The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1915-10-29
ALL AMERICAN
STEEL PLANTS
ARE SMAMPED
EVERY BLAST FURNACE AND
STEEL MILL WORKING NIGHT
AND DAY AT CAPACITY-MILLS
BEHIND WITH ORDERS.

been the sudden and general revival
in the iron and steel trade in the
United States, it was said by authori-
ties yesterday that with virtually ev-
cry blast furnace and steel mill in
the country working night and day
to capacity the demand for iron,
steel and steel products cannot be
satisfied and it is today almost i'm
possible to buy for immediate de
livery pig iron, scrag or ingots in
sizeabio quantities at any industrial
plant in the country.
The revival which began about the
first Of last July has been coming
on rapidly with a deluge of orders
! since the middle of August and may
not yet have reached its high mark
Within these three months the
price of pig iron, long regarded as
the barometer of trade, has increased
! approximately 81 per cent and that
of stee. and steel products except
steel rails-haye gone up about -
per cent
"At the present time the demand
for pig iron and for various lines of
steel is in excess Of the producing
capacity of the furnaces and mills of
the United States reads a statement
issued Thursday by Judge Ebert S.
Gary. chairman of the United States
Steel Corporation.
The manufacturers are unable to |
make deliveries entirely satisfactory |
to the purchasers with respect to a !
large majority of the different kinds |
of finished steel
There is nothing to indicate there
will be a decrease in the demand |
FOR any of these products for some
time. While prices are still low |
they have been and are increasing, |
and apparently will 90 higher so
that fair and reasonable profits may |
be expected
"Of course, the conditions are more
or less affected by the war orders,
so-caled, but it is true there is a |
better feeling throughout the general
iron and steel trade than has been
experienced for some years past"
Experts who have followed the
rising fortunes of iron and steel
within the past twelve months as
serted Thursday that the volume of
business, both domestic and foreign
at present, is more than double what
it was a year ago and that there are
today 100000 men employed at iron
and steel plants throughout the Unit
ed States who were not on the pay
rolls a year ago. This is about 90
per cent increase. The reason for
the increased number Of men EN-
ployed being disproportionate to the
volume Of business, they assert, is
that, during dull times, many men
were retained for the purpose of max
ing repairs, cleaning up and doing
odd jobs.
The fires have been lighted in vir-
tually every blast furnace in the Unit
ed States. In the case of the steel
corporation the last remaining idle
furnace at Columbus, Ohio, is now
being put into operation. Plants closed
for long periods due to the cost of
operation and the prevailing low pri-
ces of their products, have been
blown in during the last three months.
To find a parallel for the greater ac-
tiyity in the iron and steel trade, it
was said today, it was necessary to
20 back eight years to the middle
o. 1907.
steel and steel products are rolling
out of the mills at the rate of 50,0OO,-
600 tons a year, it is conseryatvely
estimated, and iron is being manu-
factured at the rate of 4O,OO0OOO tons
Yet with all the present activity, 50
great is the demand, it is stated,
os2acially the foreign demand, that
it is virtually impossible today to
buy for immediate delivery.
Prices have increased somewhat
slowly, but there seems to be every
that further rises are on
the way. At the present time, it is