The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-04-08
TINE IRON TRADE.
Has II Como to a staud.stnI .-what
Leading Manufacturers Of Pittsburs
Have 10 Say Concernlng II.

Have TO Say Concerning II.
PIrrsBURG, PENN, April Ga slight
furry was occasioned in business circles
t to-day by q rumor that the iron trade had
!. come to stand.still, and that in all prob
ability number Of mills would tempor-
arily shut down. A number Of manuiac-
} turers are know TO have been opposed 10
, tho last advance Of the card rate TO four
cents, and many predicted that It would
cause a serious depreciation in sales and
consequent stagnation till some backward
step could be taken. One prominent man
niacturer who was interviewed on the
subject said:
at Is true, we have ceased work at one
VI our mills, for the reason that there are
no orders. Our warehouses are all full;
we are stocked up, and there are absolute
ly no orders. We do not propose TO start
until we can get prices that will pay US for
what we make. The reason why we feel
the dullness OF trade so much sooner than
many others Is because we have but few
contracts at low prices thatrun any length
OF time"
He also intimated that some manufacture
ers were quotedly cutting under the card
rate adopted.
Another manufacturer said the market
was exceedingly dull, and had been 80 for
thirty days. He said further, that there
were q number OF reasons why the mar
ket was at stand.still now: First OF all the
month OF January, usually one Of the
dullest OF the year, was this season the
liveliest, People bought heavily, fearing
an advance. Hence, when March and
April, usually lively months, set in, there
was no market. The buyers were heavily
stocked, and would not buy again, except
from hand to mouth, in anticipation OF a
falling market.
This gentleman said that his own mill
was running, but the stock.houses were
being filled, orders were few, and II the
dullness continued their mill would shut
down. He did not know whether any &C.
ton would be taken toward reducing the
card, but 1t Is not improbable II trade did
not brighten very soon.
Speaking OF any action the Western
Iron Association might take, he said the
public generally attached more importance
to the organization than really was its due.
It was hardly more than an arrangement
by which manufacturers might meet, ex.
change views and talk over the past and
future. 1t had not been oi vast usefulness
OF late. It was good deal like Congress
that is, 1t met too often. II it convened
once in FIVE years perhaps 1t would be
beneficial. The result OF its action OF
late had been simply to increase the price
Of labor without corresponding increase
in the selling price OF iron. Manufactur-
ers were now paying from S. to S. more
fnr frnt, in ty1illu Than tbay could oHnt1
Iron was being sold at less than four
half cents. II was true that within ten
days there might be general Frightening
OF the trade. Believed there would be
strong, healthy demand for iron all the
season, but not at the price now demand
ed. The wages question did not enter
into the matter, because the contract with
the iron.werkers was regulated by the
market price.
Other manufacturers who were inter
viewed complained OF the dullness oil the
market, but looked upon 1t as natural
consequence oil the rapid advance in prices
and the increasing demands Of the work.
men. They were confident, however, that
the stagnation is only temporary, and that
none OF the mills would shut down except
for repairs. Up TO this hour only one
firm, Emerson, McCrum & Co., has de-
cided to shut down, but those gentlemen
refuse to say that their action is on ac-
count OF drop in the boom. Some be-
lieve that the manufacturers are merely
moving to prevent the workmen from de-
manding the increase which usually comes
with the hot months. Others think that
combination is being made to bring
down the price Of pig iron. Further than
this nothing is known at present. The
Lawrence mill, at Newcastle, shut down
to-day for an indefinite period, because OF
the scarcity OF orders.