The Washington herald., 1910-12-18

Pittsburgi Dec. E-It is reported here
on excellent authority that a material
cut IN steel and iron prices is likely
within the next thirty days. In fact. the
prediction is madesthat the FIRST week in
January is likely TO see the cut. The
present stagnation is given as the cause
for the contemplated reductions.
This is not surprising when il Is con-
servatively estimated that of the 10000
men employed in the mills Of the Pitts
burg district alone fully g5,O00 are out Of
work, with no immediate prospect of a
change. Beyond this. the statement is
made that the remaining 5000 men are
working but So per cent OF fun time on
an average
In Youngstown, Wheeling. and Johns
town, all Of which are great Industrial
centers. so far as steel and tinplate are
concerned, the conditions approximate
those in the PittsbUrg district That is,
thousands Of men are Idle but the mill
owners refuse 10 give the exact number
who are laid of. although they admit that
the figures run into the tens Of thousands.
and do not deny that the advance orders
for all kinds OF iron and steel products
are nearly at the lowest ebb that has
been known in years.
Trade Good in other Lines.
In spite Of this. however. all other lines
OF business, excepting those Immediately
connected with the steel and iron bust
ness. are on a good basis. The Christmas
trade, the merchants say, has been fully
as good as last year. and there seems to
be no note Of dependency so far as the
future is concerned But for all that
many Of the large steel mills are closed
with no prospect Of reopening for months
TO come.
The best indication OF the situation. so
far as the mills are concerned, is to
be found IN the official statement Just
given out by the furnace owners in the
Connellsville coke district When il is
remembered that in the production OF
every ton of iron, at least one ton of coke
Is consumed, the figures will indicate very
closely the status Of the iron industry.
For instance. for the first week of jan
uary this year the coke ovens OF the
Connellsville district turned out 44s,OS2
tons of material This has gradually
fallen away week by week, until for the
week ended December 10 the product was
2S2.4S5 tons, or about twO-thirds of the
amount at the beginning Of the year TAX
ing the figures for every week OF the
year il is noticeable that the falling off
in the output has been practically the
same week after week 1t is roughly
stated that 5000 men are employed about
the coke ovens. 1t Is safe TO say that
full Ia hi
Jirally follows that the steel industry has
declined in proportion TO the falling of
OF the output in the coke ovens.
Actual Conditions at Mines.
AS an example of the stagnation in
the steel mills. the great Cambria plant,
at Johnstown, is running but three out
Of its eight mills. When they run at
fun capacity they employ between 17,Oc6
and 1900 men. The natural inference
would be that more than 10000 men are
out of work, but this is not fact. 1t
is probable that 4,000 men have been laid
of, but of the remaining 14.OOO nearly all
are employed half tine. that is. they
are given from two to three days work
per week, and in some cases four days.
and support their families. The princi-
pal cause for this arrangement is not
so much. it should be said, for the men
themselves, as a desire on the part of
tie mill owners to hold their skilled
workmen about them until such time as
business is resumed on a larger scale.
Some of the highly trained and skiHful
steel workers are regarded as almost in
valuable. and the mill owners use every
endeavor TO keep them employed part
time. so as 10 prevent them from drift
ing away into other fields. La such an
event, they say. il would be difficult to
replace them. and the mills would suffer
accordingly.
In the Johnstown situation, there is
another factor which seems TO help out
so far as the men are concerned. The
company owns tremendous department
store, which is situated on one of the
main streets of Johnstown, and where
the families are given credit when the
men are laid off. The company makes
il a rule 10 permit them to draw on the
future by purchasing supplies. to be
paid Tor when the mills open again. In
this way many families are enabled 70
tide over the period of inactivity with
out feeling. the pinch of hunger. There
has been some opposition to the com
pany's store idea, bat even its opponents
ADMIT that IL has done much good when
work is scarce and men are in enforced
idleness.
Situation Around Pittsburg.
The steel mills in the Pittsburg district
are run on the part-time system. just as
they are at Johnstown. The better class
of workmen are kept employed a part
of the time, and it is seen to that they
are enabled to make at least enough to
buy the necessities Of life. Even where
a mill is closed down entirely. as they
are in some instances. it by no means
follows that all the men are idle Care
takers. watchmen. machinery experts, and
many others are kept on the pay roll to
prevent the deterioration of the plants
Then, too, the skilled workmen are per-
mitted to get money enough to tide them
'along If they need it. but in many in-
stances this is not necessary.
& 1t is exceedingly difficult TO arrive at the
exact number of men who are in forced
idleness for two reasons. One is that the
mill officials carefully conceal the figures
and the other is the wsping out of the
labor unions In the steel industry in
Pittsburg to-day unionism is practically
daad mas he that fho-a il not