The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-03-07

Company. and the Shenango Steamship
Company. have pig iron capacity OF 600
tons daily, ample ore supplies for fifty
years; 1850 acres OF Connellsvllle coke,
aad immense mines in Minnesota. and
own three and operate six other lake car
riers. They are building a e96is-foot
steamship. the largest on the Great
Lakes with a carrying capacity of 1905
tons, and own and operate four blast
furnaces.
PittsburE Steel Company.
As an aggressive competitive force. the
Piusburg Steel Company occupies the
conspicuous position in finished lines. The
company is only seven years old. but in
that period IL has grown very rapidly. II
originally erected a plant for the manu-
facture OF wire nails. IN competition with
the American Steel and Wire Company.
Pig iron and bllIets We're bought in the
open mar:;et-a great deal az its pig iron
from W 2. Snyder & Co, and its billets
from the Carnegie Steel Company, on a
contract expiring last July. Its 100000
blooming mill was completed last Septeu-
Der. and II is the most modern and best
equipped Of any plant Of its kind in the
couHtrv. E3ght Cpcn-nearth furnaces wer-
rod mill Is in process or construction, and
an addition is being made TO the wire
fence mill. The company probably has
from 100000 10 Sl5,OO0,Oo0 invested. and
its products include wire nails. plain.
barbed, and electrlc-welded wire fence,
and cotton tie and barrel bands.
The company was one Of the few man
ufacturing establishments that operated
almost 10 capacity through the Industrial
depression. II employs fifty travelling
statesmen; has warehouses and branch Of
fees in many important sections Of the
country. East. West and South; employs
nifty 10 sixty girls in its advertising de-
partment. which is without question one
Of the best equipped adjuncts Of its kind
In the country; spends $4,000 per annum
for postage stamps. and has what might
he called the ideal plan Of marketing its
products 1t is reported that the company
has the names Of more farmers than any
other business organization in the United
States. to whom advertising matter is be-
ing constantly forwarded. with directions
where its commodities may be purche Sed.
The success Of the company is attTib-
uted 70 two men-President Wallace r.
Rowe and George Nash. the superintend-
ent Nash has a reputation among steel
interests as manager, operator, and con
structor. while Rowe is known as one OF
the best selling agents the industry has
ever developed.
Rowe has an interesting history. He
was born in Missouri and early he became
associated with John w. Gates. He went
to Piusburg about 1887 as manager Of the
Braddock Wire Company. al Rankin His
success was immediate. and. when a num-
Der Of wire plants were consolidated IN
der the name Of the Consolidated Steel
and Wire Company, In the early eos,
Rowe was in charge Of the Pittsburg Of
fee. On the organization Of the Ameri-
can Steel and Wire Company. which alb
sorbed the Consolidated he was made a
district manager. The policies OF the
company and the limitations thereof were
not agreeable 10 a man OF his ability,
however, and he soon resigned. He was
held in such high esteem that. without
asking a single man TO leave with him, he
was besieged with requests, and, c0nse-
quently, was able to get the pick OF the
men employed in the Pittsburg district
Employees speak not only Of his executive
abilities, but Of his personal qualities.
Famous Billet Deal.
It was the Pittsburg Steel Company
that made the famous I0O0O-ton billet
contract with the Republic Iron and Steel
Company several years ago. which was so
favorable 10 the former that Alexis W.
Thompson. then president OF the Repub-
lie, soon afterward resigned. It was re-
ported that previously the Carnegie Steel
Company attempted TO che~k the growth
Of the company. on the theory that It was
able 70 do II, but that Rowe surprised
the Steel Corporation by making the bill
let deal with the Republic. Last autumn
the company made a contract with the
Pennsylvania Coal and Iron Company,
controlled by NJ A. Hanna & Co. for
5000 tons Of pig iron a month. TO May l.
1911. at a price based on producing cost
OF iron and a profit ranging from 10 u
per cent, according 10 production costs,
the extreme price, however, being ST
per ton.
King, Snyder. and Rowe are the promi-
nent representatives Of the purely indie
pendent iron and steel manufacturers.
There are a number OF others who might
be mentioned. Such a list would include
James Campbell. president Of the Youngs-
town Sheet and Tube Company, which
has been a success from the beginning,
and has just increased it's capital from
100000 10 Sl0000.OO0: Henry c. Fownes.
connected with the pig iron manufacture
since his teens. who. with his associates.
sold the Carrie group Of furnaces to the
Carnegie Steel Company in 1857. and. with
Charles Mcknight, president Of the Ma
tional Bank OF Western Pennsylvania, ].
Ramsey Speer. ". c. Fownes, and W
c. FOwnes, IT., built the Midland Steel
Company In Beaver County, and James G.
Butler. jr., president OF the Bessemer
Furnace Association. who has been identi-
fed with the merchant furnace trade for
many years. Reference should also be
made 10 the FOllansbee Brothers.
manufacturers Of Tin plate: the Page
Woven Wire Company, the Ia Belle Iron
Works, and the Pope and McKeesport
Tin Plate Companies.
The Bethlehem Steel Company, headed
by Charles NJ. Schwab. is also classed as
an independent corporation. and is an
active competitor with the Steel Corpora
ton especially in structural shapes and
open-hearth steel rails. The company has
distinct advantage in being able TO roll
longer beams than other structural max
ers.
Rulers Of the Trust.
Since the billion-dollar United States
Steel Corporation was organized in 1901.
three men have controlled its practical
operations They are Ebert II. Gary,
Charles NJ. Schwab. and William F. Co
rty. In the financing and matters Of Wall
street policy, or course, the dominant
power has been J. Pierpont Morgan, and
a large influence has been exerted By
Mr. Morgan's right-hand man. George W.
Perkins. and by a number Of others. like
Henry Clay Frick. but so far as the actual