The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-01-15

producer on the Alesabi i understood
to lie favorable toa price arrangement,
and the prospects for agreement, with
tentative expressions in conference thus
lar, seems lett,r than at the corfe~pnnd-
ing ,lnie hast yenr. II IS understood
that an 81 the Metropolitan Lrnd y
Iron campany's stock IL now ia the
hands Of the Oliver interest, the hast oi
il being acquired in the latter part oi
December.
encouragement In the Iron Trade.
ia reviewing the iron trade oi 1897
aud the prospects for 1898, the Iron
Age says:
'"rhe year 1897 has been one OF rcvoi-
utionary changes Possibly we do not
vet fully recognize their power nor may
we understand in detail their whole
significance. Many may not yet have
shaken of old lincs oi thought OF modi
fled convictions whose bnsis oi fact has
crumbled away. Are those Justified Who
still believe ia the periodclty oi booGls,
ia the return Of periods of great proilt~F
That there are some manufacturers and
many trnders who harhor "a firm bchei
in them Is certainly true. 1T * based,
we feel sure. upon the tull realization ni
the magnitude ui our resources and a
firm belief ia our capacity to develop
them rapidly aud prohtably. Who can
say that the snnguine ones ARE not Iustl'
fled? But there Is rapidly growing
conviction among Our captains oi m
dustry that sudden fluctuations in the
demand, aud therefore IN prices. are
bound To become more and more rare
and that when they do come they last "a
shorter aud shorter time aud viii move
Within steadily narrowing limits They
argue that the maker and the dlstrihu-
Tor must RELY more aud more upon mar
row mureans, aud that those are
bound to go 60 the wall Who drag along
a prccnrious existence in the hope OF re-
cnuping themselves Tor years OF disap-
poinimcut and Sacrifices by jumping ia
rnry rnough and getting out at the
right limr during q boom period.
"Generhlly speaking, the prospects
Tor the new year are most encouraging.
Indeed, it would he hard 60 find a single
discournging feature. With wheat at
the dollar mark, the tariff policy settled
Tor some time, u lurec tonnage already
| ON the books Of our lHrge concerns and
stocks very light all over the country
! IL would hcrm hat good trndr should
set in early in 1898 and continue right
through the year BY this we do not
mcnn that there will he big prices; but
every thug points TO u big tnnnage aud
at fairly profitable Ggnrcs. i'il'eburg
il emphasizing very strongly the supre-
macy uf her position in the iron trade,
and nt the present time is turning out
more than onc-fnurth uf al the pig iron
being made in this country, ron nr
average Of about 10000 toms u week.
Before the close ni lsaS this output
may be further Increased by the erection
Of two more furnaces at Duqucsuc
Two more stacks ia The Mnhnuiug yaIel
ARE also among the probabilities o
1898"
Some special features ~ the Chicago
iron lrado are also uolcd. These nr
the conclusions regarding the weston
concerns: "rlc Illinois steel company
has So greatly increased the capacity +"
its finishing departments that tIlcl
have practically no surplus bIllrts. Tin
Chicago iron aud steel interests ar
now shipping more products, hnV
lutrcr orders on thpir hunhs aud nr
favored with brttcr pnilopl Iui 90
Iu,turc than la the height uI lie sra~,u
81 ISg5. when pr.crs were huumiug. Sc
ynlues are on low lryel, aud those wh,
hook lor nn udyance are quite mpltral
in their expectations, The Indication
point strongly To a universal cuuserra
tsm dominating the trade. 1t sceul
that AMERICAN manufacturers my
, tacitly agreed that stoady @Hrkt
with narrow range oi lluctutious
better lhnn rapid advances and a ser
!. ouS unsettIng ~ trade condition.
The Chicago iron trade ls at last b
Ii, we'd tn bc destined at reasnunb
= early day to achieve Independence Z
distance coke supplies, Success IL %
tending experiments ~ cpkiue ihc "t1iu
u ury Illinois cnnl When tins i dcmui
d struied an u cummercial splie itn ttcu
I. itv oi Chicago will be tie seat ~ ntAn'
.g.st.s "a
thing nov itInd there. Cheap Uulic &
il lair quality il tie one thing Hrvdud,
,. For Sals
p The large boating stuyc in the Mirct
4 |,.,.....t.f .t..,.a IfflfIt,tu ~