The age-herald., 1901-03-17

more remarkable when we not that Of the "A districts which showed decreased proportion. there were only five which did not show also a decrease in their actual tonnage The five excepted dis tricts increased their tonnage, but not as much as 49S per cent, the increase In the country as a whole; they comprise the Shenango Valley, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee and the miscellane- ous bituminous production of Ohio.
 In a general way it may be noted that the decreases were in districts whose pro- duction was relatively small, the tenden- cy of the pig iron industry having been steadily away from districts having small local deposits of comparatively lean ore, and towards districts possess ing other and more important advantages such as cheap fuel. desirable labor, good railroad facilities and a local consuming market, but drawing ore from distance. Tn fact of the nine districts which h. creased their percentages Of the total there are only two Virginia and Colora- do, which do not draw practically their entire ore supply from either Cupa or the Lake Superior region.
 Of the great changes which our table of percentages develops, the most important Is without question the decadence or the central and eastern Pennsylvania districts embracing the Lehigh, Schuylkill, Sus- ouehanna and Juanita valleys. These dis tricts furnished in 1890 2S.4 per cent of the country's total and only 13 per cent in 1900 The decline of all these districts Is due in part to the direct failure Of local ores used in other districts, and in part to the competition of other districts having cheap and abundant supplies of raw ma- terial or access to such supplies at low freights.
 new district designation which ar pears in the table for 1900 Is the Lake counties of Ohio, producing now 3.6 per cent. of the total. No new furnaces were built in Cleveland proper between 1890 and 1900, and the production in 1890 was classi- fled with Miscellaneous Ohio" The ad-
 dition of the Lorain furnaces. however, and the increase In capacity of those at Cleveland made the Cleveland district a factor to be reckoned with. It Is notewor- thy in the same connection that Illinois,
 which produces pig iron only on the shores of Lake Michigan, increased from 76 per cent. to 9.9 per cent. We are likely to see further changes in the next decade by an increase In the relative tonnage of pig iron produced on the shores of the lakes. especially Lake Erie.
 It is to be noticed that the Shenango Valley showed a decreased percentage from 6.5 per cent. to 5.S per cent, while Its neighbor, the Mahoning Valley. only increased rom 0.4 per cent. to i.3 per CeIl
 These districts are situated about midway between Allegheny County and the lake counties of Ohio, both of which districts have been noticed to have had a great growth. The showing of the valleys is the more remarkable when we consider the conditions existing in 1890 in the trade. The valley furnacemen were complaining most bitterly of unjust railroad discrimi- nation against them and in favor of West y,to tar oI, that personal animosities were aroused against the manufacturers of Pittsburg, and the i'll feeling has only recently died out. Towards the close of 1890 and early in 1891 the valley furnacemen went to the extremity of blowing out their furnaces indefinitely as a means of bringing the railroads to terms, practically all the val ley furnaces being out early in 1891. Thus the year 1890 was a very unfavorable one for the valleys, and it would be expected that in comparison with 1t 1900 would show very important increase Its ab- sence is to be explained In part by the de- cline in pudding, which was formerly the
 outlet for much valley iron, and by the
 growing independence of the Pittsburg
 district of outside supplies of pig irdn A notable fact brought out Is the failure of Alabama to make good some of the