The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-06-18
Morning Star and Catholic Messenge er.
A TALK WITH IN IRON NAN.
PENNSYLVANIA GREAT TRADE PASSING
TO TIE SOUTH WEST.

dsys for the trade in this State are over,
said one of the leading iron men of thu
Key stone State. And 1 will tell Won why
we think so," he continued. Look. a.
that mill across yonder. It is the largest o.
its kind in America. The PbDnix 1ror
Company commenced building IL Ave years
ago. 1t has greater rolling capacity thar
any other establishment in the country
They finished it just as the great panic OF
1875 struck them. It has never been In
full operation, and it 10 question whether
il ever will.
"Note the furnaces that are idle. Go mp
the Lehigh valley, as j have done lately,
and then come down the 6usquehanna die,
triots. and thence through the Scbuylkill
valley, and see how many stacks are in
blsat. Fully swo-thirds are cold and bleak
40 black ghosts, and hundreds OF thousapds
Of dollars are invested and not cent OF in
come is derived. Around Pittsburgh there
are few mills going, but the margins are
30 very barrow that the mill owner 10 con-
stantly crowdipg down the prices of the
woIkiDgmen, and the result 10 contlnuai
strife and discomfort.
TINES CHANGES.
"The truth is, and we might as we'll &C
knowledge il now as at any other time,
Pennsylvania is played out as an iron com
mercial centre. 1t may never again have the
great trade it once possessed. 1t has shifted,
and slowly but gradually the iron business
il being divided, and it will not be long be-
fore each State will more or less contribute
to its own demand. Pennsylvania, if it is
lucky enough, may retain it's local trafdc,
but it can never have national or general
trade as it once had. Before and during
the war, this State supplied portion OF the
West and Northwest, the South land New
England, including the islands and Cana
compelled the furnace men to keep mp their
figures for pig metal, until the Southern
buyers concluded that they could not
pay such prices. Pennsylvania operators
fully realized this, hence Pennsylvania
capital started first to Western Virginia.
There it was discovered that iron ore ex
listed by the millions of ton on the surface
Companies were formed and furnaces built.
Coal is plenty and cheap, and limestone
can always be had there. Labor is at hand
at fair prices, and transportation is very
low. They can make iron down there now
and put it on the market two dollars cheap
or than it will cost Pennsylvania men to
produce it in the most economical way.
Their iron is good, and they are finding a
rapid market for it. Down that slope to
Georgia, thence aross to Alabama, and down
into Texas, the richest deposits of iron ore
are being found. From these mines will
be taken sufficient ore to supply all that
country for ages to come. Ohio, Missouri,
and Michigan are the same way, and Penn
sylvanias high prices have driven outsiders
to consider the iron problem, invest their
own capital, and thus furnish the raw me-
tai at from ten to fifteen dollars cheaper
per ton than they could buy it on the fur
mace bank in Pennsylvania.
CRUSHING COMBINATIONS.
Railroad corporations in Pennsylvania
killed our iron business. They have the
controlling interest in the ccal mines and
Ak their own rates for transportation for
ona1 lipnaafnna and for thA metal ii
self. The iron men must buy their coal from
the railroad companies aud pay their
prices they must go to the company and
pay whatever freight rates it may aek foI
ali materials used. Enormous figures are
demanded, and the business men have got
topay them if they desire to carry on bust
ness. When they have large stock or
hand they find that the first coat to pro-
duce it is olarge that they cannot compete
with other markets, and, in consequence
cannot sell at all unless they lose heavily
This sort of business don't pay. 1t is get
ting worse instead of better. Coal is jus
as high in price and freights are higher.
sEEEING NEW FIELDS
"It is theS5 things that are driving ou
thousands of dollars of capital every month
and iron men are going South and West t.
invests their funds and go into business
Pepnsylvania at one time was famou
place for the iron man. For ten years. iron
1862 to 1872, every iron furnace in tn
State was mint to its owner. They use'
to sayit vas a dollar for' them every tim
the exhaust steam pufFed out of the smok
stack. Iron men became rich without reck
oning. Capitalists witnessed the nabob
pulling up the wealth, and they, too, or
Ranized furnace companies in the hope {
raising big bonanza. Two years at mos
and the profits of the business paid for tn
furnace, costing about $l50, GOO. But th
crash came! And it crashed fearfully fo
all of them. Four years has witnessed
great change. Since 1872 the iron trad
has gradually been dwindling away, unit
now it amo1nts to simply nothing as CON
pared with the trade Of former years.
few years more and we shall only possess
limited local trade, and then one half
least, or probably more, of the preseI
number of furnaces had better be tol
down, for there will be no nee for ther
Thousands of men will move out of Penl
aylvania and follow the trail of the ne
furnaces in other States"
AC IcEnF GREAT EVENTS