The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-06-04
A TALK WITH AN IRON MAN.
PBNNsYLTdNfA,s GREAf TRADE
SAID TO mn PASSING hWhf.

WY the BiBch stacks tkst lHue the vrffevs
send Forth no smohe-A Hint 10 the Rail-
rsrd and CoHi Men Of the Keystese state,
PHoENfxvfLLE, Pa, June D." Yes sif.
Pennsylvania has lost lie iron trade snd We arc
sorry 20 saw that We think the best dsy, for the
trade In this State are over" said one Of the ,ese.
ing iron men Of the Keystone State. And I win
tel, you why we think So" he oont,nsed.
Look at tbst MIL across yonder. II 10 the
largest OF tie kind IN America. The Pbesin
Iron Com pany com meoced building 70 ave yesrs
ago. 1t has greater rolling capacity than any
other establishments IN the country. They nu-
ished II just as the great paDic OF 1873 struck
them. II has never been IN full operation, and
IL 10 q question whether n ever will.
"Note the furnaces that ars Idle. 90 up the
Lebieh valley, as have done lately, and Thea
come down the Susquehanna districts, and
thence through the SchuyiEiii valley, and see
how many stacks are In blast. Fully two-ihirds
are cold and bleak a. black ghosts, and hundreds
OF thousands OF dollars are invested and not
cent OF income is derived. Around Pittsburgh
there are few mills going, but the margins are
so very narrow that the mill owner is constantly
crowdinR down the prices Of the workinemen.
and the result is continual strife and discomfort
TIMES cHANors.
1.-THE truth 10. and we might as we'll scknowi-
v
played out No nm iron com mercinl centre. It may
never again have the great trade IL once pos
sessed. II has shifted, and slowly but gradually
the iron business Is being divided. and II viii
not be long before each stats will NJ ore or less
contribute to Its own demand. Pennsylvania, u
II is lucky enough. may retain Its local rafio,
but 1t can never nave a national or general trade
as n once had. Before and during the war thts
State supplied a portion of tho West and North
west. the South and New England including the
islands ana Canada. High prices Of ore, coal,
up their figures for pig metal, until the Southern
buyers concluded that they could not paw such
prices. Pennsylvania operators fully realized
this. hencs Pennsylvania capital started first to
Western Nirginia. There It was discovered that
iron ore existed by the millions Of tons on the
surface. Companies were formed and furn-
aces built. Coal il plenty and cheap, and limo
stone can always be had there. Labor Is at
low. They can make rnn down there now and
put II on tho market two dollars cheaper than IL
will cost Pennsy vania men to produce IL Ia the
most economical way. Their iron Is good, and
they are finding a rapid market for H.. Down
that slope to Georzia, thence across TO Alabama,
iron ore arc being found. From these mines
will be taken suficient ore TO supply all that
country for eyes 10 come. OHIO, Missouri, and
Michigan are the same way, and PennsylvanIas
high prices have driven outsiders to consider
thus furnish the raw me tai At from ten TO nfteen
dollars cheaper per ton than they could buy Il
on the furnace bank In PENNSYLVANIA.
cRrsnIsG CONVERSATIONS.
/
our iron businsss. They have the controlling In
terest In the coal mines ana fl their own rates
Tor TRANSFORMATION for coal, ore. Limestone, aud
for the metal itself. The Iron men must buy
their coal from the Railroad companies and pay
their prices they must 40 to the company aud
| pay whatever freight rates II may ask FOR all
materials used. Enormous figures are demand
cd. and tue business men have rot to pay them
! II they desire To carry on business. When they
have large stock on nand they ind that the
rst cost to produce IL u 80 large that they caDuot
com, etc with other markets. and, in conse-
| al AL
ly. THIS sort Of bus mess don't Day II Is getting
worse instead Of better; Coal Is Just rs high IN
They say that the coal IT de Is very dull
know IL is; The Reading Company has 3Oo0oe
whsrves, and IN loaded cars along the various
sidings. he prices are being 'bulled np and
under SUSPENSION. A railroad man complained
to me OF duli coal trade. Says /: Put down
TIE prices OF coal and freiahts and let the FUR:
mace men. &c, no into operation. and that will
better things considerably. Subsequently 1t was
learned that tns same man said that as sure ss
the pri' IS Of coal would be put down twentv-
Ave cents ger ton, instead of people buying
II would have the opposite effect. Poodle
another reduction. That Is one reason why the
| prices OF coal remain hign as they are.
Wbstser there Is anything In such bull policy
SEEKING NEW FIKLDs
at Is these things that are driving ont thou
men are going south and West to invest their
funds and 10 into business. Pennsylvania at
one time was famous , place 70 for the iron man
mace in the ST ts WIS mint 10 Its owner. They
used to saw 1t WAS a dollar for them every tims
the exhaust steam pulled out OF the smoke
stack. Iron niea became rich without reck-
/ oning. Capitalists witnessed the nabobs
| piline up the wealth. and they, too, organized
| furnace companies IN the hope of raising a mig
bonanza. Two years at most and the profits OF
the business paid for the fun zee. costing about
$ijO.UO. hut the crash camel And It crashed
fe rfully Tor all Of them. -Four years HIS wit
Messed great change. Since 1872 thu iron trade
lp.t
amounts to simply nothing AS compared with
the trade of former years. few years mOrs
aud We snail only possess litpitsd local trade,
and then One-half at least. or probably more OF
the present number OF furnaces had better be
/ torn down, for there will be use for them
| rbous inds Of men Will move out OF Penusyl-
wanna and follow the trail Of the new furnaces in