The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-24

among the 80 furnaces now blowing. Inis is s,,
figure Is just a little more than one hours run
Ss sS %SnseT Tor nG Ss
Steel and Wire Company AS already exp'ss, ,n
tho average for the whole OF the United states
ns ,hs snsss dsy Y oI Tor the
that the present Is time Of iron iamne ah ur1
demand Is greater than II has been iol .nl,.y
OF furnace that can be made W show prom
Is pressed into the service Some stacks arc Work
ing now under the prescn! s'imuiHs ., wa, snv ,bs,
when these 20 Out Of blast after this IRON poom
Gains down they will never again be Hired; ,9I
when the next revival shall come along; they wiz
be hope'ess'y distanced in the race 2, pfogreigs
and unable 10 make iron probably n'they couid
get ore Tor next 70 nothing ton A.. old and
~ curious circumstance thht tne 9iu anu,
10 all intents and purposes, abandoned plants
In this country have many Of them as gren, a
active furnaccs in Grea, britain Ia other words,
furnaces Of the kind which arc so small OF 50
poorly situated with reference TO tho modern
supplies oil ore and fuel as 70 have been nope
lossly left behind in the fierce race OF progress
In this country, are still making iron in the United
likely TO continue doing so Tor some time TO come.
In the region comprising the States OF Michi
gan, Missouri and Wisconsin there are hf'eon
blast furnaces built to Use charcoal as fuel. VI
these, six are idle, and even the enormous de-
mand and tho extraordinary prices now being
TO galvani,e them into activity: yet the weekly ~
capacity Of these six unused furnaces Is 2,6Ss
tons or O. tons ssh a ,Ss t GSGS
States all through they have Sa Idle sh .aa
tons This compares not uniavoraby with
tho DerByshifc district Of England, which. as
will thus be seen that a comparison between
Great Britain and the United States, TO be com.
plete must include not only a mention q what
the fact that the United States have practically
abandoned furnaces of a size still widely used
and able TO compete with existing conditions
in the British Islands is by all odds the most
convincing proof Of the backwardness OF those
conditions and most significant feature oil the
Of their iron interests
The Significance Of large plants and of tho
consequent chcapenng Of each unit of produc-
uon receive striking confirmation in some curious
ways Not the least Of thr evidence in this di'
recuon is contained in the history OF blast FUR
In such times the aggregate number and the
gross output Of furnaces In blast fall OIL, aS a
matter Of course: but the average production
Of each furnace increases This shows con
clusjvely that II Is tho smaller stacks that are
crowded first 10 the wall when prices go umbling
and that only tho large ones can keep running
without bankrupting their owners This viii
appear very clearly from a comparison of the
tricts Of Pittsburg and .>abnma on Dec: !. 1898
witch was about the bottom period Of tho de
| preston caused by the silver purchase foolciy
| and the other grave dangers threatened 10 The
| business stability and the commercial and Imam
cial honor Of the country. On tho date mentioned
| there were in blast in tho Pitxburg district II
| furnaces. having each an average weekly
output OF 1880 tons. while the out Of blas
had an average capacity Of only ,456 tons IN
Alabama tho contrast cvrn more striking
| there were In that district ~ stacks IN ant
| &c out oi blast. thusc blowing had an
| average weekly output ~ So tons and thosC
| that were idle had a capacity ~ 521 tons weekly
| In this case II seems clear that thu difference
o1 lOS tons week in capacity me nj the difference
between usefulness aud idlcncSs though all Tho
| stacks presumably, had the same opportunities
TO procure ore coke limestone and other supplies
and were under the same labor conditions exactly
| as their ncighbors Iron in Pittsburg on Dec
| l. 1898 was going begging at Sl2 and sl2.5O Pc
ton for No. | foundry pig. The same grade
| is now scarce and hard 10 get al S2i a ton Hes
| scmrr pig iron. 81 called because It's low contcn
| ~ phosphorus renders possible It's use in the or
| in Piitsburg in December. 1893 aud Is now helC
there al about S2I 75.