping al
1 prices.
How many ice dealers are there il
b. this combination
n "There are only three companies her
p and they practically enjoy a monopoly o
. the trade One manufactures artifcia
q ice. It is called the Diamond Ice Com
\ pany. The others are called Jack Fros
companies because they deal In tn
natural product. They get their suppl
Y down East, as a general thing but las
q season they harvested a great deal O
J. ice somewhere in the neighboIhood o
d C0atesville, Pa.
a "what companies deal in the naturl
productgo
s 'The Consumers Ice and Coal Com
I. pany and the Cold Spring Ice Company.
Is nave luu large NunnAutAn NNNA AAAI
d to break this combination 2"
Il mo. sir.
v Ever thought about making such a
attempt 2"
"Not to my knowledge"
I "Think the ice is cheap enough
A' ''Well, no; we don't think it is chea
enough, but the ice companies think
'r is
ID Would it not be cheaper for you
buy your ice in Philadelphia, where 1t
al selling at 81 a ton than TO buy 1t hel
for S62'
es "Well, that is the question. VIII
u, would it cost TO transport it here aft
ID we bought itl That Is something thl
e has TO be looked after
Don't you know what It would co.
Ie you to get it here p
AZ "The Philadelphia dealers offered
deliver il here for "a a ton. Well, WHIT
20 a man goes to work and expends mon'
m in hauling It, how much cheaper won
ed il beg Here the ice wagon comes rig
"a to your door and you can get 1000
3. 900 pounds, just as you want it.
admit that the ice is dearer than