The Penn's Grove record., 1899-09-01
GREAT INDUSTRIAL BOOM.
ron and Steel Mills Are Unable t,
Supply the Demand.
SOLD MoNTHS AHEAD,

remarkable Activity In the rror AM
steer Market-Prices Moving Upward
-'aine Of Our Exports, ~Includins
agricultural Implements, EnormouJ,
Increased Decrease I'm I,nn,r,.
NEW foRK Cry Special The growing
scarcity OF steel and iron products and tn,
lnaoiiity OF the mills to furnish those needed
in the construction of railway bridges
equipment machinery of all kinds, glrders
and beams for buildings is becoming a mat
ter oil serious Importance to the develop
ment OF enterprise In every direction.
Inc result OF business revival in all parts
Of the country has been a great boom In this
oulluing industry, as we'll as the opening
Of new manufacturing plants and an in
crease In the capacity Of those already In
operation. To meet these enormous re-,
quirenAents the iron mills and furnaces
which were Idle for years. when oyernro
duction had brought the iron trade to n
prontiess state OF stagnation, were opened
again, and are now being operated at their
full capacity.
They are powerless, however. to turn our
a.sumcient supply. For the first time ia
years we have to turn to England and
Wales for relief. 1t Is but meagre, how
sver.
The scarcity Is almost as great there az
1t Is In this country. Tit mills there are
only taxing contracts for deliv cry late 10
the winter, while the American mills cam
not consider any contracts that call for de-
livery before the spring OF 1900.
II Is not the demands from the United
states alone, however, which have so em-
barrassed the iron trade OF our W coun-
try The foreign inquiry for our manufac-
lures oil iron and steel has wn to enor-
nous proportions since the Spanish war.
our moving, reaping and threshtng ma
chimes have driven all competing ma
chinery out OF the wheat fields Of Russia.
India, Australasia and South Am erica be.
cause they are more economical. lighter.
stronger and simpler in construction than
the cumbersome products OF England. Ger
many and France They have gradually
been growing cheaper, too, because of the
improvement in the labor-saving devices
used in their manufacture.
carrying Goals to Newcastle Is an old
saw that has lost its meaning 10 the light
OF Americas developing trade, for we not
only send coal, and tons Of 1t, to Newcastle
every year, but we actually send knives
and cutlery to Sheffield, where they are
sold cheaper and are considered as good as
the product Of her own famous mills.
An equally striking illustration of the
great development OF our iron aud steel
trade in directions that several years ago
would hardly have been believed possible
is the fact that American rails we're for the
most part used IN the construction OF the
railway which General Kitchener's army
built along the Nile to Khartoum, and that
the rolling stock of this great civiliz ed
t~horoushfare consists Of locomotives built
in Paterson. N, j., and pressed steel cars
constructed in Pittsburg, Penn.
0ia-
lions OF the growth Of the iron trade, aud
they give a fair example OF the causes
which lead to the great revival Of the iror
industry. The actual figures OF our ex-
ports are of themselves sufficiently CON
vincing even to the most impractical mind.
In 1895 our exports Of iron and steel and
their products aggregated M less than
$50, 7 1850, as compared with $50, 1877, $50 in
1897 and $4s,670 .2lS in 1895. This does not
include agricultural implements, which
amounted to s9.037 1884 in 1898. as against
s5,3O2, sO7 in 1897 and "a, 5iS, 729 In 1896.
just as important are the noteworthy de-
clines in the value Of our imports OF iron
and steel, which in 1898 were S12, ATS, 637,
foreign value, against s13, s36, 204 in 1897,
s19, 4G2, 561 In 1895 and 1875, ia, 1856 In 1895,
r. &. Dan 4 Co., in their weekly trade
report, said;
Perhaps never before have demands for
actual use, controlled business and prices
with so li1ie speculation to anticipate
higher markets. In fact the rise in most
articles has gone farther than speculative
Opinions haFe warranted. But every day
men are -elmoring for Immediate deliv-
cries OF bocts-and shoes, OF textile goods,
and especially OF iron products, because
their customers cannot be longer delayed
without loss, and large sums have been
paid by way of bonus to com out OF ex.
pected prolts in order to get goods ordered
but not yet delivered.
practically all Industries are some
months behind the requirements for actual
use, and In many much OF the output next
year is already sold.
Iron works which simply supply Pitts
burg are sold up far into 1900 aud can do
nothing, though prices much beyond what
they received are paid by those wlo must
have iron this year.
"rhe enormous demand for more rail-
roads, and rails and cars, more vessels,
warehouses and buildings to handle the
extraordinary business in progress cannot
be met as quickly as men would like, aud
work OF all sorts is delayed, from the big
gest war vessel to the smallest factory"