The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-05-16

Of their locntiOu, Dtiuk Hotc " "'."N
prices which are out of the question Tor
rompsnies located in the Alabama dis
trict. Southern coke brands remain Ia
comparatively small demand. The week
has shown considerable inquiry from
large buyers for both charcoal and coke
irons, demonstrating that Leading con-
sumers are disposed 90 anticipate their
usual time OF purchase on account OF low
figures now going. On Lake Superior
charcoals there is less crowding al iron
at the low figures which have of hate pre-
vailed. there hns. however. been no real
change in the charcoal sitnn ton. Besides
further emphasizing the dizziness which
exists in the pig iron market, there Is
very little tn remark as To the Detroit
market. except that the street carstrikes
and the strikes of the ear companies IN
that locality have been satisfactorily
settled, and labor troubles, 10 would
seem, would cause no further serious an
nosance i'm the near future. The trans
actions in Lake Superior charcoal iron
have been considerable in tonnage, but
prices cannot he said Co have more than
fairly been maintained. At Cincinnati,
reports have been current al some low
priced sales. Some OF the lnrge consum-
ers in the west have been trying to engage
their supplies al iron To the end OF the
u
coal irons they have been successful, but
in coke irons have not. Leading furnaces
are taking orders for deliveries running
through the simmerat full current prices.
The month OF April showed sales at st.
Louis in some instances at even lower
prices than the previous months, prices
being cut To move some OF the accumula-
ton of stocks on hand, for prompt cash.
There is no apparent increase in the de-
nand mt Buffalo, but consumption has
reached about the lowest ebb attained
before in a number al years. Foundries
in the vicinity of Buffalo are still calling
for pig iron ut the rate anticipated by
them several months ago.
1'nE LOCAL SITUAuoN.-lt is hardly
much of material benefit TO the ore trade
To quote, IA actual sales. the transac-
tions reported some weeks ago az having
"a string 20 them" or Ia speak of these
transactions as new. I he Tact IL that
there has been practically NO change in
| the conditions governing the ore mar
ket the alleged information al eastern
publications. 20 the contrary notwith-
standing II must be remembered that
there is now piled on Lake Erie docks
rather more than two million, five hun
dred thousand tons III ore, besides the
quantity stored in the furnace yards. A
canvass az the ore docks shows that in
no single instance "new place" has been
made. as the lockers call IL. while the
piles seem nowhere materially reduced.
This, coupled with the dock strikes now
i'm progress, will very naturally interfere
with the early shipments of unsold ore.
| That the Lake Superior people under
| stand the situation IL evidenced by the
TACT that they are taking steps material
| ~ To reduce mining operations, several of
the larger mines having already dischafg-
eel a considerable poi ton Of their work
ing force. IL IL true that one mine an
nounces the sale oi it's 'entire output"
but as the particular grade of this out
put restricts the translation to less than
fifty thousand tons--divided into ut least
fifteen parcels--it will he readily seen TIM
there has been no opening OF the ore sea-
son. Even II the furnaces should start
mp To run. they would not want to buy
a pound al ore Tor the next ninety days.
and IL may be put down as fact that
as lar rs the immediate and direct mnr-
ket of the Lake Superior ore trade il cor
cerned, no ore has been sold except as
before mentioned, and under special con-
ditions m To price. The coke question
is also unsettled, although the output
seems To be slightly increased. Still, il
will require considerable more OF nm inn
W ruHDiN tut thInttit luf-
naces and the Illinois Steel Company, be-
lore the other consumers will be in posi-
ton TO commence operations. were they
so inclined and the price OF pig iron IN
no manner warrants n resumption OF
activity. Sixteen dollars for the best
Crude oil foundry iron will not pay for its
production, with coke ut $i.75, and rail
freights Ut 81 go which il said to be the
rate shortly TO be conceded by the rail
way companies. Ii must he borne in
mind that the average reduction in the
price oi ore n fully a dollar and quarter
AZ compared with last years figures, and
that the vessel rates will be very low this
season. 30 that all the cut seems To be-
made in one direction, and none az all IN
the other. There ~ quite ~ demand hy
the steel mills for Bessemcr pig, and SIT
cash may be readily obtained for the
spot article. On the other hand. all the
BeSsemer iron Ia the two vnlleys-good.
bad and indificpnt--has been cleaned up.
and nothing remains to- be sold. The fur
nncemon, at least the great majority of
them. do not seem anxious to 60 To- work
until some settlement is made OF the
more importnnt questions entering into
the manufacture 81 pig iron, and since
such "A settlement H. hardly a probable
event until n betterment in the demand
~ manifested IN the various lines 81 the
trade, there Is little probability 81 any
early return ~ active operations. II
anything were needed 60 add 60 the per
plcxities 81 the situation. IL is the rumor-
ed strike, not only OF the lake engineers
and liremen, but 81 the sailors as well so
that the opening 81 the lake season. which
was set Tor MAY Is, may bc indefinitely
/ pDetppned