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Show ICE MERCHANTS EXPECT JIB CROP With mld-wlntor weather prevailing at the opening of December, local Ice dealers are looking forward to an unusually un-usually heavy ice yiold, the present low temperature having already produced pro-duced un lco covering of two and a half inches on tho ponds In this locality. lo-cality. Few ice dealers were prepared for the presont freeze, they preferring to wait for a fall of snow boforo filling their ponds with ice-making water In so doing they are nblo to keep tho ponds freo from dirt, .which would otherwise blow Into the wutor. "We generally fill our ponds near the mouth of tho canyon about December De-cember 7 or 10, after tho first warm spell," said M. L. Jones of the Jones Coal &. Ice company, last evening "Ono of our ponds now has a coating of ice to tho depth of more than two Inches and tho outlook for a big lco yield Is very promising. ' The present cold has already furnished fur-nished amusemont for tho skaters. The Shupo pond on North Washington Washing-ton has a covering of Ice sufficient to support tho weight of sknters, and this winter sport will probably bo on In earnest today with hundreds of skaters on tho pond. The coming of winter -weather Is not altogether joy-producing, for with it comes the demand for coal. Ixical dealers havo been ablo to copo with tho sudden Increased demand of the past few days, but ft genuine coal famine would result were tho present cold spell to continue for ten days. A majority of the dealers havo fairly fair-ly largo supplies on hand and big shipments ship-ments on tho road, but they do not deny de-ny that ft continuation of tho cold would soon cxhauBt their present stock and with Httlo chance of shipments arriving In time to ward off a short-ago. |