The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-04
a GREAT YEAR FOR ron.
ENGLAND loses o0NTROI or THE
WORLDS Steel HIRKEL

an pr.-Se.,., n,-tsveea ~ tire Year,s Preduct
er ore BIZ are Lake eupertoT n1fnes-fstei
ohipusents OF No. 500, 900 Gress Tens-euTs
prrs,nr Eisures-eoea outlook rsr lsss.
DULUTH, Dec. .~sl.-Today closes one OF the
most e~ventful years In the history OF American
iron ore mining and steel making. In one
branoh DIE trade mas sson ali prophecies dis
tanoed By the tremendous total Of ore con-
summed. In the other IL has witnessed . change
moro important than any other since the
discovery OF the Bessemcr process OF making
r~toei-no less than tho transfer OF tho control OF
the worlds market across tho Atlantic. 1t 10 no
longer England that controls the steel and iron
trade Of tho world. By virtue Of labor saving
methods Of the highest character, of q tonnage
output by individual plants four times greater
than that OF tho best in England, OF economies
In transportation such as English railway
managers never dreamed Of. and Of the vnst
stores Of cheaply mined, high-grado ores OF the
Mesaba range In Minnesota, this .notaole TO
suit has been accomplished.
Years ago Abram 8. Hewitt predicted that by
1900 the consumption OF iron would. be 10000.
600 tons annually, and that ten years later 1t
would reach 25, 900 tons. Few men b-
nevcd him then, but now. at the close Of 1897,
tho consumption Of ore is at the rate ho predict
Cd for two years hence. This year tho ship
ments Of ore from Lake Superior mines have
been hL5O0.o 900 gross tons, and 1t now looks az
n all this quantity. together with 100000
toms moro that lay unsold at the opening Of navi-
ration last April might all be used before navi-
The total iron ore shipments from the lake
ranges for the year just closed have been by
70 MH make q total Of an even $500. 900 tons. This
al H; records for iron .produstioas and wa +.
garded asa, wonder. the season Of 1895. The
SSSs st While niSt at the BEGINNING Of 1886 there wore
millions Of tons of ore left unsold at lower lake
p port eth, this yssF HAS Was 9Snsamsd d S;S0o' S oS9 s0 %Ss on
the year opened. and il closes with the guam.
tity Of unseld ore less than has been known for
with a consumption that vim demand shipments
The task Of handling such a quantity of orc
a. no small one. Lake railroads are now pre-
6SSSG o fr ~ yhe Increased Su HiS.sns they expect in
1898, and these short lines will carry a traffic
s ,hs c waI \ be th SS SDY iItf # lG posS' lines the bnlusS snd
1fsn t Rsass' a nad%P not mo ~ n sSSH ffo 5So %ii ssq !o saR
sPIDs IF o BY t by the nSsss srriEa pt 81 Fs sSips tRst lt we're asi at
the mercy of storms and delays. has in the eight
gross tons Of ore. not to mention other freight;
During the height Of the season trains pulled
i Sy 'i have Vea followed one another over the road
every few minutes. while eight or ten ships q day
l hSge r Sssn !, lG9 plsSa S9a ds Is psdd g m ffG% sh so dSof to
is business for the coming season. :,
Some sixty mines have shipped ore during the
year from the five lake ranges, but ten Of them,
owned by seven companies, produced half of Il,
an Indication Of the way the mining business is
being concentrated into q few hands. This con.
centration will DO more evident next season,
when the Carnegie interests begin shipments
from their new purchases on the Gogebic range.
Each of these ten mines has produced In the
on the lake ranges began with a few hundred
tons Of ore in 1854, and M to the close of navi.
cation this year there had been mined and
shipped the grand total of 100, 900. 900 gross
tons. The growth of the industry steadily
through good times and bad is shown bv the
fact that moro than half the total has been the
result of the work of the past seven years. The
produced ore as follows for the past year and Il in
Shair antira cnraar.