The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-12-03
The Iron Trade.

Notwithstanding the fact that we pro
duced in the United States in 1890 9,OOO.-
900 tons of iron-or million more than
in 1S99.-the prospect is that there will
be as great activity in the iron trade in
1899 as ever before in our history. 1t is
apparent now that the supply will not
be greater than the demand, and that
prices will advance on present quotations
before the spring trade fairly opens. 1t
is the general belief that the year 1892
will be very active period in all bust
ness channels, as a result of the healthy
tone of the iron market, and that indus
tries of every description related to iron
will be encouraged and promoted to a
greater degree than in 1890 or 1891. or
course this activity will be Influenced in
a measure by local causes and condi-
tions, operating to the adv antage of the
localities where the raw material is
abundant and accessible. Especially will
this be the case in this portion of Vir-
ginia, where iron ore and coke and coal
are in close proximity, and labor is
plentiful and comparatively less costly
than in other States further north
Where the material entering into indus
tries, has to be imported, as on the sea-
coast, and notably in the eastern sea-
coast States, the depressing effect of the
protective policy is sensibly felt, but
where the dependence is upon the prod
ucts of our own mines and resources
the development of our own buried
wealth-and the employment of our own
labor, feeling of confidence and a con-
dition of activity exist, increasing as the
assurance is given that enlarged de>
mands for iron will be made and new
uses for the metal are discovered. All
through the east Rolling Mills are being
suspended for want of raw material to
operate with profitably, growing out OF
competition with the South in the pro-
duction of pig metal, where all the con
ditions favor the least possible cost of
production. These conditions, SO prom
inent in this district, are those which
the suspended iron Industries of the east
ought to consider. Here we have free
sites for plants in sight of furnaces. At
Clifton Forge, Low Moor, Coyington.
Iron Gate, Bessemer, Glen Wilton, and
all through the great Rich Patch Dis
trict, where between three and four
hundred tons of pig are turned out
daily, admirable sites may be had for
the asking for Rolling Mills and kim
dred enterprises, and where fuel can be
had at much less cost than in the east,
and labor obtained at far less outlay.
The trend of industrial enterprises is
from the east to the south, and where
the advantages have become known, we
may expect the location of capital here
to enter the lines which have become
improbable in the east. Virginia, and
this district particularly, is virgin so far
as material development is concerned.
It is here where the raw material is
available at minimum cost, and it is
here that all forms of iron working,
from the mine and furnace output to
the finished article, can be operated to
the profit of those who may engage in
them
We look forward to the spring open
ing with confidence. The logic of
events is pleading forcibly for us. We
have everything that capital and skilled
labor want, and when the advantages
that may be obtained here are fully dis
seminated, we may reasonably look for
the location of industries to utilize them.