Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-27


and since 1856 but comparatively few iron
establishments have been carried on.
It's gratifying to note the fact that the an
nual consumption of iron has doubled since
that period, and this danger of oversupply
does not and cannot exist for many years.
| Mr.. Abram S. Hewitt, in an address before
the American Institute of Mining Engineers
that assembled in New York short time
since, gives some interesting figures tracing
| the history of the manufacture of iron and
establishing its law of development. In
the year 1858, Cheat Britain produced g.
500,O 900 tons and the United States 1,OOO,-
900 tons. The annual production through
out the civilized world reached 100000
| tons. Great Britain at that time consumed
per head IA pounds and the
United States ST pounds while
the average consumption per h ad of the
world was only II pounds. 1t was then
shown that the consumption was steadily
on the increase, and the conclusion was ar
cause the production to be doubled in four
| teen years. The returns show that in 1871
the production amounted to 13,500,000 tons
and in 1872, at the expiration of sixteen
years, the limit, 100000 tons, will doubt
less be realized, notwithstanding the bloody
and disastrous wars that have taken place
both in Europe and America.
The consumption in England has risen to
200 pounds per head; in the United States
to $50 pounds, and in the whole world to
so pounds. If the consumption Of iron, as
Mr.. Hewitt maintains, is in a measure to
the progress of civilization, no more crafty
ing record can be had than the above state
ment. When the annual per capita con-
sumption throughout the world equals what
it is at present in the United States, more
than 100000 tons will be required. Mr..
Hewitt earnestly believes that the beginning
Of the twentieth century will witness an
annual production of even 100000 tons.
The history Of trade and Of the progress
of events shows that the great bulk of this
will have to be made ultimately in the Uni
ted States. In fact the United States with
all the drawbacks that result from a scarcity
of labor, has been the only country that has
kept pace with Great Britain in the produc-
ton Of iron. In IS55, when Great
Britain produced 100000 tons, this
county produced 100000. In 1872,
when Great Britain will pro-
duce 100000 tons, this country will
produce 100000, notwithstanding the i'm
mense destruction to the iron interests by
failures, war, want of labor, etc. It is es-
timated that we are only twenty-five years
in arrear Of Great Britain, but as the latter
country cannot possibly maintain her rate
of increase, there seems no reason to doubt
that this country will swell its production
to hO,OOO,OOO or 100000 tons before the
close Of the present century. "This
MEANS says Mr.: Hewitt, .'that 25,OOOOOO
to 100000 tens of iron ore shall be an
nually extracted from our mines and that
our coal production will exceed 1OO,OOO,OOO
tons per annum, required for iron and other
branches Of industry. II means that an
investment of capital to the amount Of
$5OO,OOO,OO0 and probably S1,OOQOOO,OOO,
shall be made in opening mines, erecting
works and supplying the requisite ma
chinery for production"
Col. George T. Lewis, of GAINESVILLE, who
has been engaged in the manufacture of
iron for thirty years, states that at the time
the war broke out in 1861 there were in
operation on the Cumberland and Tennes-
see rivers and their tributaries twenty cold
blast charcoal furnaces, producing annually
10000 tons Of pig iron, ten FORCES pro-
ducing annually 10000 tons Of blooms, and
two rolling mills producing annually 5000
tons of bar, rod and plate iron-the whole
annual product being worth SI,6SOOOO,
and the whole capital employed being ST.
$4,000. The iron made was of the best
quality, inferior, as Col. Lewis says, only to
the Swedish iron. In 1925 sugar kettles
made of it began TO compete with those
made of Pennsylvania and Scotch iron, in
Louisiana, and in a short time drove the
latter out of the sugar districts. The an
nuaI profits of these mills averaged IS
per cent. They employed about five
thousand men, three-fourths of
the number of slaves; and the profits of !
the business made Nashville the wealth
lest city of its size in the South. 1t was
the cheapness Of slave labor and the excel
lence of the Tennessee iron that enabled |.
the owners Of these blast furnaces and |
FORCES to compete with The Cincinnati and !
Pittsburg iron makers in their own mar
kets; and Col. Lewis thinks that if the |
conyicts were put al the business, iron could !
again be made in Tennessee, sent to Louis |
vile and Cincinnati and sold there |
at a good profit. Even with free Ia
Dor at full wages iron making |
in Tennessee would be highly profitable |
business. The cost Of making iron in |.
Pennsylvania is estimated at 5000 per ton; |
at Youngstown, Ohio, it is $50; at Stuben- !
vile, Ohio it is 81; in Pittsburg it is $50; in
Indiana it is $50; at Carondelet it is $500. |
On the other hand, at lockwood, Tennes- !
see, the only stone coal furnace in that |
State, the cost Of iron making is far below
the lowest of these figures. Gen. Wilder,
the superintendent of the lockwood works, |
in letter to Senator Spencer, ofAlabama,
in May, 1870, said: "NIy iron costs from
SIS to p per ton; with capital it can be |
made for 3d. The estimate for making |
pig iron at Chattanooga is: Ore $40; |
fuel 81; limestone so cents. labor and |
superintendent, S3.54; interest and Incl
dentials, S2.77; making the total cost Of a |
ton OF iron, Sl7.21. Col. Lewis carries his |
estimates into the higher departments of
iron making, and endeavors to show that
nails can be made considerably cheaper in
Tennessee than at Pittsburg. A ton ofiron
made into 1,SOO pounds of nails at Pittsburg,
I e-1..r N