Evening star., 1899-03-11
LETTINGS N@
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1T has a history of three-quarters of a
century 1t is a handsome old clock of the
old hall pattern, and stands in its frame
nearly eight feet high, and strikes the
hours and halves as loudly, cheerily and
clearly today as 1t did fifty years ago. for
| have known 1t about that long. Besides
striking the time, it has a calendar, which
is always correct. The clock was made by
the firm of Burnett & Rigdon. in George
town, for the Bank of Columbia, which, as
old residents of Georgetown know, was a
famous one in its day Being a national
bank. 1t fell under the ban of Gen. Jackson
over sixty years ago, when he succeeded IN
having the United States banks abolished
by law. The bank, however, continued
bl siness for some years afterward. The
clock stood In the main room of the bank,
and had great reputation for accuracy
long before it got into the possession
of the War Department. After the bank
closed its doors the clock was taken to the
rooms in the upper part of the building
which were occupied by the typographical
corps of the War Department, from which
the corps of engineers of the army after
ward sprung. From there the clock was
removed to Winders building. where it
struck the hours for nearly third of a
century, and was then after the erection
of the War, State and Navy building given
its present and, it is very likely, its per
manent, home. The Indications are that 1t
will live for another hundred years, for
there do not seem to be any worn parts
about it,
The present boom, if it may be called
so,' remarked a man who has had some eX-
perience in the business, which charac-
teriZes the pig iron market reminds me of a
few figures in the past that came under
my notice. Two years ago No. foundry
iron was selling at $3.50 ton. 1t is now
worth $3.50 but even such an increase as
that will scarcely compare with the prices
that once obtained. L can remember when
1 was at an old furnace in Kentucky, about
1871 or ~, making a dozen tons or so a
day, and not high grade of non at that,
that the manager made us an happy one
day by coming up from Louisville and in
forming US that he had sold thousand
tons of silver gray-next to the lowest
grade that could be made-at $50 a ton.
That meant the snug sum of $4,000 in less
than a hundred days, which was not so
bad for a plant that sold for 100000 two
years later.
But that kind of figure wasn't worth
considering compared with prices during
the war. Prices went up from s12 and s13
ton to $15 and $50. A little story of that
time will show how things went. Mr..
Thomas Means who was the resident iron
king of that section and millionaire, held
notes against the Belfont furnace in Ken
| lucky to the amount of $4,000 which
meant all the furnace was worth and
more, when the war began. The furnace
people who were friends and relatives of
their creditor, had 5000 tons of iron wait
ing for purchaser, and as it began to
creep up in price they took heart, and
when the market price reached $25 a ton
they insisted upon MIR. Means taking the
lot and canceling their notes. But Mr..
Means was not that kind of business man,
and he refused to touch the iron as a salts
faction for his debt. What he did was to
tell the Belfont people that they were
foolish to let the iron go at such figures
and they must hold on to it and renew the
notes he held. They demurred, but the
hard-hearted millionaire was firm, and they
were compelled to submit. Within year
or eighteen months the 1900 tons were
sold at $50 a ton. S225 900 for the lot,
and Mr.. Means had the laugh on the boys
when he Cancelled the notes, but they put
the balance in their pockets and enjoyed
the laugh quite as much as he did. 1t may
be said that Mr. Means and his partner,
Mr.. Sinton of Cincinnati, had 10000 more
tons at their landing on the Ohio side Of
the river, which averaged them net
profit of about $50 a ton.
But those good old times are forever
past, sighed the speaker, land pig iron
will never be worth $40 ton again in this
land of big furnaces, turning out a dozen
million of tons "a year"