The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-10-16
Iron is King.

| THE SoUTH'S GREAT FUTURE.
The Baltimore Mo7anf acturers' Record
of last week publishes an elaborate re-
view of the iron interest of the United
Staes. by Hon. Ed. Atkinson, in which he
predicts that the iron centre of the
world is to- be in the South. Special
localities or not discussed, and pure
ly local advantages advocated. It is
a broad, comprehensive discussion Of the
whole field Of iron production, and the
conclusion reached is an stated above.
A brief ynopsls of the valuable paper IS
given below
In view of the visit of five or six hun
dred of the leading iron and steel ma
kers OF Europe to the United States in
October to spend a month in studying
the iron and steel making resources Of
this country, Hon. Edward Atkinson. of
Boston, contributes to this weeks issue
of the M0faa.f nctatTegs' Record an elabor-
ate paper on the iron and steel interests
of the world. Mr.. Atkinson's paper
makes ten pages in the Maassf 0cturers'
/ Record, and is the result of several
months study Of the subject, and of the
most elaborate investigation. Starting
out with the statement that 'Since the
foundation of modern industry and of
commerce is based upon the pon-pre-
ciOus metals, and more than any other
upon iron, it becomes Of national ifnpor-
tance to determine the future conditions
of the production of this imperial met
al" Mr.. Atkinson shows that this coun-
try is the greatest conaumeF of iron and
steel in the world. Owing to the near
ness OF the ores and coal In parts OF this
country, against the long haul or trans
pOrtation of ores from Spain and Africa
to Great Britain and the increased depth
and heat of the coal mines of England,
he believes that iron and steel will be
made in this country at as low a cost as
In England, notwithstanding the higher
wages in the United States Mr.. Atkin-
son belives that the world s consumption
OF iron and steel, which is now increas-
ing SO rapidly, will for the next ten years,
fully tax the producing powers OF this.
and all other irOn-making countries to
keep up with it, and hence that while
there may be fluctuations, prices on the
whole must steadily tend upwards
throughout the world. Basing his esti-
mates On careful calculations made by
himself, by Hon. Abraham s. Hewett
and others, he holds that the present
worlds production of Sc, 900, 900 net tons.
of pig iron, of which the United States
will make duEiag 1890, about TO-
900 000 tons, must within the next ten
years, or in 1900, be increased to not less
than A, 5000 tons. ever~at the lowest
possible rate of increase, based on the
rate OF growth that has continued from
1865 up to the present time, wffile the
rate of increase of late years, during
which the demand for iron has so broad.
ened would show that the werid will
need and must have not less that Sc, OO0,-
600 tons IN 1884. As'f 'sia2 ls..t -
These calculations are based on the
normal rate of growth for the last fifty.
years. and do not take into consideration
the possibility, and, In fact, the almost
Certainty, of greatly increased demand
by reason of the opening MP OF Africa
and Asia On this point, Mr.. Atkinson
says: "Great continents are now being
developed by the railway, and the CON
struction of the railway leads to q con-
tinuous demand for iron and coal for
use in other purposes. We may not at
tempt to forecast the increasing demand
for iron s! which would ensne from the con-.
structiOn of the trans Siberian railway.
or of the railways which Will soon open
Southeastern Europe and Western Asia,
Pr Of the railways which may parallel
the Euphrates- We need nat new con-
slider what would ensNe when China be-
gins 20 build railways, because China con-
tains within it's avn borders iran and coal
in abundance. We may not compute
the Demands of the great continent of
Africa, which is now sure to be opened
IN every direction by the railway. Let
us limit our own consideration for the
moment to the DEVELOPMENT of the con-
tinents Of North and South America, es-
pecially the latter l,,is sf5f II .9.s /,
This enormo.s An1sease In the demand
TOR ifYA and steel will, Mr.. Atkinson
! claims, require the utmost effort of pro-
duction atievery point where the raw
materials can be assembled at reasonable
cost and where furnaces can be opArated
to advantage either upon The European
or North Ameasieaa continent. ~
| 1t IA Ia che South, however, that Mr..
Atkinson believes the worlds iron and
| steel production will centre, and this ins
dustrial advance may, he saya, sAnd
probably will settle the race question:
sss.4N 1904 4HM..a n
After giving In detail the reasons for
the Squth's position in iron making bX
virtue of its abundance Of raw materi-
ais, Mr. Atkinson SAYS ~0ne may not
venture yet 10 name the specific place OF
places hut su1Rce it that if one should
stand upon the highest peak amoAa the
great smoky mountains in the heart OF
the Southern Appalaohian chain. aud
could bring within his vision all that
4 would come within a radius of IS or 100
miles, he might be able to establish the
centre of an iron and steel production
which would not be far away from what
has been called the centre Of gravity, OF
the population of this country