Show OCEANS OF ICE the amount of lea usail by the govern nt tho amount of ice consumed by the washington is enormous in tho aggregate said a big dealer in the article to a washington star re porter at abo treasury building alono a ton and a half of ico 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 nine a m to four p m the ico is delivered in groat 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 building distributing to each pitcher or cooler its proper cupply in the cellar there aro big refrigerators which aro filled with a reserved stock nothing is put in refrigerators exceptive except ice the clerks not oven being allowed to keep bottled bacr in them for noontide it is the same way with all the other departments tho war and navy together use about as much as is consumes in the treasury building but it department of the interior that is the great of ice in tho pen sion office and the main building of the from five to six tons are every twenty four hours abo ost gobico obico gobbles up twelve hundred pounds a day however you must remember that these quantities are al ways variable in summer muan more goos than in winter and if the hot season Is unusually ion or intense we people who take the contracts are apt to find them far from profitable each department makes aits own contract for ice bids are advertised for annually and the dealer who offers a supply for the following jear at the lowest rate gets the job it is to a certain extent a gamble inasmuch as no definite amount of ice is agreed upon tho contractor receives so much money for providing a department with all the frozen water that it requires whatever this quantity may be all the departments together with their branches it is probable that they con sumo about twenty four thousand i pounds ol 01 ice daily averaging the year round this makes a gotali annual consumption of a good deal over tour and tons |