New-York tribune., 1922-11-26
ON Open Top Equipment
Will Release Million
Tons of Coal for Industry
Operations al 80 Per Cent
B3 Out of AZ Blast Fur
naces Active i'm Sharon
( gstown District
speesei Dsspateh % The Tt.base

l3sRe NUMBERS OF open top cars 10 Ihe
Eoal movement, will materially improve
tar supply for the industry in the
Pittsburgh and Youngstown districts.
1t will also release large quantities
bf coal for industrial consumption.
Lifting Of this ban will therefore not
only enable the industries 70 ship their
products III all directions with more
freedom, bat it will permit them 10
establish some coal reserves before
told weather
Under ordinary conditions, steel
plants usually have sizable coal stocks
st this time of the year to protect
them against disruptions to transpor-
tation in the winter. This year. how
ever, on account of the strikes during
the summer and the efforts 20 supply
the northwest, mills have been unable
70 build Up coal reserves to any extent.
They have likewise been further de-
TERED by price uncertainties.
Leading industrial buyers declare
that cancellation of Order No. 25 will
release at least 100000 tons of btu
minous coal for industrial consump-
tion. They further state that the
amount Of coal now being mined is
considerably in excess of current de-
mend and express ability to establish
a reserve if prices ar esat'sfactory.
Aided by Good Weather
Mild weather prevailing up to this
time has proved beneficial both to the
carriers and industrial plants Rail
operating executives declare that a
late, mild winter would give them a
splendid chance to put the roads in
first class position to handle normal
transportation next spring.
Gean~-hile, car and repair shops in
this territory are working at normal
Termination Of the lake season is at
hand and the ore movement already
shows perceptible decline. While the
peak of fail freight has passed, how
ever, heavier coal shipments for time
will partially Offset the loss due to
decline in orc !.ansportation. Further
more. it is expeSted shipments of fn-
ished products viii continue on q sub
stsHtial scale for three or four weeks,
until much of the backing now in mill
yards and warehouses is removed
Operation throughout the districts
is on an average Of 80 per cent Of Gu
pacity. Mills along the rivers, with
water transportation for the incoming
coal, arc doing better than that.
Blast Furnaces More Active
Thirty-three blast furnaces in the
Sharon-Y Youngstown district out of
forty seven are active and production
Las reached approximately 100000 tons
monthly. This is the greatest tonnage
within the last two years and will be
Igrtacr increased by the first Of the
year, when one or two additional
stacks arc blown in. The latest fur
mace to start Is the Claire, ut Slarps-
vile, which resumed during the week
after two years idlcness. The fur
mace had been remodeled and the ca
pacity increased to about 500 tons
day. IT is owned by the Reliance Iron
and Coke Company, of this city. The
Shenango Furnace Company, which is
operating two stacks, expecta to blow
its No. furnace within the next two
weeks. Repairs on the Sharpsville fur
mace are progressing, but the stack
VIII not be ready for resumption until
some time after the first OF fhe wear.
The Stewart Furnace Company's fur
mace at Sharon will be blown in after
January /.
II is officially stated that the West
inghouse Electric Company. which re
Gently acquired the Sharon plant of
thc Savage corporation, will take it
over about the first of the year. The
Savage corporation is now finishing IN
orders on the books. 1t is not stated
what products will be manufactured
hut the company expects to start ac-
tiVides in January Of next year.
The Standard Tank Car Company,
with orders on the books amounting to
over $7,ooo,000, is operating at full ca
pacity.
Material is now being received by
the Brier Hill Steel Company for the
ftf taTl akr.A,5
Niles, the program to involve expendi-
lures of approximately 1000, 900. The
companys 132-inch plate mill is to be
changed in important respects. affect
ing the rolls and housings, so as to
permit it to roll lighter gauges. 1t is
the plan to rebuild this mill so that it
may produce skelp for the proposed
tubs nils which the company plgns TO
install.
Trumhull Earnings
Discussing earnings of the Trumbull
Steel Company, President Jonathan
Wcmer states this interest earned
$780, ,00o in October, before charges, or
at the normal rate of 10 per cent, al
charge of S1000,o0o. He points out
that an advance impends in the price
Of tinplate which should further i'm
prove the company's earning position.
Mr. Werner believes the outlook for
next year is very satisfactory and
that the balance of this year will
prove as profitable as was October
He gives gross current assets of the
company as about $i1 900 ,0o0, includ-
ing $3.50, 900 in cash and $4,000 GOO in
inventory and the balance in bills re-
ceivablc. The cash item is equivalent
70 the present common dividend re-
guirements for period of four years
AT present Trumbull common Is on a
4 per cent learly basis.
Judging from inquiries which are
already being put out q number Of i'm
portant automobile builders in the De-
troit district are planning more ex-
tensiye manufacturing programs next
year than ever before. Demand for
suil finished sheets for automobile
body and fender stock is unusually
brisk. Automobile inquiries also en-
ebrace common sheets, strips and mer-
chant bars. In view of the decline in
sheet bars to S3s from the $40 level
which prevailed earlier in the quar-
ter it is considered unlikely that highly
finished sheets will show any advance
for the next quarter The current
price Is Eve cents
Wheeling Operations Vary
Considerable change was noticed
during the last week in operation in
The Wheeling district. In some in
stances there was an increase in oper-
alton, while in others q decrease. At
the Laughlin plant of the American
Sheet and Tin Plate Company. at Mar
tins Ferry twenty mills we're placed