The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-06-18
TIN PLATE HISTORY.
THE DIVERSIFIED USES TO WHICH
IT Is APPLIED.

1t Is manufactured
Tin plates since the tariff discussion
concerning them have become an item
of public interest. There seems to be a
surprising ignorance on the part Of the
people concerning their manufacture,
the diversified uses to WHOA they are
applied, as well as to the qualities which
make them important in the economy OF
living.
Briefly stated, tin plates are iron or
steel sheets cut to a convenient size
plated with tin: in other words, iron or
steel plates painted On both sides with u
tin coating.
Ninety per cent. of all the tin plates
consumed in the world are made i'll
Wales. For 40 years that little coun-
try has defied all competition III their
manufacture. Added to a thorough
knowledge of the practical features OF
the trade, the Welsh manufacturers have
proved great inventors in bringing into
use labor saving and material saving
machinery.
AS iron and tin constitute the entire
bulk Of and 80 per cent Of the entire
cost of tin plates. their price and tiuctu-
alton are the history of the tin produc-
ton Of the world and the sheet steel in
dustry. Owing to the scarcity of tin,
prices advanced from 1864, when it was
es7 per ton, to e159 i'll 1892. There wa,
nearly as marked an advance i'll iron
during the same period. This sent tie
price Of tin plates up to 2Gs. per box. In
1879 tin reached the exceedingly low
price Of G52 los. per ton. Iron reached
IA c~orrespondingly low price, Philadel-
pliia pig being quoted i'll 1876 at $3.50,
as against S53 in 1872. The cheapness
of these ingredients lowered the price of
tin plates TO l2s. Ia. Since that date
the decline in plates has been i'll strict
keeping with the price of iron ana tr
down to June, 1890, when speculation
incident to the Mckinley tariff on tin
plates set in.
The ~cheapness If tin plates, together
with their durability for certain uses,
and their adaptability us wrappers for
dramatically sealed canned food has
greatly stimulated their importation. III
. 1850 the importation was only 50O,O q
boxes; now it has reached over 5000, 600
t boxes. Our natural increase i'll con-
4 sumption of plate, since 1887 amounts
10 800, 900 boxes each wear. This increase
, is directly traceablo to the development
i the canning industry, which now con-
! suInes more than $500, 900 boxes yearly.
These cans or wrappers for canned
: produce are made mp with a large per
e centage of tin for soldering, as the sol
e der needs to be strong and noncorrosive
g From 5000 to 5000 tons of pig tin are
required for this purpose annually.
The canning industry would never
have developed TO its present status had
it not had the advantage Of cheap tin
y plates. Glass was found to be TOO ex-
pensive and the matter Of its breakasa
It too extensive to prove economical as
5. "A wrapper for a food product. lin cans
G were found to be as wholesome as glass.
proof against b~reakage and less than
II one-third the cost Of the glass jars,
l. Under the stimulus of these CHEAP
l. wrappers made from tin plates the eau
Is ming industry has made wonderful de
IS velopment, and being a direct evolution
d of agriculture ha, stimulated a class Of
intensive farming III the older settled
a portions of the country which has moi
only rescued farmers from an actua'
retrogression, but has made their farms
u remuneratiVc. One million acres OF Ian,
are now under exclusive cultivation tol
n these canneries. As "A farmer on Al
re average devotes from eight to ten acre
/; of his farm to this class of culture, II :
n shown that 100, 900 farmers, or 800. ON'
people. are interested i'll the cultivation
growing and picking of these fruits am
- vegetables which these can wrapper
convey to the consumers of the coun1r!
5. 1t was under these encouraging CD,
NJ, ditions of the canning industry. and til
advantages thus created by a HON
~ market for the farmers produce, that tn
he supposed prohibitive duty Of 1880 oil ii
plates was inflicted.
Put forth as a protection pure am
rs simple to a few sheet roofing men i
~ order to drive ont a competing articl,
VI