New-York tribune., 1909-05-06
ICE PRICES NOW FIXED
urSI,ET M. OLER TELLS
SUMNER RATES.
IT, Large Consumers the Charge
U-U BE .55 Cents a Hundred
fright. to Families so Cents.

,,selev u. Oler. president OF the American
~ompanv. said yesterday that IN 50 far as
los -. mas concerned the price of ice was
sxed for the summer
"a. course We are in the minority" said MI
- 40 cannot say what other companies
- a. b,,t the price Of our ice in Manhattan
Ill not exceed s. a ton on the bridge 80 cents
,.srad % the large consumers and 30 cents
,,,5red 10 families. The price of our Ice In
T,-,,,x and in Brooklyn is also fixed. 1t Is
IN -. higher there because It costs more
sol,,,ar II. and we have not sufficient ice
-. +bsre 70 supply the family trade. Man
tt..,on Is very congested. and wagon can
t,,51s more tons a day here than elsewhere
- ne have enough ice plants to supply fam
~ -i,b manufactured ice, which they prefer"
:, discussing the growing Importance Of ice
hines as a factor in the ice business. Mt
oer said
4r-r5er normal conditions of crop manufaCt-
- i,e has no advantage in cost over natural
a.. in this locality and inasmuch as there
,r.s no short crop on the Hudson between 1890
5 1one il is a fair calculation that the Hud-
con River can be depended on at least nine
,ssr= out of ten TO give normal crop. when II
ran compete with the machines in cost.
therefore beyond the machine capacity for
.s-oiv trade. which prefers machine ice
largely because Of the newspaper attacks on
,be quality of the Hudson River ice-it is not
deemed wise by our company to build further
manufacturing plants within reasonable dis
+snee from the waterfront. Where il is not eco
ronioal TO haul natural ice II is our policy TO
construct plants 20 supply the demand. In my
cpinion. the building Of ice plants is becoming
tonheavv. and viii end in disaster II continued.
because the consumption will not equal their
capacity during the seven colder months OF the
year
In this city alone the capacity Of ice plants
has been increased 25 per cent during the last
year SO that they can now supply about five
thousand tons daily. which is nearly if not
cutie half the daily consumption in greater
New York. The ice business is like the summer
hotel business-seven months in the year We
can't ray the cost Of operation. We have 10
make our profits during the five warmer months,
as well as pay back the loss incurred during
the seven others.
Referring to former attacks on the purity OF
Hudson River ice, Mt. Oler said that his com
parry has had exhaustive meteorological tests
made Of all the ice that the company brings 10
New York. and that il is found that the ice
IS Just as pure. in every respect, as manufact-
ured lee
Speaking Of the short crop this year. Mr.. OIer
said.
Such thing two short crops within four
years referring to the crops Of 1906 and 1902
has never been known in the history Of the ice
business here. II therefore came as n great
surprise to the icemen. When We saw that the
Hudson River crop was going to fail US we
gave orders 10 push the Maine properties to
-H1s- e-F.,
q fun crop.
Certain papers have attributed the increas Sc
in prices TO the effect that it might have on the
stock market. That IS absolute rot In fixing
@onr prices We have no regard for what may
happen in Wall Street. We are governed en-
iireiy by the question OF supply and demand"
In Baltimore and Washington Mr.. OIer sa ID that
the American Ice Company had made progress
IN plant construction TO the point where natural
Ice cuts comparatively small figure Hence,
lie said, 10 advance in price vas contemplated
In Philadelphia, however" he continued.
where the company could not supplv the de-
inand with manufactured ice from its own
plants, the price has been raised. In Boston
ne company has only one ice plant and IT does
not plan 10 bald more. as IL would not be a
paying Investment The prices there are nor
MAJ"
When asked if it we're true that saIoonkeep-
efs u TINS city were paying 81 cents a hundred
POUNDS for ice in their cafes and 30 cents in
their homes Mr OIer said:
Yes We increased the price OF ice for those
aho were using ice commercially. and we left
ne price TO families It was last year"
Mr' Oier submitted a table OF statistics SHOW
-Ls mat the average price of family ice in this
O'y from 1878 TO 1897 was 30 cents a hundred
since 1895, when the American Ice Company
formed he demonstrated. the average
fFloe TO families has been 81 cents"