Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-05-22

about ! week before, and also from
the fact that Mr.. King represents prob
ably the largest competitor the United
States Steel Corporation has. Mr..
King in his testimony stated that he
thought the visible ore supply would
be sufficient to meet all the require
ments OF the American iron trade for
100 years to CONF; and that while 1t
was possible the Conneiisrille coal
, fields, from which such excellent coke
is made, might be exhausted in thirty
years. yet just as good coke was being
made In the coal fields In the Pocahontas.
West Virginia, fields. Mr. Kings testi-
mony all through was extremely inter-
esting. especially that part OF it where
he stated the United States Steel Cor
poratlon would always have more or
less competition, and thai any attempt
to cut prices and injure the smaller
manufacturers would be more harmful
to the steel combine than to their COM
petltors. MI. King further stated thai
his firm had no fear whatever of com
petition from the steel combine, but
was abundantly able to take care of
itself, having their own ore properties,
insuring them enough ore to meet their
needs for twenty-five or thirty years;
also their W coal properties, blast
furnaces, steel works and finishing
mills. In fact, Jones & Laughlins are
just as well %entrenched for making iron
ana steel at low cost as any concern
in the country. That the views of Mr..
King are also held by the other mem
Ders OF his firm it may be stated that
within two or three weeks this con-
Germ have let contracts for additional
equipment to their large mills located
on the South Side Pittsburg, which
VIII give them nearly double the ca
pacity for making steel they have now,
and will make them the second larg-
est producer of steel in it's various
forms in the United States. Jones &
Laughlins W very valuable coal prop
critics up the Monongahela river, from
which they mine all the coal they use.
They also W four large new blast fur
naces known as the Eliza stacks. in
Plttsburg, all of which are new and
contain up-to-date equipment. These
four stacks will turn out 500 or 500
tons Of metal a days and the firm also
owns the old Soho furnace, originally
run by Moorhead & Co, and which
turns out about 400 tons a day. This
gives Jones & Laughlins a daily out
put of metal Of about $500 tons a day.
At the present time their steel plant
is capable to turning out about $500
tons OF steel a day, but they have just
placed a contract for a large blooming
mill, which will take the place of one
OF their present mills, and will be able
to roll $500 tons of steel a day. This
mill will also have what is known in
the iron trade as a finishing mill. and
in this mill can be rolled steel rails,
'billets. sheet and tin bars. 1t is not
the intention of Jones & Laughlins to
invite a fight with the steel combine.
but at the same time they are putting
themselves in position to furnish a
varied line of iron and steel products.
so that II the demand for billets is dull
they can roll rails or sheet bars and
keep their mills busy. This firm will
spend in the next year not less than
$4,000, 900 in making improvements,
and when these have been finished they
will have one of the best and most
modern steel plants in the country.
None of the steel works owned by the
steel combine will be better equipped
for the making of steel at low cost. AS
noted in these columns some time
since, Jones & Laughlins have brought
from P. l.. Kimberly, of Sharon, Pa,
large ore mines in the Northwest. for
which they paid about $4,000, 900. The
capital stock of the concern is $4,000
600, and it is reported that the earn
ings of the company in the past two or
three years have been large enough to
declare very handsome dividends on
this capitalization.