Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-08
TRIUMPH OF MIND.
Labor Saving Machinery in Iron
Making Gives Labor More Pay
FOR MUCH LESS WORK, WHILE
Yielding Larger Returns to Capital on
Narrower Profit Margin.
AMILLMAKES 50 MILES OF RAIL AWEEK

Bv the fierce red light of his furnace bright
The strokes of his hammer rung;
And he lifted high his brawny hand
On the iron glowing clear,
Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers,
As he fashioned the sword and spear.
And he sang, ''Hurrah for my handiwork!
Hurrah for the spear and the sword!
Hurrah for the hand that shall WELD them
WELL
For he shall be king and lordr'
But old Tubal's laureate, though writing
about an industry thousands of years old,
neither knew nor could know what any man
of ewes, ears and common apprehension can
learn in a weeks tour of Pittsburg's iron
works. 1t is true there may be some like
the man to whom
The primrose on the rivers brink,
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more.
But they are not observant. Some 45
years ago we burned a man in efigy who
sneered at the Birmingham of America"
We were proud of our iron works then, but
the most ardent dreamer could not conceive
the slightest idea of their possible growth
since then; nor, indeed, since 1860.
INFANCY OF IRON.
Lie AdCt Is uOI 1Aoe
the most important and perfect system ever
devised for the settlement of troubles be-
tween labor and capital in this-the most
important industry in the world, except
agriculture-the sliding-scale was devised
in this city by the organization known as
the Sons of Vulcan; but such is the case,
and from an old-time and intelligent iron
worker. who was member of it, some inter
esting facts were learned concerning the ad-
vancement of the iron business in this sec
tion in the last 80 years. He modestly re-
fused to allow his rame to De given. The
story sounded more like romance than sober
fact, but the evidences of its truth are scat
tered all the way from the sources of the
Conemaugh to the water shed that sep
arates the Lake Erie basin from the valley
of the Ohio. A few comparisons will show
growth.
In 1858 Jones & Laughlins works were
considered justly entitled to the distinction
of the American Iron Works" Their
pudding capacity then was 20 furnaces.
They have 90 now and have recently had
more than that in operation, and the finish
ing mills of the company have increased in
capacity, much more than the pudding de-
partment. At that time the ground now
covered by the immense Republic Iron
Works, near Jones & Laughlins', was an
open field. Subsequently the Wharton
Bros railing mill was built, the germ of
the Republic works. In 1867, Lewis, Oliver
& Phillips started in a small way with four
pudding furnaces. Now they have 81 and
the increase in the pudding department is
but one-third of that in the finishing de-
partments.
WAGES HIGHER-PRICES LOWER.
Right here another interesting feature
presents itself, and that is the ability of
manufacturers to pay larger wages than
they did when finished iron sold for about
twice what it does now. At this point the
doctrinaire will come in and tell you it is
owing to wise legislation, but In this he is
only partially right. 1t is owing to mans
ingenuity in the line of invention, and when
we are tempted to fall into line of musing,
like the Psalmist, and exclaim in view, not
of the works of God ere man attempted to
transform them, but of the stupendous ma
chinery, which is largely the niSfnspring of
activity in the modern world, "Lord, what
is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the
son of man that Thou regardest him?" 1t
is well to pay some tribute to mans brain
also, for it is brain, and not altogether cap
ital, that has effected the transformation.
By means of tireless machinery, which only
charges interest wages when it is unem-
he did 80 years ago, and what he does is
much
MORE EASILY DONE.
Instead of the puddler and lot of assist
ants laboriously tugging at buggy to haul
his ball to the muck rolls, it is lifted out of
the furnace and sent spinning along. hung
to an overhead railway, and one man finds
the transportation but play. In the finish
ir,o dam rs fba is
more marked than in the pudding depart
ment.
From 1858 to 1860 the price paid for pud-
ding was s. 50@4 per ton, and even as low
in some instances as So % per ton, sgainst
IS 80 now. 1t is true that house rent and
board were cheaper then than now, but
many other necessaries of life were dearer,
as owing to more crude methods
of production and difficult transport
alton, their cost was enhanced
as was that of finished iron. The higher
prices noted for pudding ante bellum were
paid in store goods, the lower in cash,
very common distinction before the war,
when the country merchant replied to in
terrogatories regarding prices of goods by
asking another question: "Cash or trade?"
In 1858 bar iron sold at 21k@3 cents, and
now it can be had for l 40 cents in small,
THE EXPLANATION
OF the ability to sell cheaper and pay more
for cost of production is simple It has been
shown in many other kinds of business than
in iron making, but unfortunately its
demonstration is death to enterprises of
small capitalists, and has done much to
destroy selfjreliance, for how many me-
chanics can expect to save enough money
into
when at least $50, 900 would be nee
essary to make start, or how many farm
laborers at $40 month and board and wash
ing can hope to save the $4,000 necessary
to enable them to compete with the farmer
who plows 10, 600 acres and does 95 per cent
of his work by aid of machinery? 1t is so in
almost every field, commercial, manufactur-
ing or farming. The man whose capital is
his skill or his muscle in the absence of ad-
ventitious aids must be content with the
hope of acquiring enough to keep him out
of the poor house in his age, unless he haste
to become rich, in which event Holy Writ
SAYS hecannot be innocent. Some evolu-
tionists, however, are satisfied with the
situation, holding that it merely marks
phase in development, Whatever is, is
right"
SOME ASTOUNDING FACTS.
In 1867 Lewis, Oliver & Phillips daily
OUTPUT of muck bar was 10 tons, now it is
22s- tons at so much less relative cost that
one-uuarter of cent is now much larger
profit than one-haf cent would have been
then. Increased production through the aid
of improved machinery has accomplished it.
In 1860 the entire output of all the iron mills
in Pittsburg was not equal to three of the
largest now, and the merchant who sells
81, ,0OO, 600 worth of goods year at a net
profit of per cent clears more money than
the man who sells S5O,O 900 worth at me-
profit of 30 per cent, but organization and