The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-05-02

Louisville continue TO hold off, stating
that they will have no orders for future
work; they have confidence, however,
that they will appear before those now
booked have been filed A prominent
furnaceman, who has n new furnace, and
who was IN Louisville the past week, saws
his company will not blow in until the
market gets better, and that there IA no
money in the making Of iron at present
prices. lie thinks that the market Is
sure TO improve soon. Sales ranging from
car loads np have been made for prompt
shipment and at shaded tigurs Iron is
being shipped from Sheffield by water To
Wheeling and Pittsburgh from the Lady
Ensley Coal, Iron a Railway Company.
The iron from Sheffield n highly spoken
oil, and has been IN the mixtures Of buy
ci'S az these points For nearly two wears.
and Is considered ola quality equal to
ANY iron brought into the district At
Cincinnati, the demand continues To bee
Tor small lots for immediate Use, with oc-
casionnl transactions looking "a far into
the future with deliveries, assurances can
he induced TO go. AZ Buffalo. iohbing
loundries are running about hall of their
inll capacity. The rpecinlties such as
radiator manufacturing companies. hot
water heaters, and stove manufacturers
are generally running their works from
thre.fourths to full capacity. For some
reason this latter class 90 customers an
tlcipate heavy business, while those de-
pending ON jnbbing work. manufacturers
OF engines, etc, are very blue.
THE Local SITUATION. The embarass-
ments which Tor some time have ham
pered he market are about To be intens-
lied 10y labor complications on scale
which threatens 10 over shadow all the
other questions entering into and affect
Ing the iron ore and pig iron business.
and the Importance az which cannot b.
over-cstimated. The competition to
which the southern furnaces have during
the past year subjected the furnaces in
this neighborhood. and which. wherever
railway rates have permitted southern
iron to approach the market at all, have
proved ruinous Go the consumers of
Lake Superiornrcs, has made IL plain 90
every body in the business that the only
way open Tor a continuation az business
must be a sweeping reduction IA the inl-
tihl cost ~ production, iLcmding. among
others. that Of labor. So 10 comes That
the manufacturing interests would rather
see this fight fought out now, and fought
20 a decisive end, than atany other time.
What u wanted besides a low rate of the
cost oi making iron. is stability winch
gives tone Ca the market, and confidence
To the buyer, while il enables the furnace
men at the same time 90 make long CON
tracts. thus insurng a period n activity
and, consequently 81 employment to
their men. II there il going 60 be a fight
all along the line, there is no time like
the present The sale, this week, OF a
quantity 81 iour.nch Bullets, in Pitts
burph, at S24 66, indicates the situation
Of affairs much better hancould Toe given
in lengthy report, and shows To what
straits the makers 81 iron are driven. IL
il not To be presumed, however that
there is much benefit accruing To theeon-
sumers by reason Of these low prices. be-
cause the consumption in all the lines
seems To have fallen off in proportion
with the production, and also because