The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-08-09
55,176 PERSONS
IN IRON MINING
In the United States During 1909, Ac-
cording to Bulletin About to Be
Issued by Bureau of the
Census.

Washington, d. G., August 9.--Statis-
tics for the iron mining industry in the
United States in 1909 are presented in
detail in bulletin soon to be issued by
Director Harris of the Bureau of the
census, department of commerce. 1t
was prepared under the supervision of
Isaac A. Hourwich, expert special agent
for mining.
The total number of iron mines in
the United States in 1909 was 44S3.
The number of persons engaged in the
industry on December Is, 1909, or near
est representative date was 55,l76, OF
whom 52,230 were wage earners. The
expenses of operation and development
amounted to ST4,07l $50, of which the
payments for salaries and wages con-
stituted somewhat less than half.
The production of iron ore in crude
form was 81 DAT ,l29 tons, but some of
the ore produced in New York is con-
centrated at the mines, and the net
production, after concentration, for the
country as whole was 81 III 920 tons.
The quantity used by blast furnaces at
the mines or shipped from the mines for
use in affiliated blast furnaces at a
distance or for sale was 50,52l POS tons,
and its value at the mine was $780,
$685., SAT, besides which manganiferous ore
and other by-products, to the value of
$407 sos were produced, making the
total value of products Sl06,947 ,02S.
The value of iron ore produced in other
industries (gold and silver mining,
limestone quarrying, and brick and tile
manufacturing in 1909 was reported as
SlT5,965, which added to the net value
of ore at the iron mines (Sl06,539,574l, |
gives total value of iron ore for 1909
to $l06,Tl5,539.
The lake superior district, which COM
prises Minnesota. Wisconsin, and Michi- |
gan, and the Southern districts, which |
Alabama, Georgia, and Ten /,
nessee, were the principal producing dis
tricts. the combined production of these |
two districts representing OLD per cent. |
of the total tonnage of ore used by the |
operators in their own blast furnaces |
or sold in the market. The predomi- |
nance of the Lake Superior district in /
the iron mining industry is shown con-
spicuously. More than four fifths of /
the ore used and sold in 1909 came from
this district, and the value of this ore,
including by-products, represented near
ly seven-eights of the total for the
Leading States.
In 1909 Minnesota lead in the output
Of iron ore in the United States with
production of 2s,3l4,7l3 tons, or Sc per
cent. of the total output for the United
States. Michigan was second with H.
nos tons; Alabama third with 4,3l32, $50
tons; New York fourth with l.024,l73
IONS; and Wisconsin fifth with l,002,666
tons. Other scattering states produced
together 3,942,30l tons.
There was an exceedingly rapid in
,rease in the iron mining industry from
1919 to 1909. The gross amount of ore
produced was more than eight times as
yreat in 1909 as in 1879, and the expen-
liture for salaries and wages about
.hree and half times as great The
production of ore more than doubled be-
.ween 1870 and 1889, and again more
han doubled between 1889 and 1902,
While between 1902 and 1909 there was
IN increase of 46.l per cent. b
Increased Cost of Mining.
The returns show that in the United
states as whole the total reported ex-
lenses increased from sl.l6 per ton in
9o2 to SLAB per ton in 1909, notwith-
tanding the fact that the expenses for
902 included interest, which was ex-
mded in 1909. ,
In the United States as whole the !
verage value of ore per ton at the I,
nine increased from Sls4 in 1902 to
2. IL in 1909, or s0.2s per ton-an in
rease slightly greater in absolute
mount than that in the total reported :
Expense per ton ts0.27l.