The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-08

fourth per cent, which Is of course only a neglible reduction. We are paying exactly what we paid last year for electrical power. There has been some talk about the reduction in the cost of coal which people seem to think should lower the price ot ice. We now use practically no coal in ice production. During the coal shortage year or two ago we found it necessary to put in electrical equipment, and had to contract for current for five years in advance. We have, therefore, gotten no reduc- ton in this cost.
 The big item now, though, is the cost of ice is that we are still paying for the machinery which 1t was nec- essary for us to buy when we made the change from coal to electrical power. On the whole our overhead expenses are about the same as they were two years ago.
 Another thing which people do not seem to consider in ice manufacture is that it is only a part year busi- ness. We do practically all our busi- ness during the three or four sum- mer months, and during the winter months ice plants are as a rule idle We cannot hire men for just half the year, sc 1t is necessary for us to carry a heavy overhead all the year round.
 "Of course the price of ice will come down as soon as the cost of production warrants it. At present. though, we have not been able to make a reduction. People who are complaining of Birmingham ice prices will find that on the whole they are just as reasonable, if not more SC, than the prices of other southern cities"
 Lindsey's Statement Ice is too high in Birmingham when the cost is considered regard less of the price in other cities. I'm informed by an expert ice man that the local factories electrically equipped ought to make ice at from 50 to 75 cents ton on the platform ready for delivery. The wholesale price is now 80, sl1 for families.
 As for the standard being kept up, 1t is kept down, because it Is made from raw water instead of distilled water. Raw ice, I am informed by a big user in neighboring city where both raw and distilled ice are made, is very much cheaper and melts | quicker, and distilled ice is better suited for domestic purposes. | Ice Is higher now than at any | time during the war. It was sold as | low as $5 ton during the first part | of the war. It was raised to $6 in | 1917 and remained at $6 until Sep tcmber, 1919 when it advanced to ". Then in February, 1920, it was ad- vanced to sS, and in July the same year we had to pay s9 ton. l There is absolutely no competition | in the ice business in Birmingham. | We pay the same price no matter l from whom we buy 1t. It has all the earmarks of an ice trust. The con trolling spirit has said, so l am in- formed. Why should we lower the price of ice when nobody is com piaining?' It is now and has been for long time generally understood that l the leading ice concern In the city, when a new plant has been started, has insisted on handling their pro- duct They either had to agree to let them handle the product, abide by | the prices set, or else
 AS to this question being started by politicians, it's mere camouflage. It's not politics, it's business. In short the price of ice is entirely out of reason, and the quality is not what it should be-"