Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-05
IMAGE N NE
MAYDOUBLE PRICE
Pity Can't Store Natural
\ Rroduct and Must Depend on
Artificial Output
HARD WINTER HINDERED
By SAMUEL MCCOY

eoUsutsE hOW WIN " svss
y lus1ng the coming summer?
'%f The answer to that question is one at
N which the local ice dealers do not care
' - guess. Their ground is that It would
( be nonsensicai TO guess at prices until
81 actual conditions make It possible to
& answer the question accurately. You
onn't cross a bridge till you come to II,
\ they say.
} But they have no hcsltancy I'm out
4 Inning the conditions which confront the
Ice business. And. as the dealers out
NJ line them, these conditions. unless they
n are changed before summer, may then
x ufve the dealers an opportunity to as
* oert that II will be impossible for them
Il TO supply Ice at last years prices.
N As soon as the subject OF ice Is mem
+ tioned, the general public is apt to think
OF this winters weather conditions
Every river is choked with ice. every
creek and pond is Allied with ice that
has frozen to depth seldom reached
y II would seem as IL there must be
enough natural ice on hand TO supply
ten cities instead of one.
Objections to the use of natural
ice. voiced by the dealers, remove vlr-
tually every pound of that enormous
supply from consideration. II they are
accepted, the past below zero" winter
might just as well have been as mild
As April. NO far as adding to the ice
supply is concerned.
The most powerful of these objections
ID that no matter how much natural ice
may exist at the present moment,
Houses in which to store this ice could
not possibly be built before ice has dis
appeared from water courses. even II the
public were to stand the expense of their
construction.
PHILADELPHIA'S ICE NEEDS
Most ice men agree In estimating the
consumption Of ice in this city each
year TO be about 200 900 tons During
the hottest months. July and August.
nearly 10000 tons of ice a day are used,
or approximately 100000 tons in the
two months. During the next hottest
) months. Iune and September. perhaps
5000 tons on an average are used daily.
OF 100000 tons for those two months.
An estimate supplied by Samuel
Freer, secretary of the Ice Publicity As
sociation- OF Philadelphia, sets the con-
sumption of ice from May to Novcm-
Der l at II per cent of the 1900, 00O
tons annually consumed and the amount
used from November | to May ! at %
per cent, or 276, 900 tons. leaving $4,000
tons as the consumption during the six
hotter months.
To supply this demand there are about
forty plants manufacturing artificial ice
In Philadelphia. According to Mr. Frecr
their daily manufacturing capacity Is
$500 tons, or about 1.400, 900 tons an
nually IL they could run at fun capacity.
Eleven Of these plants are operated bN
the American Ice Company, their daily
capacity being 1900 tons. or about one
third of the total. Then there are
about thirty Independent plants. each
manufacturing daily from ten to 400
tons, whose total daily capacity is 2gO0
tons. As distributing agents there are
about 500 retail dealers.
So thoroughly are the needs of Phila-
delphia supplied by the manufacturers
OF artificial ice that the amount Of
natural Ice used in this city would not
last ten days in the hot weather. Accord
ling to Mr.. Freer, only $4,000 tons OF
natural Ice were brought into this city
Hast summer, 9f this. less than 5000
tons came from the Pocono district
and the rest from the Perl<iomcn district
This represents about per cent Of the
l.z00,0OO tons consumed annually
STORAGE FACILITIES INADEQUATE
The ice storage facilities OF the city.
TO provide ice for less than three weeks
during the hot weather, ii the build
ings were not reflled Six of the eleven
plants OF the American Ice Company
have storage facilities and the company
has In addition five storage houses it's
total storage space being $1,000 tons
The Independents have about twenty
storage houses, whose aggregate storage
capacity is also about $4,000 tons.
The consumption Of ammonia in maxi
ing artificial ice ranges down from a
third of pound of ammonia for each
ton of Ice to one-tenth of a pound of
Z ammonia In wel-managed plants. The
ammonia used In PhiIodeIphia's ic,
plants. Mr.. Freer estimates. lies some
where between 100000 and 100, 900
4 pounds annually. By the exercise of
great carefulness, according to Mr.
Freer. this amount might be brought
down TO 100000 pounds Of ammonia an
nually. without decrease In the output of
Ice,
& Can the ice concerns of Philadelphia
save ammonia by an increased use of
natural ice?
However much we might like TO do
2 so," says Mr.. Freer, "it will be irnnos-
sible TO increase the use Of natural ice
TO any great extent. Virtually all the
natural ice available comes TO Philadel-
phia from the Perkiomen district. The
total storage capacity of that district
10000 tons. II ice is shipped from this
district as fast as 1t can be cut. under
present labor and freight conditions. it
cannot do more than supply the winter
needs of Philadelphia. Then, when the
ice-cutting season is over the shipment
& of 10000 tons of ice here from the
4 Perkiomen could last this city only a
few weeks.
HAND-TO-MOUTH PLAN UNFEAS-
IBLE
1T may be suggested that the ice be
Brought down during the summer as 1t
IL needed To import Il 900 tons a day
would require 400 box cars, each carry
ing twenty-five tons. Eight hundred
more box cars would be needed to keen
. continuous movement of ice going on
while the first 400 cars were being re-
turned to the supply points II is doubt
Eui II 1900 box cars could be obtained
sfor this work while the demand for
z freight cars for war shipments continues
IN its present proportions. And IL they
could be obtained. the congestion OF the
(ermlnals and sidlngs I'm this city and
7aat the supply points would be excessive.
IA 'Remember, too. that 25 per cent of
the natural ice shipped In box cars Is
Wasted In transit
t ''All natural ice for which room can
/. ~ made here Is. OF course, already
Being brought to Philadelphia. The
extrsme depth of ice brought about by
( 1he unusual cold weather OF this winter
- hindrsnee rather than a help to the
& ~ business. In the mountain districts
>(1ha Poconosl depth of thirty-two
nohas has been reported. An lee
t<&1a11Ing machine must cut to a depth Of