The Bessemer indicator., 1894-02-03
IN IRON CIRCLES.
A CONSERVATIVE VIEW OF THE
SITUATION.
The signs of the times are better
Old mills starting up and new ones
to be buiit-The year 1894 to be
one of activity.

the present situation is recorded in the
Iron Trade Review, and although very
conservative it contains much in.
formation that leads to the belief th&i
the signs of the times look better. the
only criticism of the Review being that
the editor seems to have overlooked
the iron and steel industry of Colorado
entirely 1t is to be hoped that the
big steel works at this place will not be
omitted in future article;
BY putting stress on the tonnage OF
orders, week by week, and taking no
account of the still unemployed pro-
ductive capacity that is causing IA
steady sagging of prices, the iron trade
is able to report betterment. There is
scant satisfaction, however, in filing up
stray mills at prices that are going,
except in the hope that activity will
grow in the very effort to keep wheels
turning. 1t is certain thar there have
been larger sales of pig iron in the past
week than in either of the two preced.
ing. and the inquiries reported from
Eastern and Southern markets indicate
that buyers are more willing than
heretofore to take larger lots There
is noted in some reports a greater in-
clination on the buying side to start
negotiations. feature decidedly diff
ferent from long prevailing conditions.
The lower foundry grades and grey
chases of Southern iron No. foundry,
which furnaces in that section have
been able to turn out in larger proper
tion than usual, being in light demand
Outside of pipe foundries. which re-
port increased business, the general
foundry trade is still quite dull. Cast
ngs for shop and factory will not be
called for to any great extent until
there is more general turning of
wheels in all industrial lines. The
Pittsburg district. which has the dis
tinction of producing more Bessemer
iron in the panic year than In 1892, is
still supplying steel for all quarters, and
cheap Pittsburg billets have cheapened
all products that start with them. A
large sale of Pittsburg billets was made
in the East, last week, and subsequent
smaller transactions are reported on the
basis Of 1850 Pittsburg. 1t is not
so surprising, then, that an order fer
l.50O tons of light plates has been
taken at 1.3Oc delivered at seaboard;
that beams have been sold below 1.35c
Pittsbrg; that even Pittsburg com
petition was beaten within few days
on structural material contract; that
u sale of wire rods has been made at
$23. Pittsburg, and that wire nails have
shaded 95 cents in car lots. 1t seems
likely that the building demand, the
coming spring. if indications at several
Central Western points are criterion.
will furnish the mills with large ton.
mage. The exceeding cheapness of
steel and the desire of capital for secure
investment contribute to movement
that promises to be prominent feature
of the period of recovery.
1t Is believed that the ease with
which some municipalities have been
able to dispose of their bonds will
make city work more plentiful the
coming season and that the laying of
water and gas mains and the construc-
tion of bridges and viaducts will be
larger factor IN the demand than in the
past year.
Steel rail orders in the West are
slow Undertaking, though it is ex'
pected that rail making will begin at
Chicago early in February. Street rails
are cutting larger figure with the
rail mills, some of the inSoEtown
electric lines calling for T rail quite
as heavy as those required on the rail
roads.
Indications are that Ohio will again
be rail-producing state at an early day
and it 10 not unlikely that the 1895
returns will credit the state with two
mills equipped for rolling rails.