Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-01-30


makes most of the blooms that are made
from ore and Pennsylvania most of those
that are made from pig and scrap iron;
that Michigan is the leading producer OF
charcoal pig iron and now makes no other
kind: that West Virginia has developed q
remarkably active interest in the manufsc-
ture of cut nails; that only fiyo States
make Bessemer steel, and two States, Penn.
sylvania and New Jersey, make nearly all
of our crucible steel; and that Pennsyiva
MIA has made a greater effort than any
other State 10 manufacture all kinds Of iron
and steel.
who Cuts the Nails.
Ofthe cut nails produced in 1880 Penn
sylvania made thirty per cent; West Nir-
ginia twenty-one per cent; Ohio fourteen
per cent; Massachusetts, ten per cent; New
Jersey and: Indiana :each six per cent;
Illinois and Kentucky each four per cent;
and Tennessee and Virginia each two per
cent New York, Nebraska and Maine
each produced less than one per cent, but
Nebraska made more nails than New York.
The whole number of kegs OF cut nails
made in the United States In 1880 was
5,056, 600, each keg weighing one hundred
pounds. During that year West Virginia
Is credited with making 1888 tons OF iron
rails. the total product ef iron rails made
in all the States being 466, ,9lT tons, and ths
total production Of Bessemer steel andopen
hearth steel rails being 150,5sO tons.
Labor and Wages.
The wages paid in 1850 in the iron and
steel industries OF the United States,
amounted to SIS, 40, 7s5, as compared with
$40, ,9Sl in 1870, an increase Of s6.1 per
cent. This does not, however, indicate
higher wages for either skilled mechanics
or ordinary laborers, the total number Of
hands employed in 1850 aggregating lio''
9.s as compared with 1855 in 1870. OF the
whole number employed in 1850, l3a,2o3
were men above sixteen years old, and for
ty.6ye were women above fifteen years old !
i,7O9 we're BOYS below sixteen years Old,
and twenty-one were girls below hiteen
wears old. The remarkably small number
of sixty-six women and girls employed Ia
the manufacture Of iron and steel III loSo,
will not escape notice, and is exceedingly
| creditable 10 our American civilization.
| The comparatively small number oil boys
employea is also worthy Of notice. S393 ol
| is The average yearly wages for each person
emnloyed i'm the United States in the iron
and Steel industry during 1880, a", tne ay'
erage daily wages OF skill. ed labor were
s. SO; Of hnskilled labGr, p "a
High and Low Fay.
The highest daily wages OF skilled ..aoo'
q, were paid in Rhode Island, Colorado, and
Wyoming Territory-a; the lowest in
South Carolina-Sl.25. The highest average
daily wages of unskilled labor were paid in
Wyoming Territory-s2, the lowest in North
Carolina-5i cents. The latter labor was
largely that of colored men employed al
the primitive ore bloomeries Of the last
named State. The average wages paid In
the four grand divisions were as follows:
Eastern States, skilled, $2.70; unskilled,
Sl.2l; Southern States, skilled, 500; un'
skilled, $i.03; Western States, skilled, $40;
| unskilled, Sl.3l; Pacific States and terri
tories, skilled, $3.50; unskilled, $l.I5. These
| figures refer only to the labor directly en-
ployed at the iron and steel works OF the
country. II the hands employed and wages
paid in various contributory channels Is were
added the figures would he largely in
creased and probably doubled.
Long Hours.
The average number OF hours OF labor re-
ouired per week in the iron and steel works
OF the United States in 1850 was siIty.iiye.
| This gives n little less than eleven hours
for each working day of the week. The
average is high in consequence OF the gen.
cral. though not universal, practice OF OPP
Grating blast furnaces seven days in the
week. and in consequence also OF the usual
practice at blast furnaces, rolling mills and
steel works Of working twelve hour turns
or shifts.
Notable Achievements.
Under the head Of Notable Achievements
by American Iron and Steel Works, Mr..
Swanks notes that in the twelve months
ending January 81, 1881, the two convert
ers OF the Edgar Thompson steel works
made O,69i gross tons OF Bessemer steel
ingots. The steel rail mill rolled lo6,722
tons OF steel rails, and the billet mill
rolled 3,42l tons of bllets, and during the
next six months the product was increased
nearly twenty-five per cent.
On March %, 1880 the A. furnace OF the
Edgar Thompson steel works, sixty-fve
| feet by thirteen feet, made il3 gross tons
y. zig iron, with consumption OF 1856
uorrs. Of coke per ton Of pig iron, and on
pu. p,e. yieIa,, re ji02 per cent. The ~ iur'
Dacs sii, % %, I. made POS tons OF Pug IRON
on Soyember %. 1850. The g furnace
s0x2O feet. made o., tons ot p,s ron ,,on on
April 2s, 1851, he 'He' ton ~ pcoks
being at the rate OF I. ION rTa % % nv.
10 ton Of pig ron. W., Vi,.
erside furnace at Wheeling, onn.
ginia, seventy.ive feet by sixteen Al. ~,
IL 4. a.. % ton n mi A..
in the week ending November o, 1881. The
daily record was as follows, smelling fracs
tions: ll3. us. Il3, I2l, III, 12I and 1s
tons. Under the head of nail factories II
j. noted that the Wheeling Iron and Nail
company. Of Wheeling. West Virginia, in
February. 1874, cut G,523 kegs Of nails in
one week with los machines One man
cut l76 kegs Of eight penny nails that
week.
The Year ofJubtise.
There are other matters Of interest in Mr.
swanks' report. which will give hereafter.
He concludes it as follows: The census
year lssO, which it may here be stated cr-
tended from the first Of June, 1879, 70 the
3lst OF May, 1850, was year Of exceptional
prosperity for the iron and steel industries
Of this country. The coincidence Is notable
that it exactly covered the period which has
been designated rs the boom, during
which all iron and steel products were in
such great demand by American consumers
that the iron and steel works OF the couri-
try were unable TO meet it. The home sup
ply was supplemented by lare importa,;
lions and even these could
not be made with sufficient
rapidity 10 meet the urgent wants OF con-
sumers. Prices were high throughout the
whole year but fuctuated violently.
Labor was In demand. wages we're prompt
" paid and disputes between workingmen
and their employers were rare and unim-
portant,. The Sensus year lsso vii long be
for our iron and steel Industries, and as
one which witnessed the beginning snd
the end Of most exciting epoch in their