The record-union., 1899-09-18

from there many of the orders already
taken for this year must perforce be
carried into next year.
Aside from the shortage of labor, the
miners are greatly hampered just now
by the lack of transportation facilities.
The whaleback steamers have not been
anything like the success for ore car
rying that was expected, and they are
gradually being discarded. Some of the
big corporations, like the Federal Steel
Company, and the American Steel and
Wire Company. are putting on fleet
Of large new lake steamers expressly
built for the iron ore trade. The new
est OF these are very speedy and capa-
bic Of carrying $500 tons of ore.
The construction of these ore vessels
is peculiar. The decks are open for
at least two-thirds the entire length of
the vessel The engines are back in the
stern of the ship, and their weight
throws the bow we'll out of water The
bridge and the officers and mems quar-
ters are in the extreme forward part
of the vessel.
The home demand for steel rails is
quite brisk enough to keep American
mills busy at present without looking
for trade in foreign markets at lower
prices. The period of American rail-
way development is often referred to
as If it had reached an end, but the
mere replacement of rails over a total
length of 1S5, 900 miles of railroad
would absorb a large part Of the home
product. Besides, there has been a
large increase in the building of the
hf,-J !, ,.e,fI 81
tracks ON many of the railroads. In
Massachusetts, for instance, the total
length of the extra tracks and sidings
now in use is greater than the length
of the main lines. In the whole United
States such mileage is thirty-twc per
cent. of the total
Nor is the demand in railway ma
terial confined to the steam railways.
The rapid increase of electric street
roads in some localities exceeds any
thing ever known in the building of
steam lines. In the opinion of we'll in
formed men, it is a very serious queS-
ton whether present prices for steel
rails and track materials are not likely
to cause postponement of railroad
work until more normal times have re-
turned The consumption is enormous
now, they say, and 1899 will probably
exceed that of last year, with it's two
million tons Of rails.
There have been times when prices
in the iron trade were higher than now,
but there never was time when the
volume Of business was so great and
the general prospects were so encourag-
ing. The business career of the United
States covers little more than a. GEN.
tury. In that time the nation has built
up the greatest home market in the
world, now practically controlled by it's
own manufacturers, and has made a
strong beginning toward the conquest
of European and Asiatic markets. At
the present moment American manu-
facturers could be doing much larg-
er foreign business than they are If
they could only supply the demand.
Nor is the iron famine confined to
the United States. Everywhere in the
world where iron and steel are manu-
featured the mills are working to their
utmost capacity to meet the demand
for their products. In this country the
increased demand is not in any one di-
rection. Material is wanted for rail-
roads, shipbuilding, structural purposes
anu iii plCll1Chts. w VI hitisSlt
in all these branches of manufacture
feel keenly the lack of raw material
with which to work Americans are
already undertaking the English man
ufacturers in their own markets. Dur
ing the last year they have been ex-
porting largely on old orders and at
prices quoted when iron and steel were
about one-half the price they are to-
day.
Leading manufacturers express the
opinion that the demand for finished
products will continue all next year
and that the continued prosperity Of
business in general is as assured as
anything can be. The crops are good,
and the work of transporting them will
be all the freight business the railroads
can handle In fact, many of the lake
steamers wanted for carrying ore are