The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-14
RATES FOR MESABA ORE
HEARING OF THE MINNESOTA IRON
ORE CASE IS RESUMED AT
CLEVELAND
TO CONTINUE SESSION TODAY

Reduction of Rates Would Give
Eastern Furnace Men Their Ore
at Considerable Reduction of
Cost From the Former Price.
CLEVELAND, o.. Sept-(Special.)-
The Minnesota railroad commission.
accompanied by number Of prominent
attorneys and railroad men from that
state, met in the office of Pickands.
Mather & Co., this morning, to hear
testimony in the Minnesota iron ore
rate case, adjourned from st. Paul.
Among those present today were the
three railroad commissioners of Min
nesota, their secretary; F. T. Gates, of
New York, personal representative of
John D. Rockefeller; j. L. Greatsinger,
president Of the Duluth & Iron Range
railroad; w. J. Olcott, president of the
Lake Superior Consolidated mines; f.
B. Kellogg, G. WellwCod Murray, of
New York; ]. H. Chandler, of Chicago,
and ]. B. Cotton, Of Duluth all Of
whom were attorneys on the roads
side Of the case, and w. w. Billson,
of Duluth, attorney of the complanants
in the case.
This case was brought to Cleveland
for the purpose of securing testimony
on the part of iron ore men and sales
agents to the general effect that re-
ductiOns in freights by the ore roads
of Minnesota would have no effect in
helping the independent mine owners,
who are supposed to have brought the
case, but would simply result in giving
the E9 stern fl1rno tha;r OF
cost less by just the reduction in
rates than 1t had been before.
In support Of this testimony four wit
nesses were called. The first was H.
G. Dalton, of the firm of Pickands,
Mather & Co., leading iron men in the
United States. He showed that of the
shipments from all Lake Superior
mines about half was by concerns that
not only mined, but smelted their own
ore. and that these parties were the
ones that made the prices of lake ores
by the simple effect Of competition, no
body else being able to pay more for
ore than it cost these steel max
ers. His experience in the past, Mr..
Dalton said, gave him confidence to be-
lieve that for every reduction in costs
he would be able to gen a correspond
ing reduction in price he paid for ore.
He also stated that a reduction in rates
covering the Minnesota ranges would
not stimulate the production Of Mesaba
ores for the reason that as much of
that ore was now used as furnace men
were able to carry in their furnace
burdens, this anxiety of theirs to use
all possible ore being the result of the
difference in the price of Mesaba ore
as compared with old range ores,
amounting in the case of old range
ores of a similar chemical character
to 20 to rs cents a ton. The margin
of profit was very close and was get
ting closer every year, and If furnace
men could use more Mesaba ore at the
difference they would be most glad to
do so. 1t had been found in practice
that not more than 80 to 40 per cent of
Mesaba ore can be used in the blast
furnace owing to its physical compost
ton, as 1t Is likely to make trouble
and cause explosions if used in greater
quantity. He considered mining and
ore transportation both hazardous
branches of business for capital to en-
gage in by reason of changes that
might arise from year to year.
Attorney BillsOn endeavored to show
that any reduction in costs of Mesaba
ores would vastly extend their use by
extending the radius Of consumption,
and witness and attorney had a very
interesting sparring match, in which
honors were easy, though the witness
complete knowledge Of the subject
stood him in good stead against one of
the most subtle cross examinations
that has been heard in court. Mr.. Dal-
ton stated that the point had been
reached in the development of the min
ing business where the miner could get
no profit from his options, or must be
content with that meager profit that
furnace men are willing to give, rather
than himself hazard an investment in
mines. This condition, he claimed, had
| been already reached on the Mesaba
range on account of the operation there
of mines by furnace interests. Mr..
Billson claimed that excessive profit
made by a mining company that was
hauling ores. on the haul was equiva-
lent to a rebate, and that the outside
shipper suffered, and later in the day
was permitted to get answers to his
question as to what witnesses thought
of such a case. They considered re-
bates wrong, but were not willing to
admit that there were rebates in effect
in this case.
H. B. Shields, of the Girard Furnace
company, the first experimenter In
smelling MeSaba ores, was called He
had used to 100 per cent of Mesaba
ores in his furnace, and had killed a
number Of men by explosions in the
excessive use Of the ore, and now con-
sidered that 33 per cent was the most
economical mixture. He admitted that
excessive rates were discrimination,
but did not know that the rates COM
planned of were excessive.
w. G. Mather, president of the CIeve-
land Cliffs Iron company, one of the
largest oldest and richest mining COM
panies In the Lake Superior region, was
the next witness. He considered the
investments of the Minnesota ore roads
hazardous, and had been able to dis
pose Of bonds of road for ore hauling
only to mine stockholders even when
its freight was assured for long pc
riod, and its rate of interest was per
cent. He considered that Mesaba ores
could be used to rs to so per cent of
the furnace mixture. He went into a
technical consideration of rates, past
and present, and insisted that a reduc-
tion in price Of Mesaba ores or Of Yer
million, though that was only 10 per
cent of the total production, would
compel other mines to reduce corre-
SDOndinEiy. and that nobody would