Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-12-11

Special to the Register.
PITTSBURG, Pa, December TO-
For the purpose of appraising the value
of the shares held by HI. G. Prick, an
appraisement is now being conducted
by the officials of the Carnegie Steel
Company. On January 1st Mr.. Prick
sewers all connection with the COM
pany, and the shares he holds will go
back into the treasury of the COM
pany and a check for the value of
them, in accordance with the appraise-
ment, will be handed him. Based on
the present earnings of the company,
Mr.. Tricks stock, it is said, will be
from twelve to fifteen million dollars.
1t is reliably reported that John D.
Rockefeller is behind Mr.. Prick in the
organizing of the Union Steel Company
and the plant they will erect will as
tonish Mr.. Carnegie.
1t has been known that the Mellon
banking interests of this city was as
ISOLATED with him, but they cannot pro-
duce millions of dollars at short notice,
and an investigation to discover the
real hacker brought Mr.. Rockefeller to
light. With this discovery came the
reason, closely guarded, why Mr.. Prick
and others did not buy out Carnegie.
1t was not because Prick could not
raise the 25,OO0,O0O wanted. Mr..
Rockefeller, it is claimed, objected to
the price and said that more modern
plants could be erected with the same
productive capacity for much less
money. The true reason of Tricks re-
tirement was that he was unable to
agree with Mr.. Carnegie on matters of
policy. Nearly all the big improve
ments proposed by Prick were opposed
by Carnegie. This was particularly
the case with the large furnace built at
Duquesne, near this city. Carnegie was
familiar with the failure of the large
furnace companies in Great Britain,
and believed the English ironmasters
had been right in taking the back track
after scoring a loss on several fur
naces measuring from "a to 80
feet in the bosh. Mr.. Prick had other
ideas, finally carried his point, and
built four furnaces with an average
daily production of 600 tons of pig
iron each. These furnaces were an i'm
mediate success and enabled the Car
negie company to make pig iron for SO
a ton. 1t was the success of these fur
naces that led ]. Stephen Jeans, for
merly secretary of the British Iron and
Steel Association, to predict that
American practice would quickly win
supremacy in the worlds metal mar
kets. His prophecy was fulfilled even
sooner than he expected.
The Carnegie company is now build
ing two furnaces at Rankin Station,
this city, to have capacity of 700 tons
of pig iron each daily, and other fur
mace companies are following the lead.
The new furnaces were planned and
contracted for by Frick while he held
the option on Carnegie's holdings.
That Frick and Rockefeller have be-
come associated Pittsburg manufactur
orc thipl- cfrapoa
When Captain Alex McDougall de-
signed his "whaleDack' steamer and in
terested Mr. Rockefeller, the latter got
control of the Mesaba iron range and
he was an iron king. Furnaces and
rolling mills were erected at Superior,
Wis, and a railroad was constructed TO
carry the ore TO the lake shore. There
was every indication that Mr.. Rookie
Teller was going to compete extensively
with the Carnegies and cut large fig
ure in the iron market. 1t was about
that time that W. L. Mellon, of Pitts
burg, organized the Crescent Pipe Line
Company, and the ". L Mellon Oil
Company. the latter becoming a large
producer OF petroleum. The MELONS
and Carnegie Company also engaged in
the natural gas business. These were
the evidences that H. C. Frick had en-
tered the game with Mr. Rockefeller
and was threatening the iron king with
an oil castle and a gas power,and Rock
efeller abandoned the idea of building
up tremendous steel manufacturing
business along the lakes. Eventually
the Crescent Pipe Line and the Mellon
Oil Company passed into the possession
of Mr.. Rockefeller. Then Mr.. Frick
became Mr.. Rockefeller's largest custo-
mer for Mesaba ore.
There IS some doubt whether the new
Union Steel Company. OF which Mr..
Fr1ck, backed. by Mr.. Rockefeller. is the
head, win build here or near Chicago.
Cent1nued ea Third Page.