The evening world., 1894-04-05
THEIR REEz Out.
The Poor Will Suffer in the Game
with the Ice Barons.
Quality Poor, Quantity Small; Hence
Prices Are Put Up.
But Local Dealers Shift the Blame
Onto the Hnrvestcrs.

i''''lhNtNN IVY 'lll nv lthNH u nv pun
Ia a question which faces those con-
sumers who find it an absolute necessity,
AMI in no way a luxury. And any al
vance in the price Of ice by the pro-
duccrs. the harvoatcrs. directly affects
the pockets Of the poorest people in this
city.
In this city there are about fifteen
great harvestcrs OF ice. They supply
5o' dealers who, in turn. deliver 1t from
door to door. The question arises. in the
event Of Hn advance In the price OF ice.
who viii be held responsible?
Already there has been an advance in
rates. 1t went into effect April /, when
the producers lifted the price per ton
ION the bridge" as the term goes when
lee is delivered into the yellow-paInted
vans. from $50 a ton OF 1000 pounds
to 81 Il ton.
Thr reason for this advance, ns pre-
scented by the producers, was. In the
first place. that the crop In this neigh
horhood for the Winter of 1894 was
but 100000 tons. ns against 3,4oO,OoO tons
In lS92-o1. In other words last Winters
crop of ice was SOb.bN tons less than the
previous Winter, In the second place.
tn" last harvest of Ice T.. regarded 10y
the producers as greatly Inferior in quail
ity to the previous years gathering.
being largely an admixture Of snow and
Ice. In addition to it's being considerably
thinner
AS ice is cut and stored In cakes. the
harvcstcrs tell us that 1t costs just AS
much to harvest thin ice as It docs
ice of uncommon thickness. Therefore,
they add, they have been compelled to
lift the price - cents n ton this
year, This Is an increase of 20 per cent.
to begin with. ON this increased basis
the pcrambulatinE dealers have cstab-
lishcl the following schedule of prices
beginning April |:
To butchers. saloons, ]milkmon, srocers n.h
dealers anil others who require large quantities
80 GO rs r hundred pounds.
To families
u to Ia pounds daily triN DAYS a week). 70
p cents n week,
e is to 20 pounds daily. so cents a week.
% pounds daily, 10 cents per 100 pounds.
Analyzing the above rates. which. by
the way. are in vogue for the present
time only. and subject TO, an increase
from day to day, it is found that a fam
/, lily which cannot afford to take twenty
five pounds OF ice every day for the
week of six days. is Obliged to pay 20
cents for ninety pounds, or at , rate of
o about IL cents y hundred pounds.
r Al once the thought suggests itself,
How many poor families on the east
J., side arc there VIII" can AFFORD a big
lay Investigation n past Summers
proves beyond cavil hat the unfortunate
, poor indeed consider themselves blessed
II they mango to get a hvc-pound or a
~ton-pound chunk of the invigOrating
1t article. Measured! h the schedule above
the unfortunate iaother who, needs a
a piece Of Ice to prevent the gill Of milk
,e she has In the cupboard for her starving
n children from s%ouring. would fnd herself
paving over one cent a pound for It.
There is shown a profit % 81 a ton
from the rate Of 'on the bridge" And
y a profit. too, IF nenr.y 500 per cent;
>, contributes to the profits OF the com,
II modify. Into whose pockets does this
$ enormous profit fall. II is rather hard te
Is charge boldly that the producer, the har,
vester. gets II. and surely the driver OF
the rumbling canary-colored cart hardly
absorbs II all.
The 800 ice-cart men who peddle ice
! say with one accord that the prices they
charge, which figure in the above sched'
ule, pay them only n fair profit. All the
expenses of delivering the Ice are borne
by the peddler.
He pays n helpers wages, and has the
other expenses OF n team Of horses and
n wagon to meet before he can think OF
setting anything aside for himself and
d family, If the ~ice-cart men had no Gus
toners other than those families. who
purchased twenty-five pounds daily at
30 cents a hundred pounds, his profits
"A on a ton would be s..
1t is undoubtedly on that basis that
v these 5G0 retailers figure that their protts
t. are only fair when their expenses are
a taken out. But, as n fact, they deliver
"A ice in as many instances to people wh0
ii take only "A ten or even a five pound
chunk. every day, as they do to thos.
n who are regular customers for 100 or ~
pear, on the surface. from the figures
Il above, that the individual driver de
ii rives the greatest, percentage OF proht
in comparison with the harvester.
Now. there is the undeniahle fact tina
lee is going higher. when an "l;venini
10 Worll' man asked the President ~ on,
a. this city az to the o~utlqoH, the reply
a was that he really couldn't tell" IL
didn't think il would go 50 hiSh ina
i charg" ~ cents a nun !rci pounis I
- the butchers and other large consumers
y. "Of course" he AIDED, there is IN.
80 IN, demand for ice hadn't begun"
y Just so surely as the heated weathe
begins, the demand vii aris" and n
n price will rise, too. II the price, tn
q johhing price reaches ~ cents a hundred
weight. which is an Increase OF 90 ,
Ne per cent. the price 10 the stnryini
no ~ lee viii approximate the rate of. tw
cents a pound, or at "A rate of $40
is ton, And this for an absolute neces
" Apparently there is no relief Their
are rhrsr or four companies manutaC
turing ior in this city. They say III"
haven't the combined capacity Tor turn
ing out more than in tons "A day. An
besides. they admit they cannot max
In Ice at any less per ton than IN" har
Of yrSt'rs can AFFORD t" sell It on IN
IL Tihc relief could be secured If NOR" ic
manufactures were established, hut III
1g halance-shects Of those in the bushes
sr at present show such dOlcful result
- that the industry is not encouraged
II intercollegiate Debating Union.
The conference at columbia college for n
VI formation Z an Intercollegiate Debating Union
over Harvard. Vale. columbia. Princeton an
the University OF Pcnnsyl'inih were representa-.
It is proposed ia Mold a discussion each month h
an he societies ~ % question previously ssr""
n upon Permanent officers we're elected as follows
Frrsiieu'. earl N-naran. Harvard Nlrr-ffes
r lent. " Y Lrric. Yale Recording serreitr,
Sheppard Knapp lr, Columbia Iorrcsponiif
Secretary. II \ June. Pennsylvania, and Trea'