New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-05
WIRE TRUST FORMED.
FIFTEEN FIRMS SAID TO BE IN THE
COMBINATION.
MEETING HELD AT THE wALpoRF-AsToH lA-rhh
NEW ORGANIZATION TO BE KNOWN AS
THE AMERICAN STEEL AND WIRE
coNYANY-cAPITAL STOCK


p.nr...n&.t,ves of thirteen of the largest wire
and w1rs-nau manufacturing firms in America met
at the Waldorf,Astoria yesterday and completed
the arrangements for a consolidation OF practoaHy
all the Arms and corporations engaged In the man.
ufaeturs Of wire and kindred products Negotia-
tons for this consolidation have been In progress
for six months. but the meeting yesterday WAS tho
Arst formal one at which the subject haS been
thoroughly discussed. Most o. the prel!mnaries,
however had been arranged by correspondence ana
II needed only the presence OF tho interested po'-
sons 10 make tho new combination or trust
certainty.
The new company will be known as the American
Steel and Wire Company, and II will be incorporated
probably within tho next month In Illinois. WIN
capital stock Of So 10000 Judge Ebert H. Gary
Of CHICAGO, the counsel for John w. Gates. presl-
dent Of the Illinois Steel Company. who is heavily
interested IN the Consolidated Steel and Wire Com
pany said after yesterdays meeting that the new
company the result of a natural enort on inc
part OF the wire manufacturers TO lessen the Gust
Of PRODUCTION by reducing the expenses inc'oen'ai
60 the conduct Of numerous concerns engageo III
the same industry. and doing away with ruihous
conpet;tion. While the company would. 10 GER
tain extent control the output OF wire ana wire
nails he added. there was no disposition 10 crush
smaller concerns According TO him, there are no"
twenty firms engaged In the business ana OF 'hese
fifteen have agreed TO Join the new concern inc
other i've he continued. do a comparatively snai
business. and their acquisition will make little DIFF
ference 70 the firms interested in the new company
All these plants. he remarked, woud De puIc"aseu
by the new company at fair prices II inc o"ne's
desire to sell out. At tho same tmc ne 8unil''eo
that there was little prospect OF this oelns uone'
as the prices demanded lot Ihe0e P'A''' Wv
seem to be reasonable
George r. Oliver. Of P1ttsoure PRESIDED AZ 'he
meeting and II was decided TO make MIN the iist
president OF the company when some OF inc "i'o'
details have been settled. Tho Board OF DIRECTORS
,u he established either in this city or in chicago
,rb,s however will not be fully determined upon
Until after a meeting to be held on or aoou'
April /.
Judge Gary. who was named as the spoAes1io
for the men who attended the meeting deciareo
that the session had been a most harmonious one
Another meeting will be held to-day. at whicn SONS
adjustments Of minor matters will be mace.
It was said yesterday that there was hi'cn III
the plan for the consolidation. because Oh INC o''
satisfaction Of the Washburn Moen Manu'ac'
uring Company with the appraisal OF It's plant a'
Worcester Mass This concern is one of the larg-
est manufacturers Of wire In America. and It's re-
s fsa to vs G ware as m p S9@paJRd Gary
discuss this point but afterward IN reiera ar H.,
S casd in oregon. illinois. Ohio. NewYork and
Pennsylvania plant being in each stats ,;r ING
Moen company interested in the new concern.
None Of mills was o nS o the
emit at least be disturbed. Later however they VII!
be reduced as the expenses are ny
decrease in the number of executive officers The
company will further decrease the cost II was
raid by operating and coal mines. thereby
saving the profits that ordinarily GO to midd. e.
man. Tho annual product of the fifteen firms IN
terested in the new concern Is estimated at one
million tons OF wire, wire nails and barb wire.
They employ between fifteen thousand and twenty
thousand men.
The profits Of the wire manufacturers In the
last few years" Judge Gary said yesterday, have
been extremely small. and the struggle for exist
ence has. in many cases. been severe one. The
Dingley act, however has improved matters. as
American firms can now compete successfully with
foreign manufacturers. and look forward TO a
large and continually increasing foreign trade
Among the firms which compose the new concern
are the Cleveland Rolling Mills. the American Wire
Company. the II. =. Nall Company, the Johnson
Steel Company and the Consolidated Steel and
Wire Company Of Cleveland; the Oliver Snyder
Wire Company, the Pittsburg Wire Company. the
Rankin Wire Company and the Beaver Falls Wire
Company, OF Pittsburg. and the Washburn G. Moen
Manufacturing Company. of Worcester; Mass The
names Of the other firms were not made public.
J. p. Morgan Co are underwriting the scheme