The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-07-05

iron production 1s,s2S,2s4 tons-4, ,4S7,- O66 available for foundries, other in- dustries, etc.
 With the development of the Besse- mer and open-hearth steel processes, there has resulted the practice of re- taining the blast furnace metal in mol ten condition Casting machines have also been extensively introduced and to a small extent the practice of chill casting or casting on an iron floor. Of all pig iron made, 6,O83,51S tons were sandcast, 5,S9S,744 tons were delivered in molten condition to Bessemer con- verters, open-hearth furnaces, etc; 4,3O7, ,108 tons were machine cast; 929,- AGO. chill cast; and 9,469 were direct castings.
 The most important improvement of late years in the blast furnace industry is the Gayley dry-air blast, which, by eliminating the effect of the moisture of the air and it's tendency to consume heat energy, results in the following economies: A reduction of some twenty per cent. in fuel consumed per unit of pig iron, increase in the capacity of the furnace, reduction in iron ore waste (dust), and control over silicon range. There is also, incidentally, a saving in power.
 States Prominent in the Industry.
 In 1905 there were active blast fur 1fTr fafO TlA., l. is still far in advance of the other States as a producer of pig iron. Ohio, Illinois, and Alabama follow, in the or order named, All but three of the States which had more than two blast furnace establishments In 1905 reported in creases in pig iron production. Pennsyl- vania produced one-half of the Bes- lsemer pig iron, nearly three-fourths of the phosphorus, nearly three fourths of the basic, over one-fifth of the foundry, more than one-half of the forge, over three-ffths of the splegel- eisen, all of the ferromanganse, nearly one-third of the direct castings, and relatively small amounts of the remain Ing grades-malleable Bessemer, white and mottled, and miscellaneous grades, | and ferrosilicon.
 Steel Works and Rolling Mills. The number of active steel works and rolling mills for which separate reports were received was 415, a decrease of 29 from the number in 1900 The capital invested in these establishments was $7O9,1SO,646, an increase of 60.5 per cent. since 1900; the amount invested in idle establishments was $21 PAT ,646. The av- erago number of wage-earners and their wages were, respectively, 07,562, a gain of 1S.4 per cent, and $122, ,491, 99S a gain of 19.S per cent. The cost of materials used was $441, ,204,4S2, and the value of products, $673,965, ,026; the gain was 13 per cent. in both. The to- tai tonnage of products was 1S216,639 an increase of 21.1 per cent, compared with an increase in the decade preced- ing of 1O3.6 per cent.
 Pennsylvania continues to produce more than one-half of the cast steel and rolled iron and steel products, it's out put constituting 54 per cent. of the to- tai value, compared with 55.7 per cent. | in 1900. This State reports one-half of all employees and expenses pertaining to the industry and over one-half the capital Its present share of the steel making and rolling mill industry is even greater than it's share of the blast furnace branch, and exceeds by over $SO,OO0,000 the total product of steel works and rolling mills for the entire country in 1890 Ohio ranks second H. linois third. and New York fourth.