The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-03-07
scHUYLKILL IRON FURNACES.
Works That Competition In the West
and south Have Closed.
PhIIadeIphia kecord.


The wrecking of the old Edge Hill
blast furnace. at Edge Hill, Montgomery
county, removes a familiar landmark on
the line of the North Penn railroad, and
adds another name 10 the list OF aban-
doned iron-rnaking enterprises with which
the Schuylkill valley is s,rewn. Against
the great advantages of cheaper ore and
fuel In the West and South the manufac-
ture OF pig iron In this vicinity has had
a continuously hard struggle during the
last ten 10 fifteen years. Twenty years
ago the Lehigh valley was the largest
pig iron producing region In this country.
New York state stood second, and the
Schuylkill valley was third. The Lehigh
and Schuyikiii valleys together produced
more pig iron than any entire state out
side OF Pennsylvania, and their joint out
put was more than one-fourtn OF the
whole product of the country. Last year
the SchuyIkili valley stood twelfth in
the list of pig iron producing regions.
and the Lehigh valley was in the four
teenth place.
Anthracite pig iron. the chief product
OF the Schuylkill valley furnaces, has de-
clined one-half In price in this market
in twenty years. but anthracite coal,
which Is the chief dependence OF the pig
iron industry OF Eastern Pennsylvania.
has not cheapened perceptibly since the
beginning of that period In intervening
years II mas DttH DOtfl utEAcf anu itmtk
than at present. There has been some
advantage In the decrease in cost of Lake
Superior iron ores. which these furnaces
have been compelled TO use because of the
low grade of the local ores and the tariff
on richer foreign ores. and within the
past six months additional advantage has
come from the reduction In duty on iron
ore from IS 10 40 cents per ton. The i'm
portance OF this reduction may be real
tired urh "a al that the saving of
81 cents per ton in duty would make
difference of probably $4,000 year In the
cost of ore consumed by such plant as
the two furnaces of Hecksher & Sons. at
Swedeland. assuming that they were TO
use foreign ore exclusively. But the high
cost of fuel still remains the greatest OBJ
stacie to profitable pig iron manufacture
in this vicinity. fer the cost of anthra-
cite remains practically the same year
after year, and IL coke Is used the fur
mace operators must pay the railroads for
hauling ii from Connelisville nearly two
and one-half times as much as the coke
Itself costs at the ovens where L Is made.
With these facts TO consider. 1t is not
surprising that only one blast furnace
has been built in the Schuylkiil valley In
the last fifteen years. while not less than
thirty-three stacks have been abandoned
in that time More blast furnaces are in
ruins than are In operation today or likely
TO operate In the valley. The new stack
erected at Swedeiand four years ago by
Hecksher & Sons is the only furnace
bull, In the Schuyikill valley In nearly
twenty years unless the furnace at Ches-
ter be considered as within the region.
That furnace was built fifteen years ago.
Many of the older plants have been re-
built or remodelei from time to time.
but no new concern has engaged In the
manufacture OF pig iron as a new enter
prise while many have retired from the
business in the last fifteen years. During
the last generation many substantial for
tunes were made out Of pig iron In East
ern Pennsylvania, but the present pos
SCISSORS of iron making establishments in
this section have had TO struggle hard.
and not always with success. to preserve
the property acquired through former
profitable business
The record of rolling mills In this VT
cinIty that have been abandoned for
various causes is not so extended as the
n.ortuary list of blast furnaces. but II
represents a vast amoant OF capital
through the decline of enterprises that
once were prosperous. Three mills In
Philadelphia have been abandoned in re-
cent years