Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-14
FORTY CENTS A DAY.
The Amazing CheapneSS of Southern
Mine and Furnace Labor.
WHATASHREWp CHICAG0AN SAW
While Spending a Winter in the New Man
ufacturing Districts.
CHICAGOAN SAW
ANEW RIVAL FOR CONNELLsVILLE COKE
rrrcrLL TELEGRAM TO TIE prspArcH.i


Being an iron man he naturally took more
than ordinary interest in the marvellous in
dustrial development of the South. During
his absence he visited all the principal man
ufacturing districts of the South, and for
his own qualification made some inquiries as
TO the cost of materials and labor, and
found out how it is that the South has be-
come sucn dangerous competitor for the
Northern markets in certain departments of
trade.
"There is disposition among Pittsburg
people" said Mr. Himrod this evening, ito
bury their heads in the sand and imagine
that they are the only people in the country
who can make iron. They have been in the
habit of ignoring the South and of SAYING
that it could not amount to much and that
its manufacturers were bound to break up.
A Rather Serious Mistake.
'Thev never made greater mistake. The
industrial enterprises of the South have come
TO stay. They are increasing in all direc-
tions and year by year they are encroaching
more on the markets which have hitherto
been the exclusive property of the North.
'iAs THE DISPATCH stated the other day,
there are three things which are especially
favorable to the Southern manufacturer.
One Is the close proximity of his fuel and
his ore supplies, another is the cheapness
and docllity OF labor, and the third the
cheapness of railroad rates. The great
cause of cheapness of production is the
proximity of coal and iron ore supplies. 1
saw furnaces that obtained their ore and
their coal and coke all within a radius of
FIVE miles, whereas Pittsburg has to
GO 800 miles for her ore. The ore is not more
easy of access than in the Lake Superior
district, and the deposits are not so large or
in as great variety, or al rich. Ii the South
had as rich deposits of ore as we have, they
could drive us Northern fellows out of ex-
istence. We wouldn't mine ores in the
North that are as good as their best because
il wouldn't pay to transport them to our fur
naces. In the South the ores average 40 TO
80 and 81 per cent OF metallic iron. The
average is perhaps 45 per cent. In the Lake
Superior district 60 per cent OF metallic iron
is the lowest grade OF ore used, and frequent
" the percentage is &c and 6S per cent.
Center of the Southern Activity.
Birmingham, Ala, suppose. will al
WAYS be the center of iron manufacture in
the South, and the next best point will be
the district OF which Chattanooga, Tenn, is
the center But Virginia is going ahead
very rapidly and is getting to be large
manufacturer OF iron. All along the line of
the Norfolk and Western Railroad they
are putting in new blast furnaces. They
are building several at Roanoke, one at
Salem, Roanoke county; one at Pulaski,
one at WytheVille, one at Bristol on the
point where the road crosses the State line
between Tennessee and Virginia, one at a
new town in Wythe county called Iyanhoe
and couple Of others at new towns near
Newburn."
How do those Southern furnaces COM
pare in quality with those of the North?"
"Thev are modern blast furnaces in every
respect" was Mr.. HImrod's reply. "They
are fully as substantial as any at the North.
Indeed the coke blast furnaces of the South
will average better than those of the North,
because of their modern construction. There
are not so many built on the old style"
"How does the quality of iron which they
produce compare with that of Northern
iron?"
Depends on the Purpose.
''It is hard to tell whether an iron is good
or poor. That depends on the purpose for
which il is to be used. In PittsburC, for
instance, an iron to be good must be low in
phosphorus. They are used to using Lake
Superior ores there which are low
IN phosphorus and have become
accustomed to regard all others as
Interior From Pittshurg point of view
the iron produced from Virginia ores is bet
ter than that of Tennessee or Alabama
That is because it is lower in phosphorus
and silicon. Other people do not look upon
those elements as so Objectionable. Many
mills in the South use Southern pig iron ex-
clusively and with very good results, and
others in the North use Southern pig iron
with very little Northern iron in combina-
tion"
What is the actual cost to Southern
fTYr IN JTa Yoirr
THAT OF course varies in the different dis
tricts and depends on the location of the
furnace with reference TO its ore and
fuel supplies. l found one furnace the
" Noodward, at Wheeling, six miles from
Birmingham, Ala, where pig iron is made
at q cost Of close TO IS per ton, and there are
others in the same district, whose names 1
cannot now recall, where iron is made
equally cheap. But those instances are ex
ceptionally rare. The usual cost is from
$40 10 S11 per ton, and there are some fur
naces iu Tennessee and Alabama which, /
Should think, could not make iron at lower
figure than S12 per ton"
What did you find is the cost of labor in
the South as compared with the North?'
Difference in Labor's Cost.
Il should say that labor in the South
costs % or 80 per cent less than at the North.
In Tennessee and Alabama they use convict
labor in their coal and their ore Mines and,
J think, about 40 cents per man per day is
what thev pay the State for il. do not
know what proportion of their work is done
by convict labor, but, as the amount of
work done increases the proportion of course
keeps growing less Negro labor, of which
they use 4 great deal, is very cheap. They
do not pay more than about 81 per day
for it. AS about 80 per cent of ton of pig
iroa is labor q difference to that
extent is Of very great advantage to the
South. An additional advantage is that
negro labor is very dociIe and easily man.
aged; the greatest difficulty with it is that
the blacks will not work steadily; they are
very anxious for vacations and holidays, but
while thev do work their labor in the mines
and at the blast furnaces is just as good as
a white mans.
docs there seem to be any immediate
prospect OF an advance in the cost of labor?"
Race Issues Retarding Development
sit Is bound to increase before very long
One thing that is keeping it back now is the
refusal Of the white men to take black men
into their unions. l understand that they re-
fuse 10 allow their organizations to be used
for the benefit OF the negroes. IL time that
NAV change. Then labor is becoming
scarcer, and it will be necessary before long
to import it. They cannot get men to go
there from other parts of the
country unless they pay the same
wages that are paid elsewhere. As soon as
they are compelled to import men the rate
of wages will 60 up to the level OF the rest
# the country. And it is only question of
le, 1 think, when convict labor will be
pped.
Another thing that Is greatly to the ad-