Evening star., 1898-08-06
FEAR AN ICE FAMINE
Natural Ice Said to Be Running
Short in This City.
ONE SCHOONER GETS IN YESTERDAY
Other Vessels Are Anxiously Looked
for by Dealers.
T II E S / t L A L / y N

For the last week Washington has been
threatened with an ice famine, and unless
Boreas deals fav orally with the fourteen
sells now en- route to the city from
Maine Sundly will Grd Washington with
out any ice. except the small daily supply
furnished ny the artificial ice manufac-
tories in the city, which falls almost Il
thousands tols caily short of the normal
supply for the city during the hot months.
Ice dealers refuse to supply new customers,
ard for the past three Gays in the residence
portions of the city many of the ice wagons
lave informed their customers that they
could not promise TO deliver ice the follow
ing days unless the ice-laden schooners
from the north reached the city. Some of
the retail de:;lers have raised the price OF
ice from 10 to 90 cents per hundred pounds.
and this price promises TO hold unless the
ioLg-looke ked-for vessels speedily arrive
According 10 the calculations of the deal
ers in co1gealed moisture. the daily con-
sumption of ice in the city during the
months of June. July and August will aver
age 700 tons daily. OF this 200 tons daily
are supplied by the artificial ice manufac-
tories four in number, and the other 1.Vp
by the four principal dealers in the Maine
product. On the average. four or five
sChooners each carrying about 1.SO0 tons
o. ice. reach the city each week during the
hot months and the tour natural ice com
pa nies usually keep about 2isD tons eacn
in reserve in their storage cellars during
these months, ard iris reserve has proc
riCalIy kept the town supplied with f2e dur
ing the past ten days. during which time
only one vessel laden with ice has arrived
at this port. The suburban towns sur
rounding this city depend upon these COM
F,y hair NlyT Of
past few days ave been unable TO secure
even a few pounds from the companies
ard suffered consequently during the very
hot weather lately. Rockville. Md. was
without ice from Monday until Wednesday,
except such scraps as the dealers could BUY
from the farmers about the town who nad
made a slight harvest last year. and TINS
Ice was dirty and so filed with sticks ana
straws as to be hardly fit to use in drink
Ing water.
Not "a Pound to Be Bought.
Thursday evening there was not pound
Of ice to be purchased at any Of the dis
tributing points for I atural ice, and the
wagon drivers were told that they might
have TO cut their customers supply in half
on the next day. This had been threaten
ed for a couple of days. and some of the
small customers were cut off altosether
The wholesale customers. saloonkeepers,
butchers and the like have been furnished
their full supply, but they also are likely TO
suffer unless some of the vessels oringlnS
the ice arrive shortly.
At 9 O'Clock Thursday evening the badly
Worried managers of the natural ice COM
panies saw an ocean-going tug turn the
bend of the river, dragging in her wake
deeply-laden three-masted schooner. and
scarcely q more welcome sight could have
come into their range of vision. During the
whole of the hot day they had waited and
watched for such vessel, almost groanlng
each time block of ice was raised from
fbair 1aFIa- -pF1 and the sight of
the schooner was the cue for a general
sigh Of relief from all concerned. The yes
sci was the Agnes Manson. three-masted
schooner from Gardner, Maine. and was
laden with 800 tons of kennebec ice. Sew
eral Ocean-going tugs have been watching
off the Virginia capes for the ica vessels
bound for Washington for the past week,
and this vessel was Immediately taken in
tow and brought to Washington under
full head of steam. On this supply of ice
the city was furnished during yesterday
and will probably be fully supplied today.
but tomorrow will find this amount all
gone, and unless more arrives the ice fam
Inc will be a fact.
The Ice Fleet BecaImed.
The captain Of the Agnes Hanson stat
ed to the officers of the ice companies that
the Ice fleet had met with a remarkable
calm off the coast and had made no head
way for several days He said that in his
entire experience as the captain of coast
ing vessel he had not experienced similar
weather. and his voyage had simply been a
drift with some slight headway under f1awy
winds. The schooner Charles Noble Thom-
as, he said. was only short distance in
his wake. and Ii is upon this vessel that the
Ice dealers base their hopes of supplying
the city with ice during the next few days.
The tugs cruising off the capes have orders
TO bring all ice vessels sighted to the CITY
with the greatest speed and a good breeze
for day will probably bring several of the
ed from Gardner. Maine. bound for this
port within sight of the capes and thus
avert the threatened famine.
The dealers in the kennebec ice in Wash
lngton. four of the largest concerns of the
kind In the city, have a cooperative plan
by which all are supplied from the differ
ent vessels arriving during a period of
scarcity of the product. The agreement is
that as long as either of the companies has
any ice ii is to be divided pro rata among
the differ ene companies and when the Ag-
mes Manson tied up al the 10th street
Rharf Thursday evening her cargo was
equally distributed among the different
companies The cargces of other vessels
arriving will each be treated in the same
III ahner until enough arrive to stock the
siore houses of all the companies
Appeals TO Baltimore by the suburban
towns for supply of ice have met with
the reply that that city is also short and
tan OTIer no relief to its sister city The
enects OF an ice famine during such wealth.
er as washington has experienced during
the past few days would be dreadful and
the dealers will do all in their power 10
avert such trying siege.
INDORSED BY THE PRESIDENT.