Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-08-21

: - I1.ls
of scrap iron. This is made into cast q
ings by the simple process of melting
and remolding at comparatively low
temperature, and commands practic-
ally the same price asanew n,lteriaLtsq
besides meeting a ready sale. Cast
iron has a more or less uniform price
of $15 ton, IF. o.. II. ruins" md
brings much more than steel, wrought
iron or pipe, for tiieareason that, II is 3
softer and therefore easier to~~work =
over, much greater heat being neces-
sary to fuse either of the other grades
Iron pipe in comparatively good CON-
dition is next in order of value. ands'
brings on an average about SO ton,
although it can be had IS low as So.
Probably the largest pile of scrap iron
pipe that has ever got together in one
spot is the Alexander Salvage COM
pany's mammoth pile at 18th and How
ard streets, containing about 4 thou
sand tons. This pipe, when made over
"a laborious and therefore rather eN-
pensive process-command' u COOL
market at about so per ton, which rep
resents a very high percentage OF the
price paid for new pipe. AS Il matter
of fact this reconstruction pipe is in
every way as good as the new article
for most uses. and though trifle soft
er as the result of the heat to which it
was subjected, wears practically the
same length of time. 1t is III great de-
| mand just now in the country dis
tricts for irrigation purposes, in sizes
from half an inch to six inches III jia-
meter. About thirty thousand tons of
| I,iS Mi iS ct cd n
beer made over and sold. The Alex
ander company operates big shop
devoted 70 the construction Of scrap
iron pipe, which has a capacity for
making over several carloads per day.
| There would be considerably lar
ger market for this class of scrap iron
We're it not for the fact that stringent
building regulations practically bar it
from the local field. AS a result new
pipe is being shipped from the East in
large quantities for the new buildings.
ana considerable delay has resulted
from the fact that the demand greatly
: exceeds the supply in the present con-
dition of freight traffic.
: A large amount of assorted scrap
4 iron is shipped to Los Angeles. where
: it is cut up into small pieces. fused
| together and rolled into sneets and
bars, which are used in many build
t inRs now going up in the southern
: metropolis.
: The Great Western Smelling and Re-
, hning Company has the biggest scrap
iron pile in the world at its yard on
Spear street. near Folsom street, where
some twenty-five thousand tons Of
scrap iron of all sizes. kinds and
shapes. from nails to Orders of the
largest size, are piled about fifteen feet
nigh. A most remarkable feature
about this great collection of fcrrie
junk is the regularity and symmetry
with which it is put together. The
tops and sides of the great stacks are
levelled with the nicely of geomet-
rical design, and the whole vast accu-
mutation Of odds and ends is intersect-
ed by broad aisles, through which
wagons continually pass in the tasks
Of loading or unloading. M y
1t is estimated that two years more
will be required TO exhaust the wealth
; of iron debris which the fire god so
lavishly bestowed on San Francisco,
and al the end Of that time probably
only two or three Of the largest opcra-
tors in this commodity will remain. A
considerable number have already for
salen the field, and the day Of the
scrap iron trust is not far distant
The least cleared sections in the city
are those bounded by the bay, Mar
llet and 10th streets and the former
apartment district within Grant and
Van Ness avenues and Sacramento
and McAllister streets. These will
probably furnish the bulk of the $751;
900 tons still remaining in the ruins,
according to estimate.