The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1899-06-30
THE TRADE
CONDITIONS
The Iron Age Says the Iron
Business Is Steadily
Increasing.
THE QUESTION OF WAGES
Is Coming Up and the Raise VIII
Probably Be Granted In Tin
and Other Lines.

NEW YORK. June Zg.-Reytewing trade
conditions. me Iron Age viii say today;
The close Of the current month wit
messed the end Of many low priced con-
tracts On which makers Of all kinds nave
been delivering Il y becomiDg more
and more apparent that me markets will
not. during me balance Of the year fur
nlsb buyers preteKt for cancelllng con-
irncts entered into 80 far. In fact II
looks nOw a. though a good deal Of ton-
mage will be carried into next year Some
Of the larger concerns in the country are
falling more behind Instead OF gaining on
thelr oonsgnmcn;s. and that may take the
market well over the midw,es dullness
some Of the rail mh!s have thus far
found IT possible to make steel oIliets
available.
Really important movements do not
seem likely fJr long time to come and
me question Of next years work will
,hrefJre be In abeyance. except in those
cases where material must be bought 70
c5ver contracts FOR structures. etc
The Varcliy OF material continues all
olong the line. It Is sometimes beIie9ed
that Il r. artificial only because makers
are making deliveries on old cheap Of
ders for the purpose OF meeting the de
mands Of consumers who are paying
higher prices on more recent orders.
In view OF the fact that every mill Is
strained TO the utmost to get out ma
,erial. Il Is unfortunate ina; there is
some danger OF labor troubles. II looks
as though the amalgamated association
were ambl,i5ns to conquer lost ground In
the Pi,tsbung district. where .he majority
of the iron mills are now nOn-union. II
Is no, question of wages, but a matter
OF organization. which may prove trou-
blesome.
In the tin plate industry the American
Tin Plate Company has offered 10 pay an
advance equivalent 20 that pad by the
manufacturer OF sheets. This amounts
10 abou, II per cent The officers OF the
amajgama,ed association not having the
usual discretionary power TO accept less
than the ~ per cent advance asked have
referred the ofrer OF the manufacturers
20 the several lodges for vete. THIS
will lead to stOppage OF at least a
week to 10 days. II is no, believed that
A prolonged idlenes is likely.
I A good deal Of fuss has been made
over the order OF $500 tons Of steel rails
for Russia. We are officially advised that
It has not yet been placed, although 1t
seems likely that the Carnegie Steel Com
pany will receive it, As early as last
April these parties were in the market
for 5000 tons.
Pig iron has stiffened further and the
furnaces are booking Increasing quanti-
ties for delivery in 1900. The southern
furnaces have made some fair sales in
Chicago. have placed mill iron in Pitts
burg and IN Cincinnati, there was one
sale of 9.eo tons OF mill iron. They
have also SOLD basic iron in Eastern
Pennsylvania. In the latter district too
one block Of 10000 tons OF local basic has
been sold at slS75 delivered al tidewater
A local mill has taken 1900 tons of
beams for the wannamaker store in
Philadelphia for delivery during two
years. and upwards of 10000 tons have
been sold for delivery in New York, All
indications point to an enormous tonnage.