Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-03

effort to get absolute control of every
bit of iron land that will in any way
be in the road of the great steel reve-
nue. from eastern iron works to the
western cities.
The Southern Pacific forthwith raised
its rates on iron to 1925 a ton from
Kelso to San Pedro. And now that
the iron deposits are being bought up
by the railroad company the people of
Southern California must despair of
ever getting their steel plant at San
Pedro or anywhere else, for the South
ern Pacific never intends to work these
deposits, deposits that mining engineers
assert are worth millions of dollars,
that are among the richest in the
world.
WEALTH WITHOUT VALUE
Iron in California is worth nothing
in the ground now. 1t never has beeen
worth anything, commercially speak
ms because the Southern Pacific
wanted the big haul from the east and
would not, therefore, tolerate a steel
factory on the Pacific coast. Conse-
quently all trade has been made to
suffer The western cities have been
compelled to pay excessive prices for
their structural steel for building and
other purposes, and the Southern Pa
cific is mainly responsible for this COM
mercial handicap.
With no intention of developing the
property, the Southern Pacific has but
recently acquired valuable iron deposits
out on the desert from Bakersfield,
paying $3.50, 900 for the parcel, estimated
to contain from 10000 900 to 100000 900
tons of iron. The Southern Pacific has
also acquired on option to purchase,
the price set being $700,000 the Merritt
iron deposits in the vicinity of Kelso
This property is estimated to contain
between 50,000.000 and 75000,000 tons of
iron.
The Southern Pacific is now making
a bluff at working this deposit. but
not for commercial purposes. 1t did not
wish to pay 100000 unless the property
was absolutely proved for iron. This
development work is now going on,
during the life of the railroads option.
but will cease. it is said, the moment
sufficient prospecting to determine
values has been done.
COVETS ALL DEPOSITS
Another large iron deposit in south
eastern California is said to be desired
by the Southern Pacific. This property
is valued by its owners at $250000 and
contains, it is said, a high grade iron
ore.
1t is estimated that the Southern
Pacific can buy up all the large depos-
its in the southern part of California
for about S1500. 900. and thus save itself
the loss of revenue on transportation
from the eastern steel works. This rev
enve amounts to at least $30000,000 a
year, and in buying and then tying up
these lands it can rest secure in the
fact that no steel plant will be built in
competition at San Pedro.
The ore in California contains &c per
cent iron and takes rank in purity with
the iron shipped from abroad through
the port of Baltimore to the steel plants
at Pittsburg. The California deposits
are a steam shovel proposition, and
can therefore be mined at much less
cost than by tunnels and other under
ground methods employed in Alabama
and elsewhere.
It is estimated that if the steel plant
had been erected at San Pedro struc-
tural steel could be manufactured here
at about $40 ton, whereas the present
price is between S35 and $40 a ton.
Thus the saving to the contractor and
builder would have been reduced three
fourths. ]. w.