Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-25

The average cost is 1ound TO approximate
S17 30, and when it is understood that
furnaces here were selling as low as SIS so
and SIG from their stocks in store, the loss is
apparent. Surely, no further elucidation is
necessary to show the position of pig iron
shutdown.
We Must Have Cheaper Production.
The cry on every hand is for cheaper pro-
duction, and many 60 so far as to assert that
unless thorough reconstruction of the pig
iron market takes place shortly, that is, as
far as the cost of producing iron is con-
cerned, the industry will gradually slip out
of the grasp OF home furnacemen into the
hands of Southern producers.
As the ore companies have shown desire
to share in this reduction by reducing the
price OF ore from 81 to 81 80 per ton COM
pared with last year, and the settle
ment OF the Connellsville coke strike,
and the ultimate reduction In the
selling price OF coke is only question Of
little time, the slowest, and what appears
to be the most obdurate, industry to read
Just itself is that of rail transportation.
The knowledge of this fact among furnace
men has lately given rise to renewed discus
sion as to the possibility of the construction
Of the Erie ship canal.
The Railroads Can't Remedy the Matter.
1t is not only question whether the rail-
roads will reduce their rates, but, with the
limited carrying and terminal facilities that
they possess at present and which are not
capable of great enlargement, will they be
able to handle the traffic that will be offered
in the course of few years should the
present rate of increase in the manufacture
of pig iron continue?
In an interview with John NJ. Goodwin,
the eminent civil engineer who has charge
of the survey of the proposed canal,
he stated that the only solution of the
question now occupying the minds Of
furnacemen lies in the construction
of the proposed canal. He is very enthusi-
astic on the subject, and seemed thoroughly
conversant, not only with the details of the
Erie ship-canal scheme but of the industries
of the three valleys. He spoke at length Of
the causes which have led to the shutdown
and the probable condition of the iron
trade in years to come, and closed by en-
phatically declaring that the
Only Hope For Northern Furnaoemen
ern markets lay directly in the construction
of the Erie ship canal.
Mr.. Goodwin put forward an argument
which will probably appear new to great
many who have become interested in the
construction of the proposed waterway. 1t
is that even should the railroads lower the
freight rates to meet the demands of the
furnacemen, they would not be able in the
course of a few years to handle the traffic
that will be offered them should the present
rate of increase in the production of pig
iron continue. and the reasons for this
are owing to the lack of terminal facilities
and room for the sidIns of loaded cars in
the different cities and towns. In the case
of Pittsburg, it is well-known fact that
there is at present no possible ingress for a
railroad except by tunneling, aud even
then, when the center of the city is reached,
there is no room for sidings. This is also
true of many smaller cities and towns be-
tween the Ohio river and Lake Erie, and
the only inlet remaining is by the proposed
waterway.
The average tonnage of ore in lake
cargo was !, 500 tons.
What the Railroads Can't Do.
In order to transport this quantity of iron
fully 90 cars OF a total length of over ], 900
feet are needed, which are never shipped at
one time, owing to the delay in the unload |
ing by manual labor the great detention of
the loaded cars that would follow and to the |
poor facilities for unloading, and last. but |
not least, the great stretch of track the un-
loaded cars would fill from day to day, un-
til they are unloaded. On the other hand, /
suppose the existence of the Erie Canal en- |
trance into Pittsburg, and other towns |
by river were a fact a vessel not !!
more than 200 feet in length could be
moored alongside tine furnace stockhouse
and the material unloaded, thus saving the |
extra landings necessary to load it into |
cars and unload it. This statement also |
holds true in the matter of the transporta-
tion of coke. Thus it is that the compile |
tion of the Erie ship canal. which would !
revolutionizo transportation matters and !
cause a considerable saving in the cost of |
producing iron, is looked upon by Mr.. |
Goodwin as the only remedy whereby the |
evils that at present stare the pig iron man
ufacturers of Pennsylvania and Ohio in
the face can be forever eradicated.