The Rugbeian. (Rugby, Morgan Co., Tenn.) 1881-1882, 1882-03-18
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
TENNESSEE rs. PENNSYLA
VANIA.

/ cAJIdCJ lTOIl III uTIlClG III tuC INtISllVlllo
Daily american, is worthy of the
greatest consideration by those having
interests in this past of Tennessee. 1t
also commands the attention of capital
lists and manufacturers generally, and
of all those who are desirous of settling
in country which in the near future
will be one of the wealthiest sections of
the United States -
"There are in the United States ZIG
furnaces for making iron, but 270 were
out of blast last year.
That 270 furnaces should be out of
blast in 1881, is fact Of great magni-
tude. Why did furnaces remain out
of blast when the consumer was drawing
on the reserve, and when iron was so
active, and bringing, what we regard,
as such paying prices. The iron made
last year, 1881, was worth at the mills,
the pig iron about one hundred and
twenty millions. Now the 270 furnaces,
if they had been running, would have
made more than $70,000,000 worth Of
iron
Why were these furnaces not put in
blast 2 The reason is, they could not
make money. The great bulk of these
furnaces is in Pennsylvania in
the anthracite region, and some in the
bituminous region in Western Pennsyl-
vania. The prices at the furnaces
ranged from $40 to perhaps S23 per
ton. (Of course we mean for coke iron
charcoal iron was much higher; but
this was in limited quantities; the iron
of the world, for building railroads,
houses, fences, bridges, etc, etc, is
stone coal, or coke iron)
Two hundred and seventy furnaces
out of blast, capable of producing
$40 100000 worth of iron, at once sug-
gests what must come, and what far
seeing men have known for years, to-wit;
that Pennsylvania cannot remain the
iron-producing section Of the United
States, and few additional facts show
it.
:, 1t is true that such an immense bust
ness as iron making in Pennsylvania
where millions and millions of money
are in the plants, cannot be transferred
in a day, nor by the energy and enter
prise of a few men. Take Allegheny
county, for instance, in which are found
, the vast iron industries, and this county
is worth more money than the whole
State of Louisiana, including the city of
NewTOrleans. Around this vast wealth
is an active, enterprising social and
business life, interested in holding it,
and it will be transferred only by
degrees but as furnaces are blown out,
! the consumption of iron increasing
, rapidly, others will be erected on more
' eligible Sites
Western Pennsylvania, the great IRON
producing region, has vast coal fields,
but no iron ore, while Tennessee and
Alabama have both coal and iron.
Y The difference is better illustrated by
2 the facts about iron ore. 1t takes about
e one and one-half tons of Lake Superior
e ore-the ore used almost exclusively at
r Pittsburg make ton Of iron This
s costs, delivered at Pittsburg, on an
n average, say, SO per ton. 1t takes of
+ our Tennessee ores about two tons of
: ore to make one ton of iron, and this
Q ore at Cowan, at South Pittsburg, at
$ Chattanooga, at lockwood, at Rising
Q Fawn, does not cost over $3.50 to $3.50
i, per ton. The Cowan furnace has con-
i tracts for several years at $3.50. This
taken with the fact that our coal
i turns out to be good coking coal, and
s can be furnished as cheaply as at Pitts
d burg, settles the question. Indeed, if
= in Tennessee, or at Birmingham, Ala.
t we can get for iron the cost ofproduction
9 in Pennsylvania, there is clear profit
d of from five to six dollars per ton /; so
S the facts demonstrate that sooner or
|. later ours will be the great iron pro-
h ducing country of the United States.
If All who get under headway making iron
d (stone coal irony in this country, Ten
n nessee and Alabama, while the consumer
l. is dependment mainly upon Pennsyl-
is vania, will certainly grow rich, for there
l. can be no doubt that, until the transfer
'e is made, and as long as the consumer is
s, mainly dependent on Pennsylvania, the
l. price will not for any length Of time &c
|. below the cost of production in Penn
RS sylvania, and this is to us profit which
rs will bring fabulous wealth.
m How soon shall We get to work. Whcr
= will our people who have means wake W
le to the vast wealth in their reach Gu
g. iron and coal fields are immense The,
IN are in close proximity, and to study tn
IN production of iron in Tennessee is t