The labor world., 1899-11-18
HEAD I! OF THE LANES.
.e srr ;ss.t
AS Seen Through
Chicago Eyes.

! OlllNdSO Eyes.
q
The Chicago Economi~4 - November
II contained the following article
about Duluth and Superior:
Within the past yeaF the cities at
the head of Lake Superior have
emerged from a cave of gloom. They
now appear to have brighter prospects
than even in their most prosperous
eras of specula tion and boom, when
they were piling up paper profits
skyhigh and increasing their municipal
and individual debts as fast as they
could negotiate loans, in a spirit of
brotherly rivalry most touching to be-;
hold. }.E
Those branches or industry in which
these cities. have been particularly
prominent are the ones that have, felt
the greatest impetus under the present
wave Of tremendous prosperity. With
lumber making and iron mining, Du-
luth and Superior have a closer touch:
than with any other industries. In
lumber the year has been phenomenal,
and an advance of so to 60 per cent
in a single summer in the selling price
of commodity in which the Duluth
district leads the United States can
scarcely fail to promote local pros
perity to marvellous degree. When
to this advance is added such a de-
mand that the mills are utterly unable
to supply the calls made upon them,
though they have continually crowded
to the limit transportation facilities of
both water and rail, it is easy to see
that every branch Of the timber trade,
from the forest to the ship, must be
profitable beyond measure. AS to iron.
mining. its condition is too well known
to need explanation. The only limit to.
the productions of the year has been
that set by labor and transportation.
Cost has seemed to have no place.
Ores that were set last spring at So
a ton have sis8 ce5 been bought eagerly
at nearly double that. and lake freight
rates that wee then fixed at go to S.
cents a ton for 1000 miles Of haul have
since advamced to 50. Miners have re-
ceived advance after advance. in pay
schedule, without the necessity Of ask
ing it, until now they are being paid
on basis OF $$2.25 a day, where they
were last spring getting about 81 SO;
With two enormous ore ranges at their
door, one Of them in its characteristics
the complement to the other, Duluth
and Superior cannot but feel the i'm
petus this prosperity must give. & +
Not only is there, activity in mining,
but every step in the process has felt.
the change "a year ago ore lands
were Of little value, and but one or
two companies were in the market as
buyers. SNowEpvery steel-making con-
Germ fesls that Is Is cont tin,aed existence
depends on ample ore reserves: and
they are looking up lands with tre-
mendous activity. Undeveloped lands
have risen in value many fold, explor-
ersi are busy, every possible drill and
development outfit has more work
than5it can do, and local owners Of ore
lands are receiving large sums for
their properties. 4-.... s ~
With the: growth and expansion of
these two main industries. all others
have Been materially affected. The
wholesale trade Of the cities, for in,
stance, Z is more than double what it
was a year ago., and is better able
than ever before to! strike out for wider
and new connections. The banks are
in stronger position than at any pre-
vious period, carrying deposits ma
terially larger than at the height of
the speculative era, several years ago,
and naturally with far. better collater-
al than then. Retail trade is very
large in both cities, and, in fact, no
class Of business is outside the i'm
provenent. s5..:5ef .; sss;55. I. =sz..,I
Even real estate, which has in these
cities been the last to feel a change,
has taken q. firmerf tone, and improved
property at least has become quite
active. There IS not, and may not be
for some time, any definite speculative
movement, Il though !: possibly unim-
proved lands are, held a little f1r1ner
and sell little more rapidly at Su-
perior than ct Duluth. But real
estate speculation is deprecated by
conservative business interests Of both
cities, and IS unlikely for some time
to come, though what may be the re-,
suit of the present active business and
manufacturing situation is impossible
to foretell. All the prominent land
companies, which have been in the
habit of furnishing 1sites, and some
times more, to aspiring manufacturing
concerns, have strengthened their po-
sition or have reorgslnized, and are in
better shape than for years to carry
on a legitimate and conservative busi-
ness. This is true on both sides the
bay and up the St. Louis river for sew
eral miles.
In the matter of municipal finances
Duluth and St. Louis county are in
notably good position. St. Louis
county has been able the past year
to put itself on a cash basis and to
reduce it's levy for county purposes to
a point never reached heretofore, 2.9
mills, and has charged off $190,O0O lost
in broken banks some years ago. The
county now has a large sum on hand
and is nsplendid position. Lands that
have not paid taxes for years back are
back on the rolls as live property, and
delinquent taxes have been settled al
most universally. The city is also on
cash basis, having paid off in the
past week nearly 100000 Of orders. and
appears to be out Of the woods finan-
cially. Its position for some years has
been precarious. It's water and light
department has been able, in the first
year of municipal operation, to reduce
the schedule of water and light
charges, to add materially to the sys-