St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-28

iron in this country for forty years,
and for the past ten years at Duluth,
was invited to address the committee.
He said that he had come to the city
to buy old railroad rails and had been
asked to go before the committee. He
was prepared to answer questions rath-
er than to make q speech. This OPP
portunity was taken advantage of by
several senator's, and, among them,
Senator Yale, who conducted a lengthy
cross-eXaminatfon on the cost of max
ing iron, the value of the product and
matters relative to fuel and freights.
In reply to questions, Mr.. York said
there could be no conception of the
benefits that would accrue to the
state could the smelling of ore be done
within her borders. He alluded to the
great quantities of ore, the cost of
fuel and the possible consumption of
iron at home. He had been interested
IN manufacturing iron in the state for
ten years by the use of charcoal. The
cost of production would be diminished
if coal could be secured cheaper than
at present. Aid from the state would
compensate for the cost of bringing
tuel here to be used in manufacturing.
he thought iron for structural pur-
poses may be manufactured nearly as
cheaply here as elsewhere when all
Things are taken into consideration.
His view is that it would be more
economical to bring coal to the state
and reduce it into coke than to bring
the coke The reason being that coke
is more bulky and would be damaged
by absorbing moisture when shipped
by lake. He answered large number
OF questions on the cost of fuel and
manufacture of iron and prices. He
said that it would not be advisable to
attempt to make steel rails, as that
would precipitate a fight against the
Carnegie syndicate. He regarded that
gentleman as being many times
MORE POWERFUL
than the car of the Russias, and in
stanced a case where the syndicate
had refused to sell him pig iron at any
price. He declared that steel beams or
structural iron can be successfully
made In this state, and that, too, in
competition with the syndicate, because
there is no effort made to control the
output of such class of steel
Asked as to what he would advise
the state to do, Mr.. York replied that
advantage to encourage the manufac-
ture of structural steel in her own
borders. 1t would be we'll to take the
royalty off iron manufactured at home.
The manufacturers would mine the
ore themselves if the state did not
want to do so. His view was that the
state would be better off if It did not
allow any raw ore to be shipped out
IA OF 70
in summer and let the home mills have
the ore in winter. This would afford
work for home labor. He was en-
phatc in the statement that the time
is ripe for the state to foster home in
dustries. He said that he would have
no difficulty in securing a half-million
dollars to erect a factory in this state
to make structural steel Such fac
tory would use 200 tons of ore per day.
1t would require a plant costing
S5,OOO,W0 to manufacture steel rails.
and then it would have to compete
with the powerful syndicate that has
s5O, 100000 at it's back, and would be
able to crush the smaller concern. He
also said that the price of rails could
not be maintained as well as for beams.
In answer to questions as to the re-
from the mines to the lake, he said that
there was no advantage to be gained.
as it would also result in a reduction
of the price of ore to Eastern concerns.
and would make no difference to a
home concern as long as the Eastern
concern has to pay the same rate. He
said that when the state is ready to
offer Inducements by releasing the roy
atty on ore manufactured at home. or
give any other satisfactory induce
ment, he was ready to erect a plant to
begin the manufacture of ore into
structural iron. Senator McHale said.
Il move that he be allowed to go
ahead" and several other senators
aSsented to such course
The senate committee on railroads
considered che Theden bill at a meet
ing held last evening. This is the one
designed to repeal the anti-scalper
law. Senator Knatvold's bill to re-
quire railroads to place switches every
eight miles, or to amend the law that
requires them every ten miles, was
also discussed. Both bills went over
until Monday. when, parties interested
will be heard upon the merits OF the
bills.