Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-06-24

American iron and steel manu-
facture Is TO take It's way west
ward. Pittsburg Is to share, IL
not lose, the honor of supremacy. |
A few years more OF distinction
and Homestead will not stand unique
among the Industrial beehives OF the nal
ton. A newer and greater steel city isl
10 be reared on the bleak dunes OF North
ern Indiana-on the dunes that skirt the
southern shore of Lake Michigan. The
city Will be called Gary, and before 1t Is
ten years old the name will stand for all
that is greatest i'm the iron and steel
trade of the world,
1t Is the fiat of the United States Steel
Corporation that Gary shall be one OF the
wonders OF the age. To make It so the
corporation will spend S75,O00,O00. The
project is so vast in scope and means so
much to the manufacture and commerce
OF the future that the men behind It,,
trained though they are to think in scores
of millions find It hard to lay the lines
in adequate proportion. After months Of
planning. amending and planning again,
they still are working on the details.
''Why is this great plant TO be estab-
lished here?' asked HERALD reporter of
Kemper X Knapp. Western counsel for
the United States Steel Corporation.
Because the great bulk of the demand
for iron and steel in the future is to come
from the West. which is developing so
Rst, and because the ore beds from which
comes practically the whole Iron supply OF
the nation are so near at hand" was the
reply
The Logic of tie Undertaking.
It is not by coincidence but by care.
fully studied design that the project of
rearing the greatest steel plant In the
world" twenty-siX miles from Chicago
takes material form at time when the
prosperity OF the West may fairly be
called marvellous. when one may look
back upon the record of single year and
see that the farms of the country pro-
duced grain alone in 1905 that was worth
the stunning total of S2,t2S. 0OOO 900 and q
total treasure Of S64l5,O00 900.
1t was not the story OF the one year, but
the cumulative testimony OF the last half
dozen years together with the prospects
OF a continuance OF such prosperity, that
turned the eyes OF the steel interests to-
ward the developing West. Great crops
year after year meant the building of
thousands OF miles of railroad, Of vast
quantities of rolling stock, OF bridges and
terminals to take care of the products Of
the farm. Great crops meant liberal ex-
penditures by the farmers for the goods OF
the merchant and the manufacturer. This
In turn meant larger buildings TO house
the business of the merchant. and larger
factories. more men and more material to
meet the demand for manufactured arti-
cles Naturally the result was the expan-
sion OF the iron business and the steel
business beyond the capacity OF existing
plants.
And why should the particular site n,
Lake Michigan have been chosen for the
establishment that is TO help meet the AZ
mands for iron and steel? The least jnnor-
tant consideration Of all, perhaps. Is mai
IL will be hard by the second largest cIty
and the greatest Industrial city I'm ne
country. Chicago is a centre OF skilled and
unskilled labor. Upon IL the steel cornof.,
ton will he able draw on eT-bt
In emergencies Gary viii have the banss.
OF the superior railroad cosnectiop ar ~
Western metropolis. That Is a VIM c,,
sluerauoh IN business age thar makes
every minute. every inch and ever,, rs,t
count. '"'
outwelghing every other argumeD, T.,
favor OF the site which Gary Is To or,,,,,'.
10 the location Of the wonderful r. -
ranges from which the raw material ygni
be drawn, IL one were TO stand Win =
compass In what is soon 10 be The middle
OF Broadway In Gary the needle would
point across the waters OF Lake Nfirbin.1
almost directly toward the deposits az red
hematite In the Mesaba, the MARQUETTE
the GOgebic the Nermlll0n and H. Me,
nc minee ranges. which furnish eighty Nor
cent or all the Iron used IN this country.
one Of the features Of Gary wifi no ~
lapaclty OF the docks for storage ~ o-n
TO avert the possibility OF being cramned
for room the corporation will have go
or fve miles OF lake front under Its abso-
lutte control, subject TO the regulations OF
the federal government Here may he
stacked enough raw material 10 naat
every requirement during the season ,vban
navigation On thu great lakes IA closad
OF the total production OF q elI gSo I,,,,
tons OF iron ore n 1904 the great ranges
Of Minnesota. Michigan and Wisconsin, sI,r
nished 20. 3o2.1S tone. Alabama pro5ucss
S6g go tons. leaving the share OF an tbs
rest Of the country only see 252 tons Al
though all the territory east OF Indian, a b.
north OF Alabama produced a yer,, sr,sii
percentage Of the output Of iron or. A.,
Ing that year the recOrdf show th3+ psrr.
sylvania furnished nearlA half the M, ir,r
and Bessemer steel. two-afths of ain Lfnas
OF rails half OF all the rolled iron ana ste-l
and three-hfths OF all coke used.
NTH most OF the rpW material m this
West and most OF The finished work dnns
In the East. Il looked like case of me
mountain going % Mohammed The I'M.
OF, sslon was emphasized when a stud,
was made q the expanding demand Tor
iron and steel IN the development of ths
West ana al! the logic OF economics point,
ed 10 the conclusion that the factor,
should follow the supplies and get intC
me trend Of trade,
Pessimists have voiced fear that IN,
iron ore su0plv OF the lake Superior re-
zion Is D.. danger OF early exhaustion Thl
onic,als Ia thc steel corporation do NO
AhAre u-sss fssl.=S. In The state Of Ala