Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-10-26
AN OBJECT LESSON.

The Boom In Iron and steeI-An Earnest OF
Amcrica's Primary in the Worlds COM
merce.
The object lesson now presented oy
The iron and a.eel industries IS 2 most
cheering iudica ion Of the prosperity III
store for American manufacturers anu
labor. Despite all the fears and pre-
dic-iOns OF calamity howlers, the pro-
duc.ion Of iron in this country is now
on scale of uneXampied magnitude.
For some weeks the output, as SHOWN DS
reports of the furnaces, has been az me
ra-e IF 10.5OO.000 tons g year, and es1i-
m8-es have been freely made thd1 1t
r5u soon reach 100000 tons week.
rae equal TO nearly 11,500000 tons per
annum
The significance Of such enormous
1gurss caunCt De realized even IN par-
unless compared with Che output OL lrSh
furnaces in o-hcr countries. Before me
iate worldwide Oppression. e. Que
ing the year 1S92-the total output OF
Dfs iron In Sweden was 47S,6Sb metric
.9rs l527.5z3 American t0as), or 90 per
re-t OF the present monthly production
.~ -ha United States. During the same
wear the total production in Germany
WAS Olly 1891, 46l metric tons '9'tfo'-
$50 American lcns). or ha1 or 'he
amount which a- the rate our furnaces
are now working viii be produced aefe'
In 1892 the production in the bri-lSh
Islands was 500, 600 long tons ana qua
little more in 1893. up 10 Wnich biihe
The maximum British production was
e 800 S24 long tons (9,32L56S American
.orsl reDor.ed in 1889, and never, we
b4If7ve exceeded in the United hlnS-
dom Bu- rs long ago as in the hscal
wear ending June 80. 1890, the pig lrOr'
rro7u.ei ia he United States amounted
70 1O907.02S tons. and in 1892 about ms
same. 80.
r. win +hus be seen that the very great
in iron production "hlel
-ba United States has held for several
vpars is stfH secure and that we are now
fast increasing our lead Of all ra,ions
FIN This imYmtan- industry, which lies
o- -5a root eff an manufacturing indus
tries But despite the immense produc-
5fon now reported. it appears 10 be
or9mv-lv taken ND and absorbed for
homo use During September there
was an actual reduction in the stocks
a- the furnaces. and the Iron Trade
Review published at the close of last
week s2.d,-
"Whne the current rate Of pig iron
production is equivalent 10 q yearly
output OF from 10.509,000 to II 100000
according to the Eastern or Western
statistics of active furnaces October 1
are taken-there was net reduction
of $1,000 tons i'm Uusold stocks of coke
iron i'm the month of September. This
heavy consumption supports the belief
that the wait of the past four weeks is
not likely TO be greatly prolonged.
Furnaces on foundry iron find that
their Gus. omers want shipments fully
mo to contract rate, and in many cases
iron cannot be got to foundry yards
fast enough. The withdrawal of 50
many furnaces from foundry and forge
-o run on ECsscmer has kept the mar
z1ts for the latter steady in spite OF
the lHll."
Il is not remarkable that some timid
people. ignorant OF the real conditions
Of the iron trade. have been crying out
against this enormous production Of
iron as unwise. But If the trade jour
nails are correct in their estimates Of
the future home demand for the pro-
ducts OF our iron and steel works the
present boom Is not likely to collapse
very soon. The advance in prices of
pig iron, however. has been
recently checked. Ii is said that the
mills are still full Of work and can prob
ably sustain themselves very well for
awhile. How long the present activity
Of tho industry can be maintained by
the home demand for iron and steel at
current prices it is impossible for any
one 60 say.
BIZ. IL the boom is to continue and
the prosperity Of the iron and steel in
dustries is to be expanded. earnest eff
forts must at once be put forth to eX-
tend The export trade IN these products
and i'm an tine finished products into
which iron or steel enters as the chief
component There is much now to en-
courage manufacturers to strike out
boldly for q large share in the worlds
iron trade. In August last there was
decided increase in the exports OF Amer
lean iron and steel and manufactures
thereof, the total amounting to S5,4lO'-
sos. or at the rate of an annual export
of s40.92S.340. This is 4 considerably
higher export than has been usual with
U.S. But it is very far below what we
could do even row. and much below
the export Of nations that we have dis
tanced i'm iron production. England,
though inferior to the United States IN
the production o. iron. exports annually
more than 500 600 900 worth OF iron
and steel and manufactures thereon.
The need for further and much larger
increases in these exports must be
aru8rcrt to furnace and mill owners.
The Iron AGE pointed ont editorially
f0rtnight ago that thoughtful manutac-
turers are looking forward to the
which are likely TO prevail
after the present boom in iron and
steel has run IT'S course 1t said
Meanwhile our capacity for the pro-
duc-ica of iron and steel will be greatly
increased. and. unless deductions from
previous experience are wholly az fault,
our facilities viii be considerably eN-
banded beyond The normal requirements
of tha country. This has been the his
tory of an b00ms. Our competitors
across -ae Atlantic. who have lately
been breathing a E,tle more freely win
our partial retirement from the contest
over foreign trade, have no strong rea-
son for exultat0u. The stimulus to do
nestle trade caused by the great reviv-
al Of business among our own people
viii place us i'm better trim for another
encounter In the worlds markets at no
dis,an. day.
But why put till tomorrow what can
be--er be done to-day? Manufacturers
win stand very seriously in their own