The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-03-08
IRON PRICES TO RISE.
Carnegie Thinks the Gold Bill Will
Do 1t.

New York, March 8.-Discussing the
condition of the iron and metal trades,
the Iron Age presents some interesting
facts and figures as follows:
The editor of the Iron Age made a
call upon Mr.. Carnegie today and found
him CHEEKY over the business situation.
He thinks that the passage of the gold
bill, inspiring confidence in the stan
currency following, must maintain
prices and probably cause rise in
securities.
The situation in pig iron in the CEN
trail west, he thinks, must insure con-
tinuance of present prices for finished
product during the year.
According to Mr.. Carnegie the for
eign demand which would rapidly in
crease upon even slightly lower prices,
serves as a reserve in preventing any
serious decline in iron and steel
An analysis of our monthly blast fur
mace statistics illustrates well Mr.. Car
negie'S point. In what Is known as the
central west there were running on
March 1, 126 blast furnaces, whose total
weekly capacity was 19l, 735 tons while
only eleven furnaces were idle with a
capacity of S,S58 tons; and of these only
five are fairly modern and are simply
out for refining. During the next three
months two, or perhaps three, new
stacks can enter the list. The stocks i'll
this great section probably do not cover
the consumption of a few days and we
know Of one large concern in which ev-
cry effort is being made to use a max
imum of scrap to piece out the supply
of pig iron.
With the demand so closely pushing
the output in the central west any dis
turbance in the latter naturally creates
uneasiness. The strike in the Shenango
valley is therefore regarded. with appre--
henS1On. The recent high prices paid
for coke show that in that quarter, too,
the strain is heavy.
So far as the general pig iron sta
tisticS are concerned, our figures re-
fleet the disturbances in output, since
months maximum. AS against that
the fact is brought out furnace stacks
have risen from 126, 41S tons on February
l, to 1852, 2S0 tons on March l. an increase
of 35, 1862 tons, which falls chiefly on the
east and south.
Some heavy sales of basic pig iron
have been made by leading southern
producers. These include a block of
about $4,000 tons for the St. Louis dis
trict, for delivery for the last quarter
of the year, and one lot of 5000 tons for
export. There has been some move
ment too, in the Philadelphia district.
Chicago reports sales of about $4,000
tons of material by the Illinois Steel
company, including one sale of 10000
tons of steel rails at full prices.
Steel billets generally have been
quiet. Some low sales have been made
in the east. some of the steel being
placed by a mill in the central west.
Structural material is in good de-
mand. Among the contracts of mag
nitude which are coming up for the
near future is a lot of five thousand to
six thousand tons for the printing office
at Washington. Bids are now going in
on the 5000 ton Manhattan power house.
The London clique Keeps on boosting
the prices of tin, and in copper some
what a squeeze is in progress in Lon
don in spot copper. In spelter there
have been some good exports also lately.