Year: 1874

uiA' cannot % Dtioged with figures strong


enough to support successful competition.


Be Louis, with o mountain oI iron


In her very lap, drops behind us in the


economy Of manufacture one hundred


and ninety'seven thousand dollars. The


two lake cities, Cleveland and Chicago,


are, with all their water frelghts, notice.


ably behind, the latter leaving Us margin


on the fnished iron Of two hundred and


thirty.two thousand dollars, Columbus,


which has lately had q regular hand


shaking over her immense facilities lor


manufacturing cheap iron, gives us by her


own congratuiation figures ninety-seyen


thousand and four hundred dollars with


which TO put into the warehouses of her


merchants our flniShed iron, made from


one years run OF our blast furnaces.


II there 10 anything more needed to put


In true light the advantages Of Wheeling
as manufacturing centre, It can oil be-
embraced in her record for the year 1873.
The financial panic, which threatened to
sweep the whole country. like q tidal wave,
did not reach us even with the foam ofits
dashing: everything moved right on.
The business Of Wheeling has been built
upon solid foundations, does not depend
for It's life on the issue OF a few millions,
more or less, Of currency, though the
profits OF business here, as elsewhere, are
affected by the supply Of money.


For her commercial standing Wheeling
owes much to the men who long ago
brayed the odium Of State institutions and
inAugurated the iron industry. Under the
most favorable conditions, including the
hearty cooperation Of a people who
thoroughly appreciate the immense ad.
vantages arising from the development Of
the natural resources Of their locality,
consequent upon the Introduction oil great
manufacturing enterprises, and who ex.
tend to the projectors Of such establish.
ments their moral support and social re.
cognihon, the successful Inauguration Of
any enterprise which draws largely upon
skilled labor iS still q Herculean task.


How much greater the difficulty where
State institutions detracted from the dig.
nifty Of labor and the arrogance of On
effele aristocracy with the iron heel Of
social ostracism ground into the dust the
manhood Of the skilled artizsn. We need
not stop to argue how much of Wheelinp's
failure at an earlier period to reap abun.
dainty from her natural resources, or
profit by her geographical position as the
practical head Of navigation for some por.
tons OF every year and SIS the river town
Of the great highway Of the nation, was
owing to the institutions Of the State Of |
Virginia. Much Of their baleful in.
auence went up in the smoke oil the fur.
mace; the balance was crsuhed out under |
the fiery hooi Of battle and war.


A manufacturing population has been
born and reared and gathered into our |
midst, the character Of which Is not ex.
celled in any city. While the limit Of a |
newspaper article does not admit Of an
extended notice of the many men who by
their skill and industry have contributed
70 largely not only to the reputation Of
the city abroad, but also to the growth
and prosperity Of Its many home indus
tries, perhaps we cannot better exemplify
the elevated tone of character that pre-
walls among them than to say that in no
city OF our acquaintance does so large =
Of the artisan population dwell
In their own residences as in Wheeling.
No homes anywhere give more unmis-
takAbleeVideuce Of comfortable thrift, and
very many Of them abound in the elegan.
cies Of cultivated taste. In the character
of her manufacturing population, in the
solidity oi her industrial interests, and in
he positive prosperity which is dAwning
upon the region Of which she Is the CEN
tral figure, Wheeling is perhaps richly
compensated for the apparent tardinees Of
her development