The age-herald., 1898-08-28
THE IRON TRADE
 OF THE WORLD
From the London Times.

produce, the cheapest pig Iron in the world
 of equal quality.
 We can still make this boast so far
 Europe is concerned, but meanwhile, alike in Europe and in the United States, mat
 ters have greatly changed. The discovery
 and development of the Gogebic range of
 iron ore mines in Lake Superior, in 1895, | and of the Mesabi range in 1893, placed at the disposal of the American iron trade
 ore supplies of much greater extent, rich
 ness, and cheapness than any previously available in that country, and as conse- uuence the prices of ores fell very rapidly after these events. Between 1892 and 1894
 Lake Superior ores fell from s55O to $2.50
 a ton, which means that the American iron
 trade was put in possession of ores rela- lively cheaper than anything we had available in Europe. Since 1894 prices have fallen still further, until in 1898 Lake Su-
 perior ores of the highest quality and of
 richness superior to anything we have in
 Europe on large scale were selling at $2 to $23.05 per ton. Coincidently with this decline in the price of American ores, the price of hematite pig iron, produced there from, fell to lower point than anything we have ever known in Europe for iron of the same description, and this was the true basis and explanation of the American competition in iron and steel products, or which during the last two years we have
 heard so much, and of which, also, British
 ironmasters have been so seriously appre- hensive. With regard to the future, if the
 Americans can prove their ability to secure ores relatively cheaper than those availa- ble to the British iron trade, then their | supremacy an iron producing nation is | assured, and that of our own country must | be looked upon as a thing of the past But | if, on the contrary, Great Britain can still, l as hitherto, secure as cheap ores as any | other European nation, and as cheap ores, | having regard to the geographical condi- ] tons to be met as the United States, we | may continue to hold our own until these | conditions have been reversed. This, then, | is the crucial problem of the moment in | the British iron industry, and the problem | which the forthcoming meeting of the iron and steel institute in Sweden may partly 1 aid in solving
 | It is well known that Sweden possesses vast resources in iron ores of the highest | quality, and upon the purity and richness | of these supl ies the Swedes have built up l a reputation for iron and steel products of | unapproachable excellence. The largest de- posits, however, are far from tide water, | and within the Arctic circle, where unre- | lieved darkness reigns for something like l one-half of the whole year. Gellivare is | the principal centre of these deposits, which | are almost eeuidistant between the port of l Lulea, on the Gulf of Bothnia-closed for seven months out of twelve-and Ofoten, on 1 the Atlantic seaboard. Within the last | twelve years railway has been built from | Gellivare to Lulea, whereby considerable l quantities of ore have been transported and | shipped to England Germany, Belgium and | even Austria. A railway is now being built | to connect the mines with Ofoten, on the l other coast where there is open navigation l all the year round. It is anticipated that when this line has been completed and oth- | CT facilities provided, a very large traffic l will be created in the shipment of these arctic ores for British consumption, and much interest is now being taken in the question of the lowest prices at which they | can be delivered at British ports. If they | can be landed at Cardiff, Middesbrough. | Barrow, or Glasgow, at a price sufficiently | low, there can be but little doubt that Sweden is likely to be our chief future source of supply. The ascertained quan- tity of ores available in Swedish Lapland is reckoned by hundreds of millions of tons, most of it rich, and much of it exception ally pure, running from 60 per cent to 70 per cent of metallic iron with mere traces of phosphorus and sulphur. A good deal of the highest quality has already been delivered to Cleveland furnaces at IS shil lings per ton, while secondary qualities have been delivered on trucks at Antwerp for 15 shilings pence per ton. These prices are higher than those paid at the same ports for Spanish ores, but the bulk of the latter ores contain from 12 to 15 per cent.lesS iron, and ore therefore considera- bly, less valuable. As the matter now stands, it becomes a question of whether Scandinavian ores can be landed in England at a price which will enable them to com pete in this country with Lake Superior ores delivered at Pittsburg, both descrip- tions of ore being of the same approximate quality. It is here and on this special point that the question of supremacy be- tween the two greatest ron-making coun- | tries of the world is being fought out. | There is not much in the difference in the | distances over which the ores have to be | carried between mines and furnaces, the average being nearly 1,20O miles from the 1 Superior mines in America, and about 1,6OO | miles from Sweden to England. Nor should | there be much difference in the average | cost of the ores at the mines, both being l found in enormous open deposits, capable | of being largely worked by mechanical | means. 1t becomes, therefore, mainly | question of profit, freight, and royalty, and | these considerations not only depend upon, l but largely govern the extent of the traf- 1 fc As it is, the United States has been wonderfully successful in reducing the | rates of freight for the transport of all | kinds of commodities, but especially for | that of minerals, until iron ores are now | carried on the great lakes, distance of we'll on to 1000 miles, for less than shil- | lings per ton, and coal is sent from Ala | bama to be shipped at Mobile and Pensa- l cola, a distance of 260 to 300 miles by rail, l for shillings to 3 shillings pence per ton. | If our Swedish friends can give us simi- l larly low rates there need be no cause to | fear for the future of the British iron in- | dustry for a long time to come
 1 WATTERSON ON EXPANSION
 l Hum, tho New York Herald.