Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-12
Price of Ice This Summer.

Wnat tney earn depends TO q large extent
on the amount they SELL
Price of Ice This Summer. n
The price of ice this summer is forty cents
hundred to families. 1t has sold cheaper
and it has sold higher Several years ago
1t was as low as twenty-five cents, and it
has been known to be trifie more than
forty cents In small lots it sells ten
pounds for five cents and twenty-five
pounds for ten cents
Just what weight was really furnished
householders until recently, when arrests
were made was more or legs gamble The
schooner Frank ]. Stinson was unloading
ice from the Maine fields in Georgetown
last week. One of the drivers happened to
be standing by and observed the shape of
the blocks.
THAT will be nice stuff to cut" he re-
marked. land because it looks thin we will
all have to answer questions every time We
leave a block of 1t, but most of the time the
customer will get more than he Is really
entitled to-"
In large lots ice this season is selling for
twenty-five and thirty cents-the former
figure when more than five hundred
pounds is sold, and the latter when less
| than that amount IS marketed in anything
more than hundred pounds.
Distributing the Supply.
= The work of distributing the supply of ice
Cor city of the size of Washington is a
gigantic task and the methods employed
are crude.
Ice is generally delivered very early in
the morning on cool days when 1t Is not
particularly needed and in intense heat the
housewife may expect 1t to be from an
hour to half day late.
The same very much soiled and luridly
painted wagons that prompt thoughts of
defunct circus that were used twenty years
ago for the most part continue to offend
the perspective of nearly every city in the
country. In very hot weather the long
suffering animals that draw the heavily
ladened vehicles die by the score and the loss
item of expense. Many Of the horses have
to be sold at the end of the summer season
and others bought in the spring. After one
hot summers work drawing an Ice wagon
in. the ordinary city an animal that was
good work horse and valuable In the spring
will sell at auction for about one-fourth Of
his value at the time Of purchase. Here
the ice-wagon horses have a very much
easier time than in other cities, for the
reason that the streets are more level and
smooth. Dry goods merchants and trades
| men in nearly every walk In life are grad
ually changing their deliveries to motor
wagons, but there are only one or two
cities in the country using automobiles for
ice delivery. In Washington they could be
used to great advantage, but Mr.. Kimberly
says that he fears the day is far distant
when they will be put In use here. The
expense attached to the change would be
great. and Mr.. Kimberly declares that the
dcnds for four years.
Just why some enterprising inventor has
not created machine that will cut ice
with accuracy is source of conjecture. No
matter how accurate the driver of the
wagon tries to be, he must weigh out a
fraction more or fraction less than the
| amount desired by the customer. If he
gives too much to the customer too fire.
quently he is hauled over the Goals by the
route agent, and by the customer il he
| supplies too little. 1t is almost impossible
for the driver to be exact, and all he can
| hope to do is to strike an average.
Manufacture Of Ice.
visit to one of the local ice factories is
calculated to interest even the most casual
| observer, even though the manufacture of
ice is by no means a novelty. AS far back
as 1865 a Dr. Cullen manufactured Ice by
evaporation in a vacuum.
Various processes of ice manufacture since
that time employed water, sulphurous acid,
| ether and the more common ammonia pro-
cesses. The principle employed in all the
processes is almost identical and the latent
heat of vaporization is the agency.
The Home Ice Company is putting in new
machinery and by next week will have in
creased its capacity from so to 100 tons
daily. This company has model plant.
1t uses a machine considered practically
perfect.
The manufactured ice comes out in two
| forms-in plates and cans. There are about
five tons in the plate which is cut up in
blocks weighing about 200 pounds each.
The plates require from seven to eight days
to freeze. The cans contain 300 pounds
and can be frozen in a very much shorter
| time, about forty-eight hours. The freez-
ing process depends upon the weather con-
ditions. Should the weather be very hot
| and the water correspondingly warm, the
| process is slow. Many factories are going
up all over the country, and many valuable
patents have been obtained of late. The
| indications are that 1t Is only question of
| time when it will be possible to make as
| hard ice as the much-sought Kennebec.
The business of shipping ice is not a new
| enterprise. In 1905 a merchant by the
| name of Tudor introduced ice in Marti-
| nique. In 1888 American ice was imported
| to Calcutta, where 1t sold for Sd. pound.
Holds Key to the Situation.
The American Ice Company holds the
key to the situation here. 1t is perfectly
| safe estimate to say that it controls So per
cent of the output. Mr.. Kimberly says IS
| per cent. but the figures show that Ire is
| modest Several of the hotels realized sew
| eral years ago what was coming, SO they
| built their own ice plants. The Washing
| ton Market Company did the same. The
| Heurich Company also has Its own
| plant and furnishes ice to the saloons that
| buy its beer and to a few outside customers.
| Several little plants that have total out
| put of less than fifty tons a day are also
being operated here. The Home Ice Com
| pany ana tteurlchS seem 10 De the only
| Independent plants in the city. The true
relationship of the companies one to the
other is difficult to learn. Heurichs is
plainly in a position that cannot be hurt.
| The saloon keeper cannot get the beer of
the brewery unless he takes the ice which
| Is sold at the market price. Should the
American Ice Company desire the Heurich
plant it is difficult to how 1t could OBJ
tain it. for obvious reasons.
In reality the American Ice Company is
said to now either own outright or control
| the plant of every ice concern in the city
except the Home Ice Company and Heu-
rich's and one or two of the smaller estab-
! lishments.
Addition to Home Company's Plant.
| General Manager E. M. Willis of the
Home Ice Company says that the addition
| to his plant will soon be completed and
| that the company would then be ready to
market 100 tons per day. The present ca