The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1899-10-13

Discussing the situation in the iron
ana metal trades, the New York Iron
Age says:
our monthly blast furnace report
shows that the weekly capacity of the
coke and anthracite furnaces on Oct.
had gone up to 252, 42S gross tons,
or lO,'oS tons above the September fig
ure. In other words, the preparations
Tor production are telling. In the south
number of small plants will drop in
from month TO month, but they do not
count for much. Furnace stocks have
declined further, thus showing that con.
sumption is still crowding the output
"A very serious feature is the great
scarcity of cars, which affects the supply
OF coke. One large bank of three. fur
nances has been forced to bank three
times in one month because coke ship
ments were delayed, aud this in the face
of an effort made for months TO accum-
ulate stock for just such emergencies.
Every department affecting the great
industry of the Central West is under
such tension that any extra strain in
any direction causes rupture which dis
organizes everything. The fear of Il
shortage Of ore, of troubles over coke
supply and of any possible other con-
tingencies affecting regular and maxi
mum OF pig production is the one factor
which dominates the trade
"On the other hand, of course, the
increasing production ought to be
reassuring. With the winter before us,
bringing lessened consumption, the
expansion in the output ought to enable
the furnaces to catch up on deliveries.
While the markers Of raw iron are still
behind the consumption, it looks as
though in some lines Of finished iron and
steel the mills are looking for some
tonnage for the first half of 1900. Cases
OF this kind are cropping up and may
have some effect in modifying values
'Much is being said about the export
trade. The statistics Of shipments up
to and including August are referred TO
as proving that the outlet is still running
full. But, after all, that is really like
the mill race without keeping
an eye on the headwaters.
ain many lines new orders have been
scarce for months and a sharp drop in
shipments is coming. II is well, how
ever, to make some exceptions. In the
wire industry, in which the Germans
are our principal competitors, export
sales have been heavy in spite of sue
cessive advances, aggregating since early
August about $40 per ton. The reason
is that the Germans are a good deal
worse off than we are in the matter Of
scarcity Of raw material, and we are
prohting thereby. As an indication Of
the pressure in the wire trade, we may
mention that the leading interest has
ordered 10000 additional blocks.
"In structural material, We are aided
by the fact that our designs, while am.
ply heavy to meet the strains, are lighter
than those Of other countries. Then, OF
course, there is the matter of time Of de-
livery, Of which we have advantages
even now in certain lines, but TO expect
that we can maintain our rate OF tonnage
in the export trade at present price, for
the next six or nine months shows a
miss apprehension OF the situation,
"The rail makers are getting good
prices and in some cases the require
ments are unexpectedly large. 1t is
probable that further advance in
prices will take place at AN early date.
In steel the scarcity for prompt de-
livery continues unabated. As much
as sis and $50 per ton has been paid for
round lots Of open hearth steel billets,