The labor world., 1900-01-20

| IhAt NumDer OF Tons is Pre-
dictcd.
In the summer Of 1897 in an address
to the American Institute of Mining
Engineers, while at Soudan, Mimi, d
H. Bacon, president of the Minnesota
Iron Company, said:
THE annual shipments of iron ore
have increased from a few Thousand
Itons to 100000 tons annually, and the
ability of the mines to produce is not
taxed. Can we maintain the present
output? Can we increase it?"
If the question Of the ability of the
mines to maintain production was per-
tinent in 1897 it is doubly so now. Up
to 1897 the shipments of ore from the
Lake Superior region had been con-
sidered phenomenal for several years.
About 10,0OO.000 tons was the record
for 1896. Yet now at the beginning of
1900 it is frequently predicted that the
output will be 2O,0OOOOO tons. This
means that the production of iron ore
will have doubled in four years and at
the same rate Of increase, or anything
approaching it, the demands in another
decade will be something extraordinary.
1t can scarcely be expected that the
production of iron ore will go on doubl-
ing in volume every four or five years
but there is no doubt felt in mining
circles that the increase will be very
heavy every year for number Of years
| to come at least. In concluding his
| address at Soudan, referred to in the
| opening paragraph, Mr.. Bacon used
| these words:
For 40 years this region has met all
| demands; its resources are today, as
compared with demand, greater than at
any time past; and I believe that those
that are now active will have stepped
aside, and will perhaps have been for
gotten, before the Lake Superior region
will fail as an adequate source Of iron
ore supplies
Mr.. Bacon alsor said speaking of the
ranges, that the known acreage of ore
, was small as compared with the acre
ltage that may contain ore. The terri
tory that Mr.. Bacon referred to on that
occasion has been or is being explored
in all directions. During 1899 the
greatest activity in many years has
existed among mining men and a num-
ber of good discoveries have been made.
In most cases the discoveries have been
made on lands where ore was supposed
to exist, which had not been treated as
to the extent Of the ore body. The
question that Mr.. Bacon asked regard
ing production has been answered in
the production of the mines in 1899.
The Mountain Iron mine, for example,
| in 1897 produced 773,C00 tons in round
numbers and in 1899 it produced about
| 1, 100000 tons. The Fayal mine in 1897
produced $4,000 tons in round numbers
and in 1899 tgot into the 100000 tons
class. There was scarcely mine in
the Minnesota iron ore district that did
not show substantial gain. The
production of iron ore in this state in
1899 shows an increase of about 2,80O,000
tons over the record for 1897.
The Mesaba range will show up this
year with several new mines and the
Vermillion with a greatly increased
production. The shipments of iron ore
from Minnesota this year will be more
than equal to the entire shipments
from the Lake Superior region in 1896,
which were in excess Of 10,000,000 tons,
and may even approach very close to
the record for 1897, which were about
/ u, 100000 tons. Such extraordinary de-
velopment in this great industry can
scarcely be conprehended even by the
men closely associated with mining
business. An idea of the development
and Of the consumption Of ore if furn-
ished by the fact that although Is, $780,
600 gross tons were forwarded from the
Lake Superior region in 1899, including
the rail shipments, and was full 4,500,-
600 tons in excess of the shipments for
1898, the stocks on Lake Erie docks
at the close Of navigation were less
than half million tons in excess of
stocks on those docks a year ago.
The ore shipments from Minnesota in
1900 will exceed 100000 tons and they
may equal 100000 tons. The ship
ments by the Duluth & Iron Range
road this year will be at least 100000
tons, which is within $4,000 tons, in
from Minnesota in 1897. The ship
ments by the Duluth, Missabe & North
ern docks in this city will probably be
in the neighborhoOd of 4,500,000 tons
and the Eastern Minnesota docks will
ship about 100000 This makes to-
tai Of 100000 tons and that figure is
probably about what the grand total
for Minnesota will be when the iron ore
statistics for the Lake Superior region
are compiled next December. New ore
dock capacity, more mines, additional
equipment and better grades all will
contribute to the big output of ore in
this state. next year Minnesota last
year produced and shipped over $500, 900
tons and the increase for this year will
not be much better than was that of
1899 over the record for 1898.
D. H. Bacon says that in 1871 the
biggest ore barge carried 1,O50 tons and
made II trips season, while down to
nearly 1880 a 700-ton craft was con-
sidered an enormous craft the loading
Of which required two days and the
unloading seldom being accomplished in
that time. Now the cargoes reach 5000
net tons for some Of the larger boats
and 5000 ton cargoes are as common
now as were cargoes Of 5000 tons in
1855. A cargo Of 5000 tons Is loaded
in three or four hours whereas 100