The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1888-03-17

Pascoe and Matt. Gibson, two owners,
were in town Wednesday and on Thurs
day went ont TO the property xhich N
about twelve miles distant from this
place. Mr. Gibson Is quite confidant that
q sale and u good one ut that will b.
effected, but does not say who the nego-
tiators are. The property is looking well
and promises to develop into a very
large mine and the ore h beyond adoubt
a Bessemer. A shaft has been sunk on
one Of the walls and carried down forty
five feet when the formation was cross
cut nearly fifty feet and drifting has been
pushed to length Of thirty five ieet and
all OF the work showing ore Of very high
grade. Since placing the machinery the
work OF development has progressed very
iavorably. Probably in another week .
more win be known Of the reported
transfer.
New complications have arisen in the
market which, rather than assist i'm a
speedy removal Of the difficulties that
have SO long embarrassed the trade serve
still further to compIicate matters. This
time the vessel interests are foremost in
a movement TO bring about high ireights
by artificial means, the natural tendency
Of the market being in the direction Of
lower freights. Leaving aside the curl
GUS promise that the iron trade exists for
the sole purpose Of helping the vessel
owners to large dividends, the question
remains whether SO large an industry M
the ore business, coupled with all it, FAR
reaching connections, can bc successfully
interferred with by the vessel pool True,
; the vessel men are on record as declining
To place their boats in commission unit
May L, but that need not brighten any
body because, at the present rate Of iron
production, there will be left at Lake
/ Erie ports by May I, about 500 900 tons
; OF ore-three fourths OF il sold, Ia be
sure, but still representing 10000 tons
, of pig iron. in any event, there will b.
no occasion for sead;ng out the lake fleet
until the middle OF May. 80 that the
action Of the vessel owners may well be-
called bluff II, however. the vessel i'm
terests should combine to maintain IA
fixed price above the ability Of the ore
men To pay, the subject would then enter
another phase, and one interesting 10
vessel owners. Ii is asserted for instance.
that the vessel men could easily form "a
trust" tie up one-half of the feet, keep
up frcights, and thus corner the market.
This, OF course, is highly improbable for
Q number OF reasons: Such "a trust
: would cause the investment Of "a large
amount of capital in lake bottoms, and
\ it's life would last just one season. II il
well known, mt this time that 10y mining
. a million tons Of ore in excess OF demands
the producers cut off their own profits
q last year and that, To secure better
. profits for the season 81 1889, this years
output will he restricted To about 3 300
900 tons, which fact is anything but fay-
/, orable to u combination Of vessel inter
ests. The recent reduction in the price
OF coke brings in its wake "a reduction of
wages. Some OF the coke manufacturers
have ordered "a cut OF ten percent, others
oi six per cent, and some have not yet
been heard from. The men, while averse
. To a strike, are IN sore straits. To con
) form to the lcssencd furnace demands the
coke production has already been ne
duced twenty-five per cent, and rather
than force some OF their iellow-workmerr
into idlencss the coke workers have
divided the work, thus reducing their own
wages twenty-five per cent. A second
reduction in wages, therefore, gives them
hardly enouge TO subsist upon. The fol-
lowing are the prices 81 81 orc:
No I Speculsr aud magnetic Besse.
mer ores per ton.............,.........S1 wal ob
No l Speciar mon Bessemer) ores
per ton u OOel6 so
Besremer Hemattter IoHb ~
Non Bessemer Hematites.............,. & Oom5 Ou
cleveland Iron Trade Review.