New Britain herald., 1918-01-31

Chicago is making painfully
recovery from a NEARLY conn
shutdown, with little hope of de
ed improvement apart from mildSl
weather and an early spring. In
western Pennsylvania heavy SHOWS
on Monday paralyzed traffic and 1t
took more than "a hours to dig out
trains elm bling over the Allegheny
mountains
Pennsylvania. and Central Western
blast furnaces and steel works are
operating at from SO to rs per cent
of capacity and there is little pros
pect OF real relief while winter lasts.
Blast furnaces get little coke and
what is delivered is so poor thai
more off iron than standard grades
is made. At Connellsville coke ovens
35 per cent car supply is about the
avera ge.
Fresh storms and cold have large
ly defeated the plans for breaking
freight blockades, and at steel works
pfled-up stocks of finished product
will impede operations for days and
in some cases weeks. The scarcity
OF cars to move product from the
mills is thus fully as serious a fac
tor as scarcity Of coal and coke.
The chief gain from the shutdown
order thus far has been in the coal
ing Of vessels at Atlantic ports. A
very promising start has been made
in releasing thousands of tons of
steel and munitions awaiting ship
tent to American and Allied armies
War shipments make up rs per
cent Of the current movement in the
heavier finished steel lines. 1t has
been surprising, in fact, on how small
a part of the output the country has
its ordinary consumption
in the past two months.
Pig iron markets have naturally
slowed down as the business OF de-
livering has absorbed every energy
That the low phosphorus pig iron
supply is short OF the demand for the
turning out Of gun forgings and other
war material calling for acid steel is
one of the serious features of the
situation. Low PHOSPHORUS ores
from Chile, Spain and Sweden are cut
off and the Lake Superior supply is
very limited
In ferromanganese there has been
added to falling domestic production
and much smaller imports a recent
order stopping for so days the ship
ment of manganese ore to seaport
over the Central Railway Of Brazil,
due to lack Of fuel However, sitter
three years of alarms ferronangancse
users are not easily thrown into q
panic.
How large has been the volume of
government fabricated steel work,
particularly for the fabricated ship
program, Is indicated by the 2O50oO
tons OF bookings by bridge and struc-
tural shops in Decem Der, IA per cent.
above rated capa city. Over one-third
Of last years. business was done In the
last quarter. Two years ago a squirt
due to plant extensions gave a total
in Decemb Der, 1915, of 20S.500 tons,
but general building was not heavily
oh ecked then as now.
About $4,000 tons of relatively
light steel work is needed for 1900
buildings for the signal corps. For j
the quartern1aster's departm ent for !
buildings in the United States $500 |
tons has been closed.
Upward Of 500 tons Of large ma
chine bolts have sold at SIS per ton
below the allowed level. Where de-
nand upon certain manufacturing de-
partments slackens the old law of
in price seems still to be
working.
There is keen interest in the maxi !
ng up of a now Iron and Steel In /
stitute committee on prices and prac-
ices in the old material trade More
drastic control is predicted, with the
Of some Of the rulings the
rade has been disposed to make for
tself in certain districts.