Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-09-16
Pennsylvania Coke.

Eclipsing all previous records, and
ut time when Uncle Sam and the
Hidalgos- were engaged in hostilities,
the Connellsville (Pa.) region produced
over 100000 tons of coke during the
first half Of the present year. To be
exact, 4,15S,961 tons of this great fuel
were loaded on 21S,925 carriers and dis
tributed from the famous Western
Pennsylvania district to markets all
over the United States. And this MAN.
moth production was arrived at with
hundreds of ovens working only half
and quarter time, and when some were
blown out completely.
Coupled with this record
supply, of course, is an unusual and,
in this case, unprecedented demand for
fuel. This is clearly shown in the
compilation of the pig iron production
of the United States for the first half
of this year, when the Keystone State
shattered another Industrial record
and produced the major tonnage of
5,9O9,703 tons of metal, the aggregate
output of all the furnaces in blast.
Compared with the first half of 1897,
which was then accounted greater than
any previous era in the trade, this half
years production exceeds it by 1906,
227 tons, which weight, in these in
stances, refers to gross tons Of 2,24O
pounds.
And this tremendous output was the
work Of six months, four of which
were clouded with the shadow of i'm
pending strife. It was the production
of time when uncertainty in all in
dustrial and commercial lines prevailed
the length and breath Of this great
land; when big enterprises were aban-
doned and large projects pigeon-holed.
Pennsylvania stands pre-eminent,
therefore, as a producer of coke, and,
above all, pig iron. A noteworthy fact
in connection with the record breaking
output of both products is that only
10 states were engaged in the produc-
ton of the metal during the last half
year. This is the smallest number
ever recorded in the history of the Am
erican Iron and Steel association, and
since about the year 1880. And it is
hardly probable that this number will
ever be greatly increased. The indi-
cations are rather for its diminution.
This can easily be accounted for by the
tendency of the industry to CONSOLE
1ate and establish itself in the most
favored localities.
Within the last year or SO this move
of Capitalization has been most pro-
nounced, causing the abandonment of
the trade in many states. North Caro-
lima, with two furnaces; Texas, with
four furnaces, and Minnesota and Ore
gon, each with one furnace, produced
not single ton of pig iron this year.
These furnaces are out Of blast en-
tirely, and the probabilities are that
they will be abandoned.
Pennsylvania six-months output of
pig iron conspicuously exceeds that of
any other state, and, in fact. is not
eclipsed by any country on the face of
the earth. 1t is five times greater than
Alabama, more than twice that of the
numerous furnaces in Ohio, and from
ten to twenty times more than the out
put of the other states in the union.
The aggregate value Of the total out
put of pig iron in the United States for
the past half year will probably exceed
S100, 900. This shows a shrinkage
in value from 1897. This decrease in
price, however, was neither alarming
nor unexpected. The commercial prim-
acy of the world, it has been authori-
tatively stated, belongs to the country
that can produce the cheapest pig iron.
To the United States, statistics prove,
attaches that distinction.
With cheap pig iron is the ability to
command the cheapest machinery and
the cheapest transportation, which, in
their turn, render possible the con-
version of raw material into manufac-
tured products and the delivery Of
these to the consumer at the lowest at
range Of cost.