Show OCEANS OF ICE the amount of ice used by the government at washington the amount of ico consumed by the departments in washington is enormous in the aggregate said a big dealer in the article to a washington star reporter at the treasury building alone a ton and a half of ice is delivered every morning for the days consumption each room you see has its water cooler or at least a pitcher which must be kept filled with cold drink from nino a m to four p m the ice is delivered in great blocks from carts at the door and the messengers chop it up into pieces fill buckets with the lumps and carry the buckets all over the buildings distributing to each pitcher or cooler its proper supply in the cellar there aro big refrigerators which are filled with a reserved stock nothing is put in these refrigerators except ice the clerks not even being allowed to keep bottled boor in them for noontide refreshments it is the same way with all the other departments the war state and navy together use about as much as is consumed in tho treasury building but it is the department of the interior that is the great devourer of ice in the pension office and the main building of the department together from five to six tons are used every twenty four hours th ost domce gobbles up twelve hundred pounds a day however you must remember that these quantities are always variable in summer much more goos than in winter and it the hot season ia unusually loner or intense we people who take tho contracts are apt to find them far from profitable each department makes its own contract for ico bids are advertised for annually and the dealer who offers a supply for the following year t the lowest rate gets the job it is to a certain extent a gamble inasmuch as no definite amount of ice is agreed upon the contractor receives so much money for providing a department with all the frozen water that it requires whatever this quantity may be taking all the departments together with their branches it is probable that they consume about twenty four thousand pounds of ice daily averaging the year round this makes a total annual consumption of a good deal over four thoua and tons |