The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1909-12-10

The American Locomotive company
viii erect a plant covering $50 acres.
The plans under consideration when
this site was chosen contemplated the
production of fifty locomotives per
month, employing about $500 men. but
it is now understood that the plant
will be three times as large as origin
ally contemplated, and Will employ r.
600 men and turn out $50 locomotives
per month. or 1 800 in a year. on the
basis outlined this company would have I
the capacity to supply locomotives for
all the railroads west of Chicago, equal /
to about half the annual production of I
the United States
The American Sheet & Tin Plate !
company wiz have a very large plant
covering about 200 acres on the lake /
shore. and it can add 100 acres to its |
site for future expansion by filing in
and extending the shore line.
The American Steel & Wire company
has sixty acres adjoining the steel
plant, but this will be increased to
12O acres or more when the work of
extending the shore line which is now
| in progress. is completed 1t is under
stood that tins plant will have its own
| rod mills and viii manufacture full
| line Of wire products.
The Indiana steel company now has
/ 5000 men on its payroll. and it is
| estimated that $4,000 or $4,000 viii be
employed when the eight blast fur
naces and all the finishing departments
| are 10 operation. The steel plant oc-
cupies about 1000 acres out of the g.
600 originally owned by the Gary Land
company. Until recently the company
has had only four furnaces in blast.
and its output of rails and billets in
October was about 20 600 tons. Two
more blast furnaces are now coming in,
with corresponding open hearth fur
naces, and the production for Decem-
Der should be over 100000 tons of rails
and billets. This plant is now oper-
ated under lease by the Illinois Steel
company and its output of 100000 tons
per month added to the 1000 tons
made by the old mills of that company
VIII make a total production Of 3Oo-
600 tons or more monthly for the Hi
nois Steel company.
Even with this large addition to the
supply of steel in the Chicago district
the demand cannot be satisfied. and the
binets that have been available from
the Gary mill have not covered the
needs of the various finishing depart
ments, leaving many OF them short of
steel under the extraordinary conditions
which are crowding all the finishing
mills TO their full capacity The bar
mills a Gary are about ready for OPP
Grafton and one of the smaller plate
mills will soon be ready, so that the
finishing departments there will proba-
bly, need steel as fast as the production
: | of the steel works can be augmented.
1T is becoming evident that the Gary
] plant will be wholly inadequate on the
basis now nearing completion, to take
care of the enormous demand that has
I grown up in the Mississippi valley
With eight furnaces in blast (six now
completed and two more now nearing
4 completion) the output Of rails, bars
y structural shapes, plates, axles and 9TH
= er products for sale to the public will
n not much exceed 1000, 600 tons. if il
q reaches that figure. This will be swal-
q lowed up by the current demand from
q ! the Mississippi valley and the west
q and will not leave any provision fol
q the enormous car building shops ant
8 other industries which are under way
81 Western railroads want steel cars, anC
q at least 100000 tons of plates anC
d other steel win be needed annually t.
d meet this new demand. The existinl
q structural mills are so far behind the!
are almost out of sight of the enormous
q demand that has sprung up within tn
last year in the Mississippi valley 70
n steel office buildings and hotels an
other freproof structures. It is be
q lieved among those who are watching
81 developments in this quarter that if tn
Gary plant were expanded to the basi
81 of 16 blast furnaces it would scarcel
cover the business that viii be natur
81 ally tributary TO Chicago.
rs Recently Chicago buyer had to be
a for two billets. BY unfolding tai