Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-02-01
On Board the
Good Ship Earth :
The Iron Age--and Then WHAT
By Herbert Quick

district come from there-Gary,
South Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit,
Buffalo, Cleveland, Conneaut, Lorain.
and the rest. These stores amount
ing to 1,500,000,O0O tons are owned
mostly by Judge Gary's immortal en-
tity-which we created by law. In
the southern iron bins God has stored
almost twice as much-Andrew Car
negie thinks about 10000 600 tons
and the best of this the entity picked
up one stormy day in 1907 when Mr..
Roosevelt let Gary nave the Tennes-
see Coal and Iron Co.-to prevent a
panic, Altogether we have in the
United States about 10000, 900, 900 tons
of iron which is worth taking into
account. That's what the Laird of
Skibo thinks-but he also says that
the ore bodies when worked out
usually fall short of the estimates.
There is no reason to think we
shall find any great supply to add to
these-n0t in the United States. Can
ada is promising place to search,
and in the unexplored mountains of
the other continents a great deal may
be found-but to depend on such
thing is like throwing found money to
the dogs in the confident expectation
of picking up treasure trove before
It's gone. Germany and Britain and
Sweden have the only other supplies
comparable to ours-though Cuba and
Brazil have immense deposits-but
they do not relieve the anxieties
much of passenger who cares what
becomes of the folks on board
Now without any increase in the
rate of mining, the known supply in
the Lake Superior region win give
out within thirty years. Judge Gary's
entity Will empty those bunkers. By
1888 half the workable ore in this
country win be goneZand all the time
| Sweden, Britain and Germany will be
eating up their supp1y-and then, re-
sorting to the poorer ores, the work
will so on. until by the year 1000 our
supply will be gone.
1 think the case is one that
demands the attention on the part
of those who expect to leave descend
ants-or who care about the descend
ants of others-and that ought TO
| take in about everybody.
We as a race should see to it that
| iron is saved by all possible means.
| For this reason, If for no other, we
| should provide for the carrying OF
| freight on natural or artificial water
| ways, so as TO prevent the loss of
| iron by wearing out of steel rails in
carrying an unnecessary amount of
| traffic. It's the cheapest way of
! carrying freight. anyhow. More
| waterways, and less spending of iron
| on railways. And it would save half
the coal bill for transportation, too
| thus easing up the emptying of the
| coal bunkers.
We should use concrete for all erec-
lions for which It is adapted--for
| there is cement and stone in plenty
for all ages. The next age should be
the age of concrete.
We should stop building battleships.
Think of robbing the bunkers filled
| by the Master who built and
Launched the ship with things neces-
sary to the highest good OF the pas
sengers, and of making the goods
over into factories like war
ships And the warship industry is
what keeps a lot of steam shovels
at work scooping out our iron day
latter day, year after year. Think OF
| passengers using the supplies as
weapons with which to kill each
other.
Then we should see to it that all
iron when worn out is saved, worked
lup into new forms and used instead
IL new iron from the earth. Fol
iron, unlike coal, is not limited to one
occasion Of use. 1t lasts. Probably
as the store in use increases the
need for digging it out of the bunk
ers will lessen. Let,,is hope SO. But
those steel ships sunk in war-they
were lost foreverl Stop wasting oul
iron on warships!
For, be as optimistic as we will
we should remember that only tive
of the five continents are at all wei
supplied with railways, and thai
when the two-thirds of the passen-
gers who do not mine iron, or uss
|, many machines. really wake up W.