New-York tribune., 1872-01-17
IROy INDUSTRY Al THE WEST


| know that since 1855, there has been an i'm
mense DEVELOPMENT of the Iron manufacture;
| the production of Pig Iron having risen from
| OF 900 tuns 1--WE use the tun of 1900 pounds in
| al cascs) in that year. to very nearly 2,OOoOVo
| fms in 1871 The make of rails has increased
| from 356202 tuDs in 1865 to 100000 tuns In
| 1871. But this increase has not all taken place
| in Pennsylvania. On the contrary, the per-
| ccntage of growth of this industry has peen
| vastly greater in the West within the peflod
above indicated. Pennsylvania has lost some
thing OF her prominence i'll this benelceht
contest for supremacy.
Not a railroad bar was made in Illinois until
lsjS when she re-rOlled i,i2j tunS. In 1871
she produced &c. $50 tuns, also re-rolcd there not
being a pudding furnace within her borders
In 1871, she turned out of four magniiiceht
works 81 178 tuns of rails, of which 4o,O26 were
new. and 81 152 tuns re-rolled. OF the former,
$500 tuns were STEEL and this year her pro-
dnct of the latter promises TO be very large,
as the new Bcssemer stecl-wOrks at Joliet are
about ready to be put into operation. by one
great effort that State has taken place
among rlll producers second only to Pcnnsyl-
vania.
Nor mas Silc CHOSPD 10 Dt utI'fHucuI hDoh
other sections for her raw material From
1854 to 1859, she made, on an average, about
1000 tuns of Pig Iron per annum. Her last Old
furnace ceased to blow in the latter year, and
from that time until three. or four years back,
not pound of Pig Iron was made in the
State. She then went TO work in earnest and
last year produced $1,000 tuns of Pig metal
from seven furnaces, two or three of which
were blowing but part of the year. This year,
she will make 5000 tuns, if her members OF
Congress will only give her chance. Few
furnaces in the country surpass in excellence
of design and yield of metal the magnificent
structures in the vicinity of Chicago.
A small quantity of Charcoal Pig iron was
formerly made in Indiana but the last fur
mace of this character blew out and was dis
mantled in 1850 and from that year until 1867,
tie State was entirely dependent upon Penn
sylyania and Ohio or upon Great Britain for
her supply of iron. Since 1867, she has built
six large furnaces in Clay County, for the
purpose of utilizing her pure " Block Coal,
which she is mining ut the rate of $500 tuns
per day, part of which is sent to st. Louis Tor
iron-lnakng purposes. These furnaces are
now with exception, in full blast, turning
out about one hundred and thirty tuns per day.
In Missouri the development of this branch
of industry has been fully as rapid. In 1854,
that State made 5,798 tuns Of Pig Iron; III
1856, IT. 720 tuns in 1853, 1854 tuns in 1860,
20,l92 tuns; in 1862, 9476 tuns Uhe war for
time almost putting an end to manufacturing and
all other branches of business i'll MisSourl); III
1864. 1854 tuns; in 1866, 1880 tuns ; i'll 1858,
g, 800 tuns in 1870, 1882 tuns and in 1911
s.. .G9j tuns, of which 1884 tuns were smelted
with charcoal and 42,7j1 tuns with mineral
coal. Previously to 1861, all the Pig Iron made
in Missouri, was from charcoal; since then, her
fine stone coal furnaces have been blown IN,
and several of them are models of their kind.
The make Of 1871 does not fully indicate the
capacity of these furnaces to produce iron.
Several causes-lOw water strikes, &c.-cur-
tailed production at least one-thrd. large
rollng-mill, splcndidly appointed, was put
into operation late in the year, and made, up
to January 1st of this year, $500 tuns. The
Company operating the latter has capital OF
81 100000 and employs 800 men. The capacity
of the mill is $4,000 tuns of rails per annum.
Under the very caves of this establishments
thousands of tuns of inferior Welsh rails have
been carried during the past year, reaching
water Transportation all the way from Cardiff.
The Iron Ore mined in Missouri in 1871
amounted to 268 800 tuns. In 1868, it amounted
to 1900 tuns; in 1869, 2lS,40O tuns; IN 1870,
3J3,92O tuns The falling off in 1871 is attribu-
table to the low water in the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers for more than six months of the
year. The Companies engaged in mining at
Pilot Knob, Iron Mountain, Shepherds Noun
tain, and other places, can readily put into
the market in 1872 100000 tuns This ore is
exceedingly valuable for mixture with the ores
found along the head-waters of the Ohio.
In Wisconsin, no Pig Iron was made until
1856, when $500 tuns Of charcoal iron were pro-
duced. The make ran down to 337 tuns in
1853 and then gradually rose to about 5000
tuns in 1867 all of which was smelted with
charcoal. In March, 1870, the Milwaukee Iron
Company put magnificent stone coal furnace
into blast, in the immediate vicinity of Mil
waukee. This furnace made 1919 tuns of
Iron in 1871. Furnace No. g." built by the same
company, blew in the first of last May, and
made in eight months 10000 tuns of metal. Our
Eastern iron men must look to their laurels, or
they may be found adjoining the brows
of some of their Western fellow craftsmen
Wisconsin also produced in 1871, 2S774 tuns of
rails, all the make of one mill at Bayview,
owned by the Company abOve-named. AS rail-
mill, she stands ftth on the list.
Michigan commenced making Iron about 1854,
turning out about 300 tuns of Pig Metal that
year. Since then, her product has gradually
increased, until last year she made almost
100000 tuns Of Pig Iron. The rail-mill at
WyandOtte turned out $4,000 tuns of rails in