Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-03-31
ALEXANDRIA, VA.
MONDAY, MARCH 81, 1878.
RI.St Furnace AT Alexandria.

question and recognizing the necessity OF Keep
ing it prominently betrre the public, we are glad
to be able to furnish more accurate and definite
information on the subject than we have here
tofore possessed.
The following estimate Of expenses OF blast
furnace has been obtained from reliable
source, and the advantages of a location here
over those furnaces situated elsewhere, winch
have been proti,ab!y worked, are 50 great that
they may appear eNeravagant, Yet are never
theleSS true.
Ry an actual aud most liberal estimate, the
entire outlay for the construction and equip
meut of ! blast furnace ready TOR work, anu
adap,cl to the use OF charcoal, cake, or an.
thracite, is $50, coo il round plumbers. This
Includes all the late improvements III machine
~. both for utilizing and economiZng labor,
comprising the attachments for using the coal
gas as fuel for the engines necessary Tor rolling
mills. The capacity Ola furnace OF this cast Is
enc hundred tons per week Of pig metal ready
for market or the rolling mill. 1t is ascertancd
that the ore which consists OF 10th the magnetic
will be delivered at the furnace at a cost Of s.
Der ton. crude state The mines are under the
control Of responsible parties, who will guaran-
tee to furnish them at this o>t-which includes
both the material and its transportation. In
PENNSYLVANIA the average ore is delivered at the
furnaces at Reading and Pittsburg at cost of
from 50 to SIS per ton, thus showing at the
minimum cost saving of 200 per ct. III favor
of Alexandria,
Of the Pennsylvania ore proper 1t takes about
three tons to produce one ton of pig metal. A
great part of the ore used in these furnaces
which it is necessary to mix with the native
ore, is transported at very heavy expense,
from the Lake region and Missouri The ore
found along the line of the Orange road in the
counties of Albemarlc aud Nelson, and on the
Manassas Branch, in the upper part of Eau
quier and Warren, will produce. without being
mixed with other ore, upon an average of one
ton of pig metal from ton anl a half of ore.
With thes. comparatively small costs and eX
penses, there is corresponding increase IN the
profit Of such furnace, and it is estimated
that upon every ton of pic metal there is net
profit to the manufacturer Of $25, or for one
year from furnace of the above capacity and
cost there will be realized the aggregate sum Of
$40, 900 net profits Ii from unexpected con-
tingeucics the yield should fill short Of this es
timate, it will hardly be maintained that there
are many enterprises which furnish SO large
margin within which to fall and yet realize
handsome income upon the capital invested.
This result is reached in the event that the
price of manufactured rop shall remain what
it now is, but the Indications are favorable from
the increasing demand that there will be a
gradual and permanent advance in the price.
1t is ascertaincd from the actual expenses of
the iron works of Pennsylvania that the maui
al labor necessary for blast furnace of the
above description will cost 900 per anuum,
Including superintendent at salary OF 5 800,
an engineer clerks, aud all other employees,
aud this estimate was made where labor is
much higher than with us.
This exhibit, which is not overdrawn, fur
nishes 4 cheering prospect Of Alexandra ) be-
ing. some day, city Of large manufacturing
interests, for such superior advantages will, in
time, be Appreciated
Iron manufactures where jiudic:ouSly man
aged, though under adverse circumstances,
compared with the advantages afforded BY this
place as site, have always been profitable, Sc
curing, in many eases, large wealth to those en-
gagged, and if they should be diligently and
skillfuliy governed under such suspicious cir
cumstauces, would reasonably promise most re-
munerative compensation
The large profit on the metal, before men
tioucd, arises first from the greatly reduced cost
of the raw material here compared with other
points, and secondly the cheap aud convenient
access to coal or wood, ami limestone necessary
i'll its manufacture. Both the Limestone and
coal can be delivered by water, Immediately at
the furnace, aud practically TO illustrate the
very great advantages here gained, parties in
Philadelphia engaged in the manufacture of
iron during last year, purchased in Alexandria
$4,000 tons of Bituminous coal, to be shipped
to Philadelphia, there to be used in their fur
saving.
TO encourage an enterprise of this kind sut
fcieut ground will be donated for constructing
the most extensive works, provided it will be
built upon the ground lying adjacent both to
the railroad and river, by which material can
be received at the door of the furnace, and the
products shipped without any of the usual
transfer. An opportunity is thus afforded for
the introduction into our midst of au enterprise
that will cnure to the benefit of the whole com
munity.
In this connection We append the following
from the Richmond State Journal, written by
a correspondent travelling in the counties OF
Albemarle, Nelson and Warren: