Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-11-23
meet the reduction in the price Of stsel
rails By its closing

would be thrown. out of employmsnt and
5000 coo withdrawn from circulation The
pay roll of the company amounts % one
hundred and fifty th0usand doiiafS per
month. Nf. Hitchcock, president Of The
company, says: The qusation Is. shall ~
close down and lose intsfsst on our capital
for year, or shall We work on aud lose not
alone interest but some OF the capital ITSELF
With the interest OF the stockholdefs con.
fided to my care, do not believe would
be justified in running the works at cer-
tain loss. Much as would dislike closing
down, would have no business 70 push
the corporation forward With my eyes open.
knowing what the result would tbe. No
man can say how much he viii lose
IL the works are kept open dur
ing 1883. II ave could :. only get
.s Raw Material ana LabsP
at reasonable rates We coHid 90 on working
as long as any mall in the country. Z IL 2
idle to talk about keeping the mill at work
unless We can get iron at twenty dollars
per ton. The production has been too
great for the supply. The estimated an
nual capacity Of the steel mills now In the
United States is two million one hundred
and fifty thousand, against one million two
hundred and fifty thousand tons for ISL
Now the demand, as close as can get at It
for next year, will be about one million
tons. Call it fifty per cent OF the steel
be impossible for all the mills To work full
time under the Inost favorable eircum-
"a Chicago special says Mr.. cresf. presi.
dent of the Joliet Steel Company, NJ
Griffin, of the UniOn1Iron and Steel Com
psny, ard. Mr.. Bradley, OF thel Calumet
Iron and Steel Company, take an
ESaaily Dsspsnaent view
of the iron and steel situation With Prest-
dent Potter, of the North ChicaSo Rolling
Mill Company, and it seems probable that
the western interest will suffer 10 the ex-
tent of shutting down two or three Largo
concerns until prices react OF this reac'
tion there new appeors to 10 little
hopes. Many heavy Manufacturers t
Chicago are non.committal on the sublect
OF future action. There are in the Chicago
district about twenty thousand rolling mil
employees. Present indications are that
they, will be out of work by January first
They, are not willing to accept the reduc:
ton Of wsges, but, asay yet they havek OF
course, had no voice in the matter. The
prospects seem 10 be that manufactures
will shut down, without making an attempt
to meet the prices which are quoted in
Pennsylvania, ....s.., 49,
A Cleveland special says that when asked.
Wilson Chisholm, Of the Cleveland Rolling
Mill Company, said to-day in reference to
the general shutting down OF Bessemer
steel works at other points, that his mills
would
and he does not contemplate closing :.
Interviews with leading iron and steel
manufacturers all over the country show
pretty conclusively that the present stag
nation in the iron business Is caused by
over.production, the only remedy for which
is to shut down and wait until prices 60 up.
President Hatfield, of the Lackawanna Iron
and Coal Co., says the railroad companies
havey been holding back from purchasing
rails. hoping Cor reduction on the tarih.
He saws: There is no sense in the talk
about this being q concerted move among
manufacturers TO, influence Congress In
favor Of protection. People don't put their
hands in their pockets 70 such an extent
for such q purpose"
Mr.. George A. Evans, Of the Bethlehem
Iron Company, ssid: .s..g
AVE Dc Not GSntemplate StoPptug,
for we have large orders ahead. and know
OF other mills that also have large orders 70
fill for steel rails at fair and even slightly
remunerative prices. Our orders amount
to 81, 600 tons, those OF Carnegie Bros 90 OOO,
of the Cambridge Iron Company 10 6O,OOO
tons, and Of the, Pennsylvania Steel Com.
pany to 10000 tons all for delivery next
year. They are, believe at $45 on the
cars at the works. We are not now taking
any new orders at present prices" 80.
The local representative Of the Albany
and Rensselaer, Iron and Steel Company, In
the absence OF Mr.. Griswold, said: "We
are working up TO our full capacity or very
near 1t; we have orders ahead and will
take none at lower prices than $i5 deliver
ed in New York. Our present orders are
at least sufficient to keep MS running three
or four months, and by that time the sitaa-
tioR will doubtless have improved. have
received to-day dispatch from the Joliet
Steel Company, for which We are agents,
that the report Of their shutting down Is
erroneous. They have been stopped for
repairs only, and have started up again
with orders ahead to keep them going"