The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-09-04
Southern Pig Iron Production.

The census returns for 1890 expose
ome interesting facts indicating the |
'apid progress of the iron making /
industry in the South, and especially |
Virginia. While the number of furnaces
n this State is quoted at the same as in |
1880. for years many of them were out
Of blast, and others have been supple
mented by new plants. Virginia is now
as second in the production
of pig iron in the Southern States In
five years she will be first, and before
another national census is taken, she
will be the first in the Union, in the
of pig iron produced. There is
no question of the fact that there is
more iron wealth il Virginia than any
other State in the Union; and the move
demonstrate this in the output of the fur
naces. And in all the State there is no
portion of it so rich in hematite iron
ores as the counties OF Augusta. Rock
bridge, Allegheny. Highland and Rock
ingham, where there are only about four
plants to represent it. " thin less time
than ten years, this number will be
largely increased, and the results show
that more pig iron will be produced i'll
Virginia than any other State, and pro-
duced cheaper.
The census returns of pig iron produc
ton, just completed, show that in Mary
land, while the amount of production
has increased largely. the increase has
not kept pace with that of some of the
other States, and the relative rank of
the State has fallen from the eleventh
State, according 10 production in 1880,
to the thirteenth in 1890. The amount
year, however, was 96,24G tons, while in
1880 it was bnt IS, 664 tons. but the latter
amount was 1.5S per cent of the entire
production of the country. while in 1890
the amount produced is but one per
cent of the total production.
Virginia, on the other hand, which
produced in 1880 but II, 906 tons, increas-
ed this to 302 447 tons in 1890, making
3 Is per cent of the total production.
West Virginia also shows an increase
from S0,O50 tons in 1880 to 10S, 764 tons in
1890, but, like Maryland, her rank among
the pig iron producing States is lowered
from ninth to eleventh.
Pennsylvania shows a decrease of As
furnaces and Ohio 80. Maryland has
decreased from % furnaces in 1880 to IA
in 1890, and West Virginia from 1 / to 5.
Virginia has 81, the same number as in
1890, although the production of the
State has increased SO largely
The census report concerning pig iron
says: The greatest activity i'll the de-
velopment of the Southern pig iron in
dustry during the past decade is seen to
have been in Alabama. This State pro-
duced in the census year 1890 cnehalf
of all the pig iron made in the South,
and was only exceeded in production in
the United States by Pennsylvania and
Ohio. Virginia and Tennessee now oe
cupy, respectively, second and third
places among the pig iron producing
States of the South. Prior to the census
year 1890 Tennessee was the second lead
ing manufacturer of pig iron in that sec
tion. but the activity which has been
noticeable during the past few years in
Virginia in the erection of new furnaces
has placed this State next to Alabama
among Southern States in the quantity
O. pig iron produced. In 1880 West Vir
ginia was the leading producer of pig
iron in the South, but in 1890 it was
fourth in rank The manufacture of
pig iron in Kentucky and Georgia has
been practically stationary during the
past decade, and prior to the census of
1890 but little progress had been made
by Texas Two charcoal furnaces were
building in that State in the census ytar
bat not blown in at the close of that
year. All of the furnaces in North Car
DINA, seven in number, were idle in 1873 I,
and since that year very little activity
has been shown in the erection of new
works, while the seven furnaces referred
to have either been abandoned or are
now classed as long inactive furnaces.
The only active furnace in that State at
the present time was built at Cranberry
in 1884 to smelt the ores of the Cranberry
district, using charcoal as fuel but dur
ing the latter part of the census year
1890 this furnace used coke as fuel. With
the exception of West Virginia and
Maryland, nearly all the pig iron made
in the South is produced from Southern
ores, and of the quantity produced by
the use of mineral fuel much the larger
part is made from Southern coke. Most
of the pig iron made in West Virginia is
produced from Lake Superior ores. In
Maryland the recent building of four
large coke furnaces by the Pennsylvania
Steel Company at Sparrow's Point, near
Baltimore, to smelt iron ores from Cuba
has suddenly brought this State more
prominently forward as a manufacturer
of pig iron. Two of the furnaces were
blown in during the census year 1890,
and of the other two one is completed
and ready for operation.
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