The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-02-21
The Steel Rail Business.

New York, 2O.-Andrew Car
negrIe, member of Carnigre Rro-
liners, PIttsburg, the largest iron and
steel company in the country. saws
there are fourteen steel rail mills in
me country. They employ on am
average 5000 men, including those
~ tne mines and collateral
branches. Total capacity, 1900 0O0
IONS a year. Last year abonf 10
oOO,OOO tons of steel rails were made
N America. Three new mills in
colorado, one at PittsbuTr and ono
S a. scranton have been completed
Turing the last year, which will in
VI Sn! Ghe capacity quarter of a
mnIion. There are no steel rails on
nand at present. The mills make
steel rails only as they have orders
tor Chem. -Four steel rail mills in
Inc east, alse those at Pittsburg and
JOnlnstoWn, have plenty of orders
on hand, enough to keep them busv
Inc next six months. The mills in
the west, however, are SUFFERING
through want of orders. The Dres,
enG depression arises from the check
70 the abnormal growth of railroad
Oulalng IN this country during the
past TWO or three years. America
IS a great country, but it cannot Der.
Hldhently continue to build each
year as many miles of new rail
roads as the entire world Taa
uohe. This it has practically done
the past two years. The great de-
mand for rails during the season led
TO the unwise extension of worEs
anu anu also to the building of new
ones, bat the check has come mona
100 soon, and is in every wav
heaIthtul one. Had it been most
poned, 1t would have fallen uD6n ma
Ia d much more aggravated form.
consider the capacity of existing
mills to be far beyond the Ie@itio
mate wants OF the country t6era-
lore there must be some reSfricfioT
OF the output or some mills mnsf re-
main idle. --'9 - '''' {
" hat influence has the tariff agi-
affairs - Oi0ii u
IL has some, of course, but the
present condition of affairs wonI6
arse had there been no tariff discns-
SION. The question of tariff nrotec.
non Is course of the utmost imnort-
ance to manufacturers. Anv
reduction of the tariff beyond what
.nG 'a!IH commissioners recommend
WI give the markets of Southern
Aaitlantc seaboards to foreigners
steel rails can be made in ENGLAND
AZ S2O a ton. They can be deIiyered
"a New orleans at S27 ton. Add
'o thiS tne proposed duty of S15.
Wdlch the House bill as recono'
headed reads, and you have steel
ais IN New Orleans at $40 a ton
mere never was Il time when
,teeI rail- mill near to the Atlantic
joaSt could make and deliver 2 SfeaI
a. al IN New Orleans at this price,
labor abroad and cheaper
ron OF certain kinds makes protpc-
ION here Indispensable
WhaC is the general outlook for
ne iron interests?
SClH more discouragino. The "a
aclty OF the iron mills is far he
ond any possible demand. as was
roYed last year when most or fine
rlnc:lpal mills were shut down nv
SGrlke for nearly four months. and
? little scarcity of iron was caused
lAc prices remained almost
,aIGlonary- 1t was clear that
.neneVer the mills began run
lng' they would fall, and this
as occurred already, until prices
re now lower than at any time
nee the panic. There win no
Quot be a large consumption of
on this year, but the capacity
eng so far beyond our consum1-
on, there IS no prospect of any ad-
ance IN the iron business to
ealthY condition.
DO you anticipate any panic in
Ie iron market?
There must be many stoppages
ID failures. We hear of them
lly among iron men. The prin-
pal manufacturers in iron are
ny strong, and no general panic
'ed be apprehended. The mills
9 now doing generally close bust
'ss and credits are very restricted,
{ greatest care being exercised as
credits among the iron men.