Evening star., 1915-11-03
VISITING THE war
BRIDES.
VlIl.-Pittsburgh's New
Factories.
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

n BY Frederic ]. Haskin. ii
PITTSBURGH, Pa. November LIN
this district within the last three
months has sprung up an industry OF
more national Importance and inter-
est than the making of guns and shells.
If 1t survives it means for America
permanent independence of Europe in
(. line that is the basis of many manu-
factures and the saving of a waste
that has cost billions.
This new American industry consists
of q dozen factories. some just finished.
-,me still building, the largest only
~ cted, for the conversion of the by
products of coke manufacture into oils,
acids and other chemicals. The two
immediate objects of the venture are
to supply Europe with acids for max
ing high explosives and American man
ufacturers with the dyestuffs which
they can no longer obtain abroad.
-
To appreciate the full import of this
movement and the way the war
brought it
Americans Notes about you must
en German System. sarsnns aps 'cs he he
tween the iron and steel industries in
this country and in Europe. Some years
ago a Pittsburgh iron man went
TO Europe for vacation and Incl
dentally visited the great mines and
mills of Germany. He saw those long
worked mines, which pierce hundreds
of feet straight down into the earth;
he counted the revolutions of the pow
erful steam drum which lifted the coal
TO the surface. and calculated the i'm
mense expenditure which was neces-
sary to obtain the mere raw materials
methods with coal mining on the Mo-
nongahela, where 1t consists in dig
ging hole in the mountain and shovel
Ing the coal into waiting car. Not for
couple of centuries at least, he re-
fiected. need America fear European
competition in iron and steel.
Then he was shown the by-product
plants in connection with the German
steel mills. and learned how the Ger
mans paid the heavy expense of their
mining by converting SCOT and Stag
and smoke and gas into dyes and other
chemical products which they sold in
America: He realized that in the abun-
dance of Its natural resources America
was wasting good part of its wealth.
He perceived that Pittsburgh was pol
luting its air and smudging it's build
ings with the materials of a great in
dustry.
So the Pittsburgh man came home
with an idea Now opportunity and
necessity seem IL, a fair way to make
that idea fact. Pittsburgh is putting
forth a determined and heavily cap
italized effort to become the source of
an American chemical industry.
Chemicals were made here before the
war, as they were in some other
American cities
Used Only Fraction But the factories
Of Their Material. fractien eseu ene aa sruss ths
material at hand. and left American
manufacturers dependent upon Europe.
The Aetna company had a factory here.
1t now has three new ones, built or
under construe- on. The Republican
Chemical Compaly at Neville Island,
the Stauffer Chemical Company at Mo-
nongahela City and the General Chemi-
cal Company here are among those just
organized and still building, and there
are eight other Independent companies
that did not exist even on paper
year ago. All OF these factories are to
make chemicals out of the by-products
of coal distillation for the production of
coke and from crude petroleum. Most
interesting OF all. as indicating what
big business thinks of the possibilities
of the industry. is the report that the
Carnegie Steel Company has plans un-
der way for the building of the largest
by-products coke and chemical works
in the world near Pittsburgh. The plant
IL to consist Of about 500 ovens, and
with all equipment Will cost about s8,-
0ea.9o0
What will happen to this new Ameri-
can industry after the war, when the
demand for high explosive materials
has dropped. and the factories face
European competition in the making of
dyestuffs. is matter of much specula-
tion here. Undoubtedly there will be
struggle. Oar tariff law contains no
dumping ciause-that is. no provision
20 prevent European manufacturers
from underselling on the American
market to get back their trade. This.
u is admitted. they bably will do.
II no, prevented. and the new American
industry will have a hard enough time
20 fght the more mature European one
in any case. Under these circum-
stances. business is lending an atten-
tive ear to the administrators remarks
about changing the tariff laws to pro-
tect American manufacturers from un-
fair competition after the war. 1t Is
also very much interested in the ad-
Tense. which must necessarily include a
large supply of high explosives.
Crucible Steel is the Pittsburgh war
bride of greatest stock market fame
1t Is an inde-
Crueible Steel pendent company
81 c,...,.C C OF especially fine
S'" equipment, maxi
ing high grade OF steel such as is
used in watch springs and cutlery
Owing 10 the specialized nature Of its
product, IL suffered more from the re-
cent depression than many of the other
companies. At the time the war broke
out its common stock was quoted at
s!i.25 share, and it owed heavy back
dividends on its preferred. Not long
ago its common was selling at sless5
~shsrs
This company Is resicent about its
ahsirs. making only annual reports
now. instead OF quarterly reports. as
formerly. II 10 known. however, that
an immense order Tor rife barrels
forms the basis of its present pros
Xerity. The Westinghouse company
Tot the order for the rifles from Russia
and France. and contracted with Cruci-
bic Steel 10 make the barrels.
crucioie Steel has had a hard fxht
In the gnrpOration world Ahnut oni