Omaha daily bee., 1907-01-11
COUNTY AND CITY ICE BIDS
Commissioner Hold Up and Council Re.
! jects Proposals for Supplies
OFFICIALS SAY PRICES ARE txoRsI1ANT
Ice Dealers sing Their FavorIte Ditty,
"what VIII the Harvest Be,"
and Mayor Promises
Things.

The 1901 ice situation is engrossing the
minds Of those who have TO do with letting
the city and county Ice contracts for the
year. There is a suspicion that the ice men
are trying a hocus-pocus game, but the deal
ers In this CONCEALED summer necessity de-
clare they have been inspired only Ivy the
best OF motives and actuated by business
principles in the submission of bids. The
status of the matter now is the city will
readvertise for bids, after rejecting the
only bid received, and that the county
commissioners have taken no action in the
ice matter, having received only two bids,
neither of which seems to tempt the COM
missioners
A threatened short crop is the chief rea-
son offered by ice men for the enormous
prices mentioned in bids made on city and
county contracts.
During 1906 the Peoples Ice and Coal
company supplied the county Jail and court
house ice under contract of "a per ton
and the county hospital at IS cents per ton
in carload lots delivered at the institution.
That company said IT lost money on the
deal. The Peoples company bid 81 per
ton for ice delivered to the county Jail and
court house and 81 per ton for the county
hospital for this year, while the only bid
received by the city in response to its ad-
vertisement was from the Omaha Cold
Storage and Ice company, offering to sep
arate itself from ice for a consideration Of
IS per ton
Council Quick to Reject.
The city council quickly rejected the lone
s. bid received and instructed the city clerk
to readvertise early In the spring when the
size of the. crop will then have been as
sured. BY accepting that bid the city OFF,
Gals thought they would be establishing a
bad precedent for the year. The Peoples
company had the city contract last year
for Sc per ton.
A representative OF the Peoples company
explained the difference between their 1906
county contract and bid offered for this
year by saying
figures on the experience of not having had
bad crop for ten years. AS was known
the 1906 crop was short. not only in Omaha,
but elsewhere. We furnished the county
Offices in Omaha with ice at 81 per ton and
lost money on that Why. we had numer-
Gus offers of So per ton for ice on the cars
at our houses from various towns through
out the state. With last years experience
we decided to take no chances this season,
so made our bids at a safe figure. Here
we have January 10 and the ice on Cut-On
lake not yet ready to cut. While we do
not say we will have a short crop the time
is getting close to what might be termed
the eleventh hour for a good crop"
And in the meantime Mayor Jim is hav-
ing the city legal department draw up an
ordinance placing the ice men under the
health department and requiring them to
take out regular licenses which. according
to the proposed ordinance, may be for
feited IL the dealers violate certain provi-
sions one being requirement of purity
OF product
The mayor said when he gets hammer
lock on the ice men this spring things will
be different.