The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-09-27

The iron trade Of the United States has
suffered severely during Tho last few years,
rs have all branches OF manufacturing bust
moss, but one great point has been gained
We arc now almost entirely independent OF
the foreign manufacturer. from whom ten
years ago, SO large Il share Of our rails were
procured.
The statistics OF the trade for the year
1877 are given in an admirably digcstcd re-
port to the American Iron and Steel Assoc
citation, made by MIR. J. Nj. SwANK; and IT
they do not Indicate great profits they cor
tainy show that the industry has steadily
grown, and that its possibilities are hopeful.
That year was. perhaps. moro prolific i'm
financial disaster 10 the iron trade than any
other since the panic OF 1873. There wcro
many failures and suspensions. and of the
ZIG furnaces In the country only 27O, or less
than onc-half, were in blast at the close of
1877.
The reason for this was the impossihilty
in many cases of producing iron without
loss. SO low were the prevailing prices,
though these, of course. helped to secure
the sale Of the vast amount of iron turned
out by those which still kept going The pro-
ductiOn was, indeed. more than ten per cent
greater than that of 1876, though less than
that Of any of the four preceding years. The
best anthracite pig iron sold at s2O.75 the
ton at the opening Of 1877. but soon fell to
SIS. and though during the year il rose in
price, before winter came it was again down
to SIS, and it ruled even point lower than
that during the first half OF this year. and
at last accounts was no higher. The total
amount Of pig iron consumed In the United
States In 1871 was 2.ils,2lG tons. of which
only 59,lsl tons were imported. Our exist
ing furnaces are equal to the production OF
ut least 100000 tons a year. when they are
all at work, and Mr. SwANK believes that in
the next decade the home requirements will
take up the whole supply-a very encour-
aging prophecy for the iron men.
But the most interesting thing connected
with the development of the iron industry
here Is the enormous increase in the pro-
ductiOn Of Bessemcr steel rails, which have
now come into 50 great use on our railroads
There are eleven factories for the making Of
This steel In the United States. the last one
the Vulcan at st. Louis, having been COM
pletcd in 1876, aud they are capable Of pro-
ducing 100000 tons annually, though we
two-thrds Of that quantity. The manufac-
turc of iron rails decreased from gij.9Jl tons
in 1872 TO j52jiJ tons in 1871. This decline
was due, of course, in part to the general
depression in business, but much more t.
the great demand for steel rails. the pro-
duction Of which increased nearly iycfold
between 1873 aud ls77-irom 400 tons TO
432lG9 tons. But these last figures do not
represent the total make of B,ssemcr steel
Add that used for other purposes than n
rails, and the product for 1871 rises to the
vast amount OF 5GJ, js7 tons.
We now make all our own rails. whether
Of iron or of steel at home. whereas
up to 1875 our importations Of them were
each year enormous. The following table,
which gives the miles of railroad construct
ed in the United States during the years
named, the home production Of iron and
steel rails, aud the quantity imported, will
show how vast gain we have made.