New-York tribune., 1900-05-17
ICE TRUST INSULTS POOR.
THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD IT REJECT
CHARITY ICE.
GUcGENEEIMER UNWILLING To APPOINT
A COMMITTEE TO MAKE AN IN
VESTIGATION.


II required only couple of days to demon
strate 20 many thinking persons as a Tribune
-eporter learned yesterday, that the concession
70 public opinion" which the Ice Trust made
with such flourish of trunpets when il decided
10 sell ive-cent Jumps OF ice to the poor of the
East Side is not only miserable subterfuge
adopted. many people believe solely for the
purpose Of sdetracking the indignation OF
large class OF over busy New Workers. who are
more apt TO be aroused by concrete Instances OF
suffering than by the injustice which causes
them. but is almost hendish in the forfeiture Of
self-respect which II inflicts upon those who are
forced TO take advantage of ii.
Why, many persons asking should any
decent man in this proud city be forced to send
lis wife or child out into the street TO vouch for
his poverty 10 an icernan before he can buy one
Of the necessaries OF life at fair price? II the
hired men Of this brutal trust suspect that the
wife hunbly applying for ice pan in one hand
and nickel in the other. is not so poor as they
think she ought to be, TO be entitled to their
bounty. she is grossly insulted before her
neighbors by being practically told that she is
an inpostor, or she must submit to the degrada-
tion Of calling on some Of the bystanders TO as
sure the ice wagon men that she and hers are
1T subjects for the charity of such men as Rob
ert Van Wyck and John T. Carroll
Imagine the feelings Of a hardworking man.
temporarily out of job. he looks down from
his dreary tenement house window upon a group
OF people surrounding an ice wagon drawn be-
fore the door. He earns good wages when he can
get employment, and his honest self-respect
leads him 70 spend them carefully. But the
family grows. rent is high. and looking for work
IL this vast city consumes much carfare. The
purse is nearly empty and the baby is sick Ice
must be had TO keep the milk sweet for il in a
room which is kitchen dining and nursery
all IN one. He has never accepted charity in all
his life. Heretofore he has held his head high
He tells the wife TO buy a ten-cent lump OF Ice
and he will walk to Harlem tomorrow instead Of
riding. But she argues with him that he might
miss job by arriving late, and she can buy a
dve-cent piece without attracting much atten-
tion-
He watches her push her way up TO the wagon.
She is clean and tidy Her clothes plain. but
Of durable stuff The man has not been long
enough out OF work TO be forced TO see his loved
ones go in rags yet. Her appearance arouses the
suspicion Of the icenan The husband sees her
offer the nickel, but the iceman does not take it.
He shakes his head and turns away The
woman is talking The husband cannot hear
what she says. but he notices that her face has
turned scarlet The group draws closer around
the two. The husband somehow suddenly be-
comes aware that they are taking ABOUT nlIl
A child points at him with her skinny finger and
the iceman looks up. Their eyes meet. The
husband feels sudden wave OF hatred for that
man, as IL he had caught him spying on his home
through the keyhole. All the others look UP. A
good natured but rough tongued man on the
curb roarE out in attempted joke: That's
him. Mr. Croker! He's a bum, all right Mr..
Morsei He can't support her, Mr.. CARROLL Give
her a nickeFs worth of Mayor Van Wycks ice!
Il amt any colder than Tammany's friendship
for the poor,' The crowd laughs uproariously
as the woman gets her five cent lump, but the
heart Of the husband overhead IS made bitter
within him. and he VIII never hold his head quite
so high again
THE POOR FEEL THE INSULT.
My Cod" exclaimed worker among the poor
as he talked with a Tribune reporter yesterday
about these things. and almost choked with in
dignation as he talked, how men Of educa-
tion and respectable upbringing sink into such a
state OF moral torpor as 10 think it no harm. but
rather a creditable action, so grossly to insult
the seIf-respecting poor Of this city-and thank
Godi that includes forty-nne fiftieths Of them
by throwing this ice sop TO them a man would
II keeniy; and, though they may be forced 70
accept II. down in their hearts they viii remern-
Der IL and resent It when they get the oppor-
tunity."
That the poor do feel the insult was proved
yesterday by the fact that all who could possibly
afford il bought from the ice pedlers. They got
less ice for their money, but the cool weather
favored them. Sales Of trust ice We're remark
ably small.
II was said yesterday at the offices of the
American Ice Company that twenty wagons
out selling ice in f1ve-cent Jumps. but that,
owing 10 the cooler weather. there had not been
such d demand in the two previous days. II
said further that the city would be fully
covered this summer by the wagons Of the COM
pany selling fee at five cents a lump, and that
the price 10 the poor and those who applied at
the ice depots with certificates from any char
table organization would be five cents lump.
for larger pieces at the rate Of 81 ton.
There other news or change IN the pro-
gramnle Of the company, so il was declared.
James D. SchOOnmaker, president of the
American Ice Company. was asked under what
conditions the company would agree TO divuge
the names Of its stockholders. He said that was
a matter for the counsel Of the company 70 de-
eide and that he did not think there would be
any disclosures Of that kind made. 4 story was
printed yesterday 10 the effect that certain Off
cials Of toe Garfield National Bank could tell
OF the transfer Of stock in the American Ice
Company alleged TO be held by Mayor Van
Hyck Augustus Van Wyck, John T. Carroll.
various judges and other prominent Tammany
When the officers in question were seen
they declined TO discuss the matter.
President Guggenheimer of the Municipal
Council said yesterday that he would not ap-
point committee TO investigate the Ice Trust
until the resolution had been passed by the
Board q Aldermen. He said Il have examined