The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-07-17
SOLD BY GUESS.
Ice Not Weighed Before Being
Delivered to Customers.

Topeka people pay for ice that is
measured by sight" by the delivery
men of the various ice companies whose
wagons patrol the streets. Numerous
complaints are being made about short
weights and the suggestion has been
made that the city should pass an or
dinance compelling ice men to use wa
gon scales.
City Food Inspector J. P. Farnsworth
is of the opinion that practically this
would result in no great benefit to the
consumers of Topeka. Asked this morn
ing if he did not believe that the pass
age of such an ordinance would result
in securing more general satisfaction to
the ice consumers, he said:
I do not know that it would. The
consumers might feel better about it if
they knew that their ice was weighed
every morning and could see the opera
ton performed, but the institution of
ice scales would raise the price Of ice
and the outcome would be about the
same The people would pay for the
luxury. The chunk of ice turned out by
the factories weighs 800 pounds The
ice man saws it into three pieces of
equal size. If he wants a smaller piece
he saws the chunks Up some more. In
selling a small piece of ice the princi-
pal cost is of the labor performed IN
saving and delivering it. All this has
to be figured on to leave a profit for the
ice dealers and at the present price of
ice the addition OF scale weighing would
cut profits considerably. If the wagons
were compelled to carry scales the price
would certainly go up
Ice men regard the ice that melts in
a good deal the same light that meat
men do the bones that are cut out of
the steaks and roasts they sell. The
bones are figured into the cost to the
consumer. If a three hundred pound
piece of ice loses twenty pounds by
melting before it leaves the wagon the
represent its original value. The chunks
of ice that are cut off are of the same
proportion, whether they have lost
weight by melting or not.
A representative of the Peoples Ice
company said this morning:
I'VE do not send out scales with our
wagons because the use of them con-
sumes so much of the time of the driver.
If a man has one hundred customers the
weighing of each separate piece of ice
would take up a great deal of his time
and delay the delivery. Our men saw
the ice carefully, each cake making
three one hundred pound pieces. 1t is
an easy matter to cut chunk of ice
into equal pieces and the men on the
wagons do not make very many mis-
takes. Our contracts reserve to the
customer the privilege of weighing the
ice when it is delivered and in the pres
ence of the driver. If the customer is
dissatisfied with his weights he always
has that recourse and doesn't have to
pay for more ice than he gets. If we
sent scales with every wagon we would
have to put the increased cost of deliv-
cry upon the customers
1t is to be presumed that the ice men
of Topeka are possessed of geometrical-
ly accurate eyes. NoviceS are doubtless
put in training for a while before they
they sent out with a wagon to insure
their ability at guessing the right
weight of a chunk of ice. All the ice
companies are using the coupon book
let's over which there vas such a pro-
test when they were adopted two years
ago by one of the companies.