Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-15
PIG IRON PROSPECTS.
Probability That the Market Will
Soon Show Improvement.
EFFECT OF PRESENT SHUTDOWN.
Macbeth & Co. Select a Site in Indiana
for Their Factory.
DAILY GRIST FROM LABOR CIRCLES

J. J. Spearman, a Sharon furnace man,
was at the Seventh Avenue Hotel yesterday.
In discussing the situation in the valleys
he said: twenty-five furnaces are shut
down, and in the course of the next ten days
several more will 60 out of blast. The time
for starting up has not been fixed by those
who signed the agreement, and it may be as
late as April or May. At least 9, 800
men, taking 100 men to each furnace, are
out of employment, and it is possible that
10, 600 altogether are affected. as the coke
workers won't have much to do and fewer
men will be needed on the railroads. 1t is
the workmen who will suffer the most, and
with them are included the merchants.
Without his monthly stipend the laborer
must economIze and buy fewer goods. The
merchant sells less, and consequently can't
lay in as large stock as he intended in the
spring.
No Actual Suffering Probable.
81 do not think there will be actual suffer-
ing as the result of the shutdown, and the
furnace men felt they could go no further.
The trade has not improved, and we can't tell
how long the presenl state of affairs will con-
tinue.
1T has come to this pass in the furnace busi-
ness that expenses must be reduced some
where. There are. of course, certain fixed
charges that can't be overcome. The railroad
rates on ore from the mines to the lakes should
be cut little. as with the present prices of
pig iron, we can't pay the coke and freight
rates.
c. s. Seymour Dutton, general agent of
William. Tod & Co., of Youngstown. o., regis
tered at the Monongahela House. He stated
that Brown, Bonnell & Co., whose affairs are in
the hands of a receiver. have two stacks, and
they are still in operation. They could not he
shut down without an order from the Court
]. r. Thomas of Niles, has one stack in blast
He did not sign the agreement on the ground
that his furnace was idle last summer while be-
ing rebuilt, and he had on hand number of
contracts which must be filled, or he would
lose money. The stocks in the valleys are
selling some iron on orders.
Getting Rid of the Old Stock.
Mr.. Spearman thinks if the shutdown con-
tinues long enough that there will be little pig
iron left. This is the time of year, from now
on to May. when the ore contracts are made.
Last year the furnace men got the worst of it,
for shortly after they had delivered their orders
at the prevailing prices the bottom fell
out OF the pig iron market. This
season the furnace owners are exceed
ingly wary. but Mr.. Spearman says
the ore people will make good profit if they
make their rates based on the present price of
pig iron. There is marked Improvement in
the Eastern pig iron market, and the chances
are that iron prices will go up rather than
down. Mr.. Spearman believes that at such
critical times 1t is well to take rest and time
to think before making a move
Mr. Dutton is under the impression that the
shutdown will not continue later than
February. He does not think the inter:
ests i'll the valleys will be affected
very much, Few skilled workmen are required
to run afurnace, and most of the laborers are Of
the Hungarian class. They are an economical
people, and can easily ind work in other inter-
ests temporarily. MIR. Dutton figures that 1000
men are out of employment About 1000 men
are employed in the rolling mills around
Youngstown.