Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-14
FREIGar COST IN PIG IRON.

The figures on the elements of cost in
making pig iron, which have been submitted
in a report of the Commissioner of Labor
Statistics, contain some important features
besides that of the labor at the furnaces
alluded to by THE DISPATCH the other day.
One of the elements which is brought out in
way that makes it of grave interest to
Pennsylvania furnace men, is the compar-
ison of the cost of transportation in
assembling the materials for pig iron at
furnaces in different portions of the country.
The figures on this point show that the
great cause of cheapness in the manufacture
of Southern pig iron lies in the low cost of
transportation to bring the raw materials
together. The radical difference on this
point is shown by the fact that reports from
eighteen Southern coke furnaces give two
furnaces at which the cost of transporting
the raw material is respectively as
low as % cents and "a cents per
ton of product. These are exceptional
cases in which all materials are moved in
close juxtaposition; but the average in the
eighteen Southern furnaces referred to is
only 81 IS for freight charges ou the ma
terials. As a contrast to this, the freight
charges at eleven Pennsylvania coke fur
naces range from 81 63 up TO S. 81 per ton
of iron made; and average 81 "a or So so per
ton more than the Southern iron.
A portion of this cheapness in freighting
is doubtless due to the fact that the South
ern furnaces get their ore and coal in close
proximity to each other; while the Pennsyl-
vania furnaces as general rule transport
their ore or coke considerable distances to
the point where they meet each other and
are converted into pig metal. But the
advantage is also seen in the fact that the
Southern railroads have made low rates to
encourage the industry; while the policy of
charging what the freight will bear" has
hurdened the furnaces of the North. A
summary of the report says:
In many cases the rate in the North Is twice
that charged for the same distance in the
South. For hauling one ton of coke l20 miles
one Northern furnace pays 81 IS, and rate of
81 85 per ton is paid for distances Of 1O0 l25 130
and 195 miles. Some Southern rates on the
same material are: l2s miles. 75c; lO7 miles. 9Oc;
12O miles, 75c and S5c; 30 miles, &C., and 100 81 l5
In the case of the other materials used the
same comparisons hold good.
This is point which The DISPATCH has
urged on the public attention for some time.
While the natural development of pig iron
production in other parts of the country is
matter which Pittsburg as a pig iron con-
sumer can regard with equsnimity, it is
certainly our right that industries should
not be driven elsewhere by undue freight
charges on the furnaces of Western Penn
sylvania. Rates of 7-10 of a cent per ton
mile on Lake Superior ore, and of about one
cent on coke do not appear excessive by
themselves; but when we find that the
Southern roads, with less business, are en-
couraging their local industries by less
rates, we are naturally led to inquire
the same thing. The answer to that inquiry
is found in the fact that these same roads are
constantly fighting each other for the privil-
ege of carrying the more expensive grain
freights of Chicago at 44c per mile. If
these railroads can make money in carrying
grain at that rate, they ought to be able
to encourage the traffic on their lines
Dy carrying muCu CucdpSE Ofc anu COh0
freights for Pittsburg at something like the
same rate. It is true that these freights are
on the shorter haul. But the factor which
makes the shorter haul more expensive per
mile than the longer is that of terminal ex-
penses: and, in both these classes of freight,
terminal expenses are very nearly elimin-
mated by the fact that the cars are loaded by
shippers and unloaded by receivers.
1t is also true that the advantage Of the
Southern furnaces in the low cost of trans
portation on raw materials is at present bal
anced by the large cost of transportation in
getting their product to market. But this,
if the advantage is permanent will be rem
edied in time by the growth Of mills which
will turn out the finished iron in the same
locality as the furnaces. These facts should
impress our railroad managers with the fact
that the prosperity of their corporations, as
we'll of the Northern industries, depends on
a reduction in the transportation charges on
the materials for pig metal.