Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1908-09-27
ICE USED IN
 THE SOUTH
A False Impression Seems i9 Exist in Northern States Regarding Con
 sumption of Refreshments.


 Not long ago the editor of one of the most important engineering pa pers in the country ndited q para graph in which he expressed wonder that in such a torid summer climate as the south possesses the CONSUME tion of ice is no larger There must in the paragraph, for some heated re- plies have emanated from his readers in various sections of the south.
 The observer from a distance is in no position to judge of the situation as regards the consumption Of ice in the south. To a man that has looked from childhood at the consumption of natural ice in the sections where the article occurs with unfailng regular ity the per capita consumption of ice in the south must seem pitlul indeed By the same token he must argue that existence in the south is intolerabie in the sumner season. He is argu- ing from so many false premises that it is useless to attempt to combat and expect to convince him. For our pur- pose mere statement of some of the underlying conditions will serve
 The south is still a rural, agricul tUral section. The prosperity that naS attended the farming interests for some years past has been rejected by the town only recently. The rural population cuts absolutely no figure now in the statistics of ice consump- ton. The villages enter but lightly into them as well. To correct these statistics the output of southern ice making plants should be figured against the urban population. Then the showing would be much better so far as per capita consumption goes.
 To the natives of a large section of the south and that part, by the way, which has srowp most wonderfully in population and wealth. ice in summer was a novelty until faiGiy recent years. To the unletterad and untrayeled it's existence in summer was unbelievable. The pioneer ice manufacturers could unfold many tale of surpassing hu- nor based on their efforts to sell ice to people who looked on it with sus- picion. There have been pillars in the church rudely dismissed from fel lowship for reporting to their neigh bors that they saw ic.s n July in a neighboring city The portion of the unmitigated liar was unhesitatngly dealt out 10 them by their outraged 5rethren This may seem strange to those who from childhoods hour saw ice placed in cold stor se for use in summers heat. IntrU& icing the un- familiar to the naturally skeptical Is a slow process That stage in the manufacture of ice in the south has but lately passed, but f has complete iy passed
 Any ice manufactures iN the south whose experience cove Is much as five years will tell aa inquirer that the rate of incre,,-a T consumption was much greater last "zar than dur ing any previous pseied. Plants that had never run within speaking dis tance of capacity suddenly found themselves unable to cope with the situation. Extension and enlargement is the order of the day throughout the entire section despite the fact that new plants are being built in large numbers and the territory of estab- lished plants thereby materially les sened.
 One ice manufacturer whose estab- lished shipping trade was suddenly cut off by new plant nearby, did some missionary work among the farmers that came to his town weekly and as a result saw his shipments change from rail to wagon without diminution