The Iron Age 1900-03-29: Vol 65 Iss 13

‘THE IRON AGE. Tuurspay, Marcu 29, 1900. The Largest Drop Press for Working Sheet Metal. What is certainly one of the largest drop presses ever puilt for handling sheet metal is here illustrated in its principal features. It was designed and built for the ta} fill et it will make measures 6 feet 7 inches by 24 inches, the form of the cover being shown in. Fig. 5. The piston and hammer weigh 3 tons, while the cast iron anvil weighs 12 tons. The dies, one of which is shown separated from the machine in Fig. 4, are com- posed of a cast iron body faced with steel. Details of the cylinder, which was designed and built a ar a ii il) | Eu SS THE LARGEST DROP PRESS FOR WORKING SHEET METAL. Perkins Machine Company of South Boston, Mass., and is to be used for making the covers of sheet metal cas- kets. It will handle a blank 30 inches wide by 7% feet long of sheet steel of No. 22 gauge. The distance be- tween the guides is 8 feet, the stroke of the hammer be- ing 5 feet. The hight of the press over all is 17 feet, and it occupies a floor space of 3 x 12 feet. The largest cover by the Craig Ridgway & Son Company of Coatesville, Pa., are shown in Fig. 2. The interior diameter is 14 inches, the piston rod diameter 2 15-16 inches. Arranged one on each side at the bottom of the cylinder are the inlet and exhaust passages for the compressed air at 80 pounds pressure. These valves are both operated by rods placed within convenient reach. The inlet has a Eh glee «ie sg ea a ey He : : Fe : - ' . ‘F } + 2B if ; i if : a if a Saeed ee gt ae cadianah, apanilianemniie desea? meet ademas ioe ote ee >~. are : a nes ‘= 2 rc eu 2 THE IRON AGE. diameter of 14 inches, and the outlet 3% inches, this outlet having been found to be amply sufficient to permit of the free escape of the air and dropping of the hammer upon the reversal of the valves. The cylinder cap is pro- vided with openings, as indicated by the drawing at the top of Fig. 2, and is also furnished with interior springs in order to cushion, as far as possible, the piston, if for any reason the piston rod should let go the hammer. The piston rod may be said to be attached to the ham- mer in two ways. First it is keyed into the block, then a short length just above the block is reduced in di- ameter to receive a collar which is bolted to the top of the hammer, as shown in Fig. 1. This double protection is deemed necessary owing to the fact that should the piston rod break while the air pressure was on the result might be disastrous as far as the cylinder head is con- cerned. So far it. has been found that a stroke of 3 feet is amply sufficient to upset the metal. Some idea of the distortion which takes place may be conceived from the fact that the cup formed has a depth of 4% inches, the contour being as plainly indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The large blanking press shown in Fig. 3 is intended for use in connection with this machine. It will take in work 24 x 84 inches. The die is operated by a double pitman actuated by eccentrics and has a throw of 5 inches. The distance from the bed to the die is 16 inches, and there is provided an adjustment of the die, by means of nuts and screws, of 4 inches. While the machine was originally designed to be driven from a cross shaft pro- vided with a pinion at each end and engaging with the large gears shown it has been found in testing it that one gear is amply sufficient to do all the work required of the machine. The ratio of the gearing is 10 to 1, the largest gears being 72 inches in diameter. The dis- tance between the standards of the machine is 96 inches. _ —_— Australian Notes. Railways and Railway Tenders, Queensland is arranging to develop her railways. She is expected to go on the market shortly for a £38,000,- 000 lona to be applied solely to construction of new lines, which are expected to be highly reproductive. The New South Wales Railway Department will shortly call for tenders for 19,000 tons of 60-pound flanged steel rails, 1420 tons of steel angle fish plates and 220 tons of steel fish bolts and nuts, first delivery to be within three months of acceptance of tender, final delivery within twelve months. All particulars should be obtained from the N. 8. Wales Agent-General’s De- partment in London. The Queensland Railway Department, in connection with the steady scheme of progression resolved upon, have just Iet a contract for the erection of railway ma- chine shops at Ipswich, Queensland, at a cost of about £200,000. Lathes, drilling machines, traveling cranes, tools, and the thousand and one requirements of an en- gineers’ shop will shortly be required there. American makers should watch these developments. The field is comparatively clear, and American machine tools espe- cially require little pushing out here. The New Zealand Railway Department is stirring it- self to the adoption of the Westinghouse brake on the railways of the North Island. The rolling stock of the South Island will afterward be similarly treated. The estimated cost for the whole colony is £175,000. The New South Wales Railway Department has de- cided to convert the existing steam street tram service in Sydney into an electrical.one. The work is to be com- pleted within two years at a cost of £180,000. This de- partment announces that tenders will shortly be called for 3392 tons of 83-pound grooved and flanged steel rails, 800 tons of 91-pound grooved and flanged rails, 212 tons of steel fish plates, &c., first delivery within three months of acceptance of tender, and final delivery with- in 12 months. Plans and specifications are to be ob- tained from the N. 8S. W. Agent-General, in London. Bridge building is proceeding steadily in all the colo- nies, the Queensland Government especially having on hand several large contracts involving huge expenditure and the consumption of many thousands of tons of steel and iron. Bridge Over Sydney Harbor. The conditions of the competition for the design for this bridge, the structure of which will cost at least March 29, 1900 £500,000, provide that designs and particulars shall be handed in to the Public Works Department at Sydney by the first day of August next, a rather short notice when it is considered that designs are invited from the world at large. American competitors will doubtless be able to get fullest information from the New South Wales Agent-General’s office in London. First and second prizes of £1000 and £500 respectively are offered for best and second best designs. A tender is to accompany each design, and the successful bidder will have to furnish security for £10,000 as a guarantee of good faith, and enter into a bond prowiding certain penalties in event of delay in construction. It is to be UU VZZZZA Vibha YP N\\ Ua — Dis, Zrnciisnnnsemensentil 4 64% —-—2—- —__ - —__- - —_ - ——- -— WiLL dddddddlddddddddddddddddkddad LL iLL N w ZZ X ASS SS ee 2 GL ZY 7 ae 3 Pipe tap _° Z Zg A 4 4, A Z ~ fz ZEELLLA Fig. 2.—Details of Cylinder of Largest Drop Press. a single tier bridge with a clear hight of 180 feet above high water, and of one span. The design provides for 40 feet of roadway, two footpaths each 10 feet wide, and a double line of railway with a clear width of 24 feet, the length over the water being about 300 yards. The approaches will run into money, as the land, at least on the Sydney side of the harbor (Dawe’s Point), is low lying, and the heaviest gradient allowable is 1 in 25 for the roadway, and 1 in 35 for the railway. The de- signs must further provide for junction with existing streets and railways both on the Sydney and North Syd- ney sides, and the erection must further not interfere with street traffic and harbor navigation. The bridge must be capable of carrying a load of 130 pounds per superficial foot of footpath, and the roadway part must be equal on every part to carrying a moving load of 30 tons on two pairs of wheels. There will be Mareh 29, 1900 two lines of rails, and the bridge must sustain a train on each line equal to the weight of three heavy engines and tenders (110 tons), with a length of 55 feet, and an axle load on drivers of 18 tons, followed by loaded trucks the distributed load of which latter is to be taken at 1% tons per lineal foot. The whole of the selected designs become the absolute property of the N. 8S. W. Government, and that each de- sign must be accompanied by general and detail draw- ings and strain sheets, a complete specification describ- ing the kind of materials proposed to be used, the strains to which these will be subjected, and the class of work- isa ak pis VHT as Ii (c = hy i A Tia | pp ee De) Nye \ me THE IRON AGE. 3 The American Rolling Mill Company. With an authorized capital stock of $350,000, the American Rolling Mill Company have been incorporated for the purpose of operating a new steel sheet rolling mill plant at Middletown, Ohio. Those actively identi- fied with the enterprise are George M. Verity, at present vice-president and general manager of the American Steel Roofing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, who will be president of the new company; R. C. Phillips of the same company, who will be secretary; W. T. Simpson, formerly Fig. 3.—Blanking Press for Use with Largest Drop Press. manship to be adopted, and a detailed estimate of the cost of the work, including construction and erection complete, with a statement of the time required for com- pletion. Every person submitting a design and tender must satisfy the Government of his ability to carry out the work in the time mentioned in the event of the Govern- ment, within six months after receipt of the designs, de- siring to proceed with the work. The Government re- serves the right to publicly exhibit all designs, and un- dertakes to return, free of cost, all designs not awarded premiums. The designs are to be judged by the leading architects and engineers of the New South Wales Public Works and Railway departments. [A set of these designs has been received by us, and can be examined in the office of The Iron Age.—EpI1Tor.] of the American Galvanizing Company, Cincinnati, who will be vice-presideut. Major H. P. Lloyd, president of the American Steel Rooting Company, will be a large stockholder and a director in thenew rolling mill company. Mr. Verity will divide his tine between the mills at Mid- dletown and the factory at Cincinnati. The plant will be erected upon a 15-acre site, which the new company have acquired, adjoining the Middle- town & Cincinnati Railroad, and will have direct switch- ing arrangements with the Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis & Chicago and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton railroads. In point of construction the new plant will be thor- oughly modern in every particular. The main building, in which will be installed four 26-inch sheet mills of the latest type and equipped with electric traveling cranes and other modern appliances, will be 300 x 128 feet, con- 4 structed entirely of steel and iron; a brick warehouse and galvanizing shop will be 200 x 50 feet; the boiler, engine house and gas producer buildings will aggregate 185 x 45 feet. These, together with a one and one-half story brick office building, will comprise the principal struc- tures, for which the foundations have already been com- menced. All of the principal machinery required has been con- tracted for, some of which has been in course of con- struction for weeks past, and it is expected that the en- tire plant will be in readiness for operating not later than August 1 next. The company will utilize producer gas as fuel for both their. heating and annealing furnaces and will install their own electric light and power plant. The latter will operate the traveling cranes and small machinery by means of independent motors attached. A large proportion of the production of the mills— namely, steel and galvanized sheets, from 30 to 10 gauge —will be taken by the American Steel Roofing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, while the remainder will be made up in merchantable sizes to suit the requirements of the trade. All of the principals connected with the new enter- prise are familiar with the business, having been ac- tively engaged in similar lines for many years, and they state that the present organization has not been effected for the purpose of antagonizing any existing interests along the lines they have set out, but wholly with the view of supplying the demands of the American Steel Roofing Company, at Cincinnati, and the trade, as well as for the profits to be derived from the production of an exceedingly high grade of sheet steel and galvanized Fig. 4.—Lower Die. THE LARGEST DROP sheets, which they will be able to offer by virtue of ex- perienced management and the assistance of the most modern appliances obtainable. Shenango and Beaver Valley Notes. The American Axe & Tool Company are making ex- tensive improvements at their plant at Beaver Falls, Pa. A large stock of axes, damaged in the recent fire at Jamestown, N. Y., will be made over at Beaver Falls. The New Castle Traction Company are about to make trial of a new gas making process in their Lawrence Gas Works, at New Castle, Pa. The plant is being erected by the Stevens Gas Machinery Company, and it is quite confidently promised that the new machinery will make a much better showing of gas produced from a ton of coal than any other gas process. The machin- ery is to be fully tested by the Traction Company, and if the test is satisfactory a plant will be erected at New Castle to build gas plant machinery for the Stevens proc- ess. The experimental plant is being built in Cincinnati. A plant to make paint from the cast off acid and refuse of the tin mills is being proposed by capitalists at New Castle. Large additions will shortly be made to the Baldwin & Graham Stove Works at New Castle, now owned by the Pittsburgh Stove & Range Company. The Shelby Steel Tube Company have entirely dis- mantled their large mill at New Castle, Pa., and it is reported that the buildings may shortly be acquired by the Pittsburgh Stove & Range Company. The industrial situation is very promising in the She- nango and Beaver valleys. All the mills which are run- ning are making good records, and nearly all are in operation. The spring and summer business will be very brisk and at good prices. The railroads are making ex- tensive improvements in their tracks, and improvements are also being made at many of the mills and furnaces. THE IRON AGE. March 29, 1900 At New Wilmington, Pa., an electric lighting plant wil) be erected by the borough and a steam heating plant is being considered. The strike of the machinists at New Castle has been settled and the scale of wages fixed at $3 per day. Frank O. Mason, superintendent of the New Castle Traction Company, died on the 22d, of typhoid fever. He had previously been superintendent of the Beaver Falls Traction Company and was most capable in every line of electricity. . _ _ Important Tube Suit at Pittsburgh. Papers were filed in the office of the clerk of the United States Circuit Court at Pittsburgh on the 19th inst., in two most important actions, in which considera- ble sums of money are involved. In one the Shelby Steel Tube Company are the plaintiffs, and ask for damages of $150,000, in addition to the confiscation of much valuable machinery, and an injunction against Henry G. Wasson of Beaver Falls, Pa., on the ground of his infringing certain patents that the Shelby Com- pany claim to have exclusive rights to use. In this ac- tion the plaintiffs allege that Henry G. Wasson, as trus- tee, is engaged in manufacturing seamless metallic tubes in Beaver Falls, but say that they do not know whom he is acting for. It is further alleged that the plaintiffs own certain patents which they secured from Ralph C. Stiefel, of Ellwood City, Pa., who invented new and useful improvements for enlarging metallic tubes. The patents mentioned were granted in 1898, and have been the basis for the greater portion of the work the Shelby Fig. 5.—Sheet Metal Casket. PRESS FOR WORKING SHEET METAL. Company have turned out. They say that the defend- ant. has been using the patents, or substantial and mate- rial parts of them, in the manufacture of machinery in Beaver Falls, in direct violation of the law governing the same, and that thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery and material has been sold by the defendant in the course of his business during the time that the Shelby Company have owned the patents. The plaintiffs ask the court to confiscate all the machines and material made by the defendant in the alleged illegal manner, and fur- ther that an injunction be granted against Mr. Wasson to prevent him from continuing the use of the said pat- ents, that they be awarded the profits that he has made from the manufacture of material in the alleged illegal manner, and that damages be given them in the sum of $150,000, which they claim to have suffered from the infringement on their patents. On the same day the same plaintiffs filed papers in a suit against the Atlan- tic Tube Company in the United States Circuit Court of New Jersey, in which similar damages are asked. It is stated that it is the Atlantic Tube Company who will be made the principal defendants in the suits, though other suits are to be brought in other parts of the country as soon as papers can be prepared. _ —— A Record-Breaking Rail Output.—The world’s record for ee out steel Sas was suate broken at the plant of the Illinois Steel Company on the 22d inst., wheD the day shift put out 1442 tons in 12 hours. The pre- vious record for 12 hours was 1391 tons. Following the breaking of the world’s record the night shift turned out 1235 tons, making a total for 24 hours of 2677 tons. During the 24 hours the rolls were shut down 1 hour and 57 minutes. Nearly all the leading local officials of the company were present to witness the smashing of the record, and they speak in the highest terms of praise of the men instrumental in demonstrating that the rail mil of the Illinois Steel Company’s South works is the fast- est in the world. March 29, 1900 The Competitors for the World’s Iron Markets in 1899, BY J. S. JEANS, In view of the recent and hitherto highly successful appearance of the United States in the arena of the world’s iron markets, it is interesting, now that the com- plete figures are available, to compare the achievements of the principal competitive countries in exporting iron and steel during the year 1899. Practically the competi- tion is limited to five countries—Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, and the United States. These coun- tries produced in 1899 a total of 31,991,512 tons of pig iron, which is more than 80 per cent. of the total make of iron throughout the world in the same year. But they supply neutral markets to the extent of nearly 95 per cent. of this whole iron import trade, and indeed no other countries can be regarded as engaged in the business of exportation, if we except Sweden, Austria-Hungary and to a much smaller extent Russia and Italy. In the near future there is likely to be a closer race between the three most important nations named in the group—name- ly, Great Britain, Germany and the United States. One of the most interesting details elicited by a com- parison of the exports of iron in 1899 is the fact that Great Britain continues to be the chief exporter of crude descriptions, having exported in that year a total of 1,379,296 tons, against 1,042,853 tons in the previous year. The United States holds the second rank, after Great Britain, as a pig iron exporting country, but a long way off, and the distance was materially increased in the past year. The third rank is held by Germany, and the fourth by France, but it is to pe noted that in 1899 the pig iron exports of Great Britain exceeded by over 100 per cent. those of all the other important iron producing countries in the world put together. The ex- planation is not difficult. Most of the furnaces of Great Britain are directly on the seaboard, and freights are low to the principal markets, especially to those of Ger- many, Felgium, France and Scandinavia, which are the principal pig importing countries, and which find it diffi- cult if not impossible, to themselves make pig iron so cheaply as it can be imported from the British iron making ceuters of Cardiff, Middlesbro’, Glasgow and Workington. The details of pig exports are appended: Total Exports of Pig Iron from Leading Countries in 1899, Compared With 1898. 1898. 1899, Country. Tons Tons. WO MIUE ccccccntccacccucsedsccntccescs SEEN 228,640 3 a ee re 1,042,853 1,379,296 SOREL EN eg A ne 187,375 182,091 PTA555adecbatvsennndexacteckubseneseccss 2OQTEE 154,012 BOMGIUM.......... cecersecccccensesceseccers 16,557 13,240 Sas bs ocaxheeanns desea’ evceesescecccese: NOt yet ascertained When we come to analyze the returns of the exports of manufactured iron and steel from the same countries we find that Great Britain not only continues to lead by a very iong way, but that the exports of that country are the only exports of the kind that have materially in- creased in 1899. <A total increase of 136,823 tons in the British exports under these heads has been met by a de- crease of 200,624 tons in the corresponding exports of other countries. Germany alone has fallen off to the ex- tent of 113,149 tons, although the make of pig iron has been more than 500,000 tons in excess of the make of the previous year. This notable decline on the part of other countries i$ mainly attributable to the enormous home demands of these countries. It is computed that Germany will have produced about 7,000,000 tons of fin- ished and semifinished iron and steel in 1899, and as only 1,322,882 tons of the quantity has been exported, it would appear that about 5,750,000 tons remained for lo- cal consumption—a figure far in excess of the local con- sumption of any other country in Europe. In Great Brit- ain the output of steel and finished iron in 1899 has been approximately as under: Tons. een 2,950,000 MMI chia iad acs" Lcandig’) soowacaccake onedas 1,750,000 NN TI, TO UN ii ee oe gs . 5,950,000 This, it will be observed, is quite 1,000,000 tons under the computed make of Germany, and as the total export of finished materials from Great Britain was about 1,000,000 tons in excess of that of the Fatherland, it would seem that the home consumption of the British Islands, though larger than usual, was yet approximately about 2,000,000 tons less than that of Germany in the year re- cently closed. It need hardly be added that the increase of German home consumption has been greatly in excess of that of any previous year. Up to the present time there are not at command any statistics of the total output of finished iron and steel by THE IRON AGE. 5 the countries for which we have already ascertained that in 1899 there was a pig iron production of 31,991,512 tons, but as only about 2,000,000 tons in all were exported from these countries as pig iron, the balance of nearly 30,000,000 tons must presumably have been worked up in thesame countries into steel, manufactured iron and foun- dry products. Of this remainder less than 5,000,000 tons were exported as finished iron and steel, the greater part of it—not less than 2,338,320 tons—from Great Britain. This quantity appears to be nearly five times as much as the corresponding exports of the United States in the same year, but it is hardly likely to be questioned that the American exports would have been very much larger but for the extraordinary urgency of home demands all through 1889, which prevented American manufacturers from giving that attention to foreign markets that they would certainly have done under other conditions. The comparative figures follow: Exports of Finished Iron and Steel from Leading Countries in 1899, Compared With 1898. 1898. 1899. Country. Tons. Tons. United States........ 560,969 509,571 Ds « 0kccwesoageneveses wace Saud 2,201,497 2,338, CI con cdaninns coder ctntesceensiceddesess 1,435,981 1,322,832 Ws ch ehidandte shad ecdcondnanentt+tasenns 144,767 118,699 RE nc ccevan gudadcencedsehuNeemaceset , 6% 596, Sweden...... peed-udeavannuena adehVoesend \andewe Not yet available. One of the most marked features of the recent course of the steel trade has been the increased exports of un- worked steel in the form of blooms, billets and ingots, which have been distributed among outside countries, and more especially by the United Kingdom. A compar- ison of the figures of 1898 and 1899 shows that the United States, Germany and France distributed smaller quanti- ties of such commodities in 1899 than in the previous year, whereas Great Britain, on the contrary, largely in- creased her exports—namely, from 285,249 to 328,580 tons. It will be remembered that the American exporta- tion of unworked steel was in 1897-98 a prominent fea- ture of the trade, but owing to the increased demands of home industry since that date the quantities of blooms and billets of American manufacture sent into Great Britain have diminished, not only in the case of the United States, but in that of every other country except Great Britain, the details of the exports for the two years being as under: Exports of Unworked Steel from Leading Countries. 1899. Country. ‘rons. CF PIONS ovicivedcins éisvenedetnd dc teacee 25 605 Great Britain.......... 328,580 GOrmany....ccccccccees. 23,438 6a kntitaccesdas nerengdeieen b6teanes 15,524 cece eerescccccacecesscccecceneses 310 There is no commodity produced in our steel works on the same large scale as rails, and with reference to none has there been a keener competition since steel came to be manufactured by the Bessemer and open hearth proc- esses. Until a few years ago Great Britain had almost a monopoly of the foreign export trade in steel rails, Ger- many making an ineffective second. Some four or five years ago the United States entered the arena of foreign competition, and in 1898 succeeded in placing contracts in foreign markets to the extent of 301,903 tons, against 476,047 tons exported by Great Britain, while Germany made a bad third, with a total export of 154,642 tons, and Belgium made a still worse fourth, with a total export of $2,301 tons. Not a little curiously, in 1899 every steel rail exporting country except France—whose exports are insignficant—has reduced its foreign supplies of steel rails; but while Great Britain, Germany and Belgium have reduced their exports by only moderate quantities, the exports of the United States have been reduced. by about 40 per cent. It is perfectly obvious that the ex- planation of this large diminution is mainly the greater pressure of home demands, which left more limited quan- tities free for exportation; but it is also clear that, as the total rail exports of the five chief steel producing coun- tries in 1899 were about 140,000 tons less than in 1898, the quantity of steel rails consumed by the countries that depend on imports was materially less in the former than in the latter year. On the other hand, the consumption of rails in the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France, as well as in Russia, Austria-Hun- gary and other European countries, was certainly larger in 1899 than in the previous year. The details of the exports are appended: Exports of Rails from Leading Countries. 1898. 1899. Country. Tons. Tons. DEEL... ..coddmatkecenee Seba chee uses ,903 177,714 United Kingdom................ RAF AE 476,047 472 672 CNN Lo cucmebeseeihadeaeaccecens mete 54,642 140,196 France.... 7,971 15,846 i ntnitcccrudceesissatruerateaeianeuens $2,301 73,645 Next to rails, the finished commodities of which the largest quantities are produced in the steel mills of the world as a whole are plates and sheets, and the total ex- ports of these commodities from the five leading coun- tries already tabulated were in 1899 considerably larger than the total exports of rails, aggregating a total of about 1,000,000 tons against a total rail export of only about 880,000 tons. In this branch of commerce Great Britain appears to hold a stronger position than any other nation, her aggregate plate and sheet exports in 1899 having been 691,062 tons, against 157,746 tons ex- ported by Germany, 91,477 tons exported by Belgium, and 56,965 tons exported by the United States. Great Britain, moreover, as the following figures show, im- proved her position in 1899 to a larger extent than any other country: Exports of Sheets and Plates from Leading Countries in 1899, Compared With 1898. 1898. 1899, Country. Tons. Tons DL cn) <coubieadehipas seecgechen 31,587 , PR, sup bevkndbsccnapnessiecearees 637,068 691,( 62 DT ¢6ebotivsbenhibsunces onbecbabcbuses 157,804 157,746 Di ccgns aybnibweheteenénussesess >e8kaaes 5,869 5,103 IN, cans wie snsis dos Edens <beskeopebebsonbne 79,340 91,477 The last finished product in respect of which a com- parison of the exports of 1899 is possible is that de- scribed as wire, but herein a curious lapse of the British Board of Trade in classifying telegraph wire with elec- trical apparatus, and entering it by value only, tends to vitiate the accuracy of the statistics. The total wire ex- ports returned for Great Britain in 1899 amounted to 49,253 tons, and it is believed that if telegraph wire be added the grand total would be about 100,000 tons. Against this we have an export of 157,314 tons for Ger- many, 11,634 tons for the United States and 74387 tons for Belgium. France is only a very small exporter. In comparing these figures, the relatively large exports of wire nails and wire rods by the United States should not be overlooked, nor should it be forgotten that American wire exports under all heads are rapidly increasing. Here are the available figures: Exports of Wire from Leading Countries in 1899, Compared With 1898. 1898. 1899. Country. Tons. Tons. eee OT CO ETT 7,467 11,634 Sy Sra cnindnccnnsedanedeesieebasess 44,123 49,253 SEN banni en s>00006ubsnn0eoebenns exapeene 191,166 157,314 DDL ccnubisenadeetvtssecbehe ebeetbabunes 3,706 3,319 Pose occichnecechsbsceshachkhebcnues 5,023 7,437 It is unfortunate that there are no figures on record whereby it would be possible to make a comparison of the experts of structural steel as such. So far as can be ascertained, the United States is coming more rapidly to the front in this respect than any other country. Bel- gium, among European countries, has made a special fea- ture of the manufacture and export of beams, pillars, girders, &c., and has hitherto exported of such manu- factures from 100,000 to 150,000 tons a year, of which 75,000 to 80,000 tons have been received by England alone. No separate returns are issued of the British exports under this head, but they are understood to be small. A much less important, but still interesting rec- ord, is that of the quantities of scrap, or old material, exported, and this is shown in the next table:. Exports of Old or Scrap Iron and Steel in 1899, Compared With 1898. 1898. 1899, Country. Tons, Tons. United States 73,845 76,632 Great Britain ‘ 116,400 San naseseuessese she cessescesessce 68,000 53,103 TY 2s tonite iuknehecube douse kebestemeaheesron No returns available. I knncvenshSnestnsssesssecnssSene eose 22,350 31,473 Before finally leaving the matter of exports, it is in- teresting to put on record, if only as a matter of statistics, the comparative exports of tin plates in each of the years 1898 and 1899. It will be observed that in respect of the branch of exports Great Britain still holds the field, Germany coming second, with an item of only 10,500 tons, while France, Belgium and the United States are practically of no account. The British tin plate manu- facturers look forward to keeping their export trade all the better that they have of late done much to improve the condition of production, and whatever the future may have in store, it is clear that up to the present time no Continental country has seriously challenged British tin plate supremacy. Exports of Tin Plates from Leading Countries in 1898 and 1899, 1898. 1899. Country. Tons, Tons. United States..... 00: 25h ones see cecceseaseees 46 133 *Great Britain.............. eet bebbonnneh > 250,953 256,629 posmany. palbs ob on nh one652 05006002560 80000505 —_ —— 8000 pose a unneccthcnensedenecesoccsccs 987 Rc. ciahianpiteuas ksdnkenbavaekeye: ao 1,430 1,423 * The figures given for Great Britain do not include black plates for tinning, of which 58,327 tons were exported in 1898 and 85,567 tons in 1899. Both black and tin plates are included in the table of exports of plates and sheets. 6 THE IRON AGE. March 29, 1900 I do not propose to carry this comparison further. in the meantime there is not a single item in any one of these tables that does not admit of much explanation and comment as to why certain countries manage to cul- tivate certain markets more successfully than others, or again, as to how certain branches of export tend to be- come associated with certain localities, but that must be left for another occasion. _— ae Pacific Coast News. San FRAnNcisco, March 19, 1900.—Naturally the first object of interest to a Pacific Coast business man of any and every class, but more particularly to those for whose benefit The Iron Age lives, moves and has its being, is the approaching visit of the Interstate Commissioners. They will hold a sitting at Los Angeles on March 27, and at San Francisco on April 2.. The trade of the coast will be represented by some of its most prominent members, and not the least prominent of these will be the representa- tives of the hardware trade. They represent with their co-workers in other lines not only the trade of the coast, but also that of a great part of the Atlantic States and of the South, in fact, of every section save alone the Middle West. If the Pacific Coust was an important manufacturing section the outcome would be to a great degree indiffer- ent to her business wen. But manufactures on this coast, especially in iron in its various forms, are in their infancy, and if the new contention of St. Louis, Chicago, &e., could be carried out to its logical conclusion our struggling industries would soon have the life crushed out of them. Nominal differentials and graded rates would if they could be enforced either kill the jobbing trade and aim a deadly blow at the retail trade or they would convert the large jobbers into retailers them- selves. In the case of raw materials, such as pig iron, the graded rate would render it impossible with rail- road transportation for our foundrymen or machinists to compete, especially since the increased duties have practically closed the market on this side to all but American pig. It would operate similarly where bar or sheet iron, &c., is the raw material of manufacture. Hence the war of the united trade organizations of the coast against the attempt to establish the new order of things. The consensus of opinion among the merchants and manufacturers is to make this a square fight on principle and right, asking no advantage and giving none. The representatives of the jobbing trade say, and in this they but voice the sentiments of the hardware and iron trade of the whole coast, as follows: “The trade of the coast, wholesale and jobbing, is a matter of half a century’s growth. Those who first established it were pioneers of civilization ; in every sense of the word. They established cities and towns for the benefit of the miner and the agriculturist, and through their enterprise and capi- tal both mining and farming were rendered possible on a scale never before tried in a new community. They risked everything they had on the new deal with their source of supply 18,000 miles away, and their merchan- dise exposed to the dangers of a four months’ voyage, in part over the most stormy and dangerous seas in the world, and their market frequently a shifting one, as ohne mining camp became deserted and another was established scores of miles away. They had to deal on sea and land with transportation prablems that on ac- count of the expense were almost impossible of soiution. But they overcame all obstacles successfully, the result being the establishment of our magnificent Pacific em- ire. , “What share had St. Louis, or Chicago, or Kansas City in all this? None. And yet they come in at the eleventh hour and complain, with no foundation in fact, that they are excluded from a market that they had no share in establishing. Of course the mere fact that we have helped to establish this market gives us no right to a monopoly in it, but it does give us a claim for fair treatment. And it is not fair to attempt to abolish at once the usages and agreements of more than a quarter of a century. The postage stamp rate has been in exist- ence as a result of our command of the sea, and of our agreement to give the railroads business instead of send- ing it by sailing vessel or steamship, on the understand- ing that we were to have those rates to which our po- sition entitled us. : “And now come St. Louis, Chicago and their sister cities and say we want your trade and we will see to it that your competition will avail you not. The rate per mile must begin at or near the Atlantic Coast and be multiplied by the number of miles the freight travels un- til it reaches tidewater on the Pacific. Of course this would simply stop shipping by rail altogether from the Atlantic Coast, or indeed from any but a Middle West March 29, 1900 point, except where circumstances were so favorable that the Middle West could under no conditions compete, and if enforced strictly it would shut out from competition all but the last great supply depot of the Middle West. St. Louis or Kansas City would do all the business that could be done by rail. And if the mileage rate was enforced aguinst New York, Boston and other Atlantic cities, it should be enforced against Chicago and all the other Middle West cities east of the line of st. Louis and Kansas City, too. The business would get down to that or to shipment by sea. “And knocking out the differential for the most part would result in driving the retail trade out of business. ‘he great department stores and catalogue houses would at once enter the field against the retailers, and in self defense our present jobbers would be obliged to adopt the same tactics. But what would become of the retail- ers, or what advantage would the consumer gain? Nay, what benefit would it be in the long run to the Middle West jobber himself? The competition inaugurated would make his profit a fast vanishing quantity, and the end would be that he would be obliged to confine him- self to his own field. “In this matter the Pacific jobber asks no favors. He bases his case on its justice and its accordance with commercial usages, and asks for nothing that is not en- joyed by every other American citizen. And his conten- tion in this case is not that his special interests are alone injured, but that those of all the people of the coast, whether jobber, retailer, consumer, or what not, are threatened. His welfare is bound up in that of his section. He supplies its capital, takes the initiative in a thousand enterprises conducive to its welfare, and is eagerly anxious by means of his money and influence to advance everything that may promote its welfare or de- velop its resources. “Remove him if you will from the scene of action, and a thousand sources of industry and activity will dry up, and the coast until developed anew will have little interest for jobbers either of the East or Middle West. If the latter cannot do business on the coast now, neither could they under any circumstances that I can conceive. I admire their industry and energy, but in this case they are misdirected.” There is a slight lull in business, but clearing house exchanges still continue to be largely in excess of those of the last or any other year. This is partly caused by the higher value of the goods sold—viz., hardware, iron and steel, &c.—and partly from the fact that this year’s crop prospects are good. A year ago the outlook for the farmer was very doubtful, indeed, and his purchases were on a very limited scale. The exports of the port are much larger than they were a year ago, and those of wheat and flour for a while have been very heavy, those of flour, when compared with those of last year at this time, especially so. J. 0. L. _ — James M, Swank. _ The current issue of the Protectionist continues its se- ries of articles on American champions of tariff protec- tion by publishing a portrait and biographical sketch of James M. Swank, general manager of the American Iron & Steel Association, Philadelphia. It is a distinction worthily bestowed. Mr. Swank’s devotion to the cause of protection has been practically lifelong, while his services have been of inestimable value to American manufacturing interests. Other men may have written more on the subject, but Mr. Swank has combined with rare literary ability the faculty of political management, through which theories and policies take practical shape in legislation. It is within the bounds of truth to say that at various critical periods in the tariff legislation of the past quarter of a century much lower duties would have been named on iron and steel but for the powerful assistance given by Mr. Swank to the advocates of ade- quately protective rates. Untiring in vigilance, fertile in resources, never admitting defeat until actually van- quished, he was a tower of strength to the cause of protection in one after another of the great tariff strug- gles of that most important period in our industrial de- velopment, when the foundations were broadened and deepened for our present proud position as the world’s leader in the iron and steel trades. His world-wide rec- ognition as an eminent statistical authority has been at- tained in the meantime by the application of the most painstaking methods in securing as accurate informa- tion as possible in the lines covered by the statistical work of the association which has so long flourished un- der his management. Mr. Swank is still in the harness with his vigor undiminished and his faculties unim- paired. _— . George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Company as donated $200,000 in cash to the Mechanics’ Institute of Rochester, N. Y. THE IRON AGE. The Victor Metals & Foundry Company. The brass and bronze foundry of the Victor Metals & Foundry Company, at Bast Braintree. Mass., is 125 feet long, 50 feet wide and 30 feet high, with monitor roof and skylights. It is equipped with all the newest ap- pliances, such as 10-ton traveling crane, together with an overhead trolley system for lifting and carrying the eruci- bles from the furnaces. The furnaces comprise five of 1000 and five of 600 pounds capacity and under. The foundry also contains a large brick core oven 10 feet high and numerous other necessary appliances. The whole floor space of over 6000 feet is concreted, so as to prevent any loss of metal. It is lighted by electricity throughout. The capacity of the foundry is 10 tons of metal a day. The main building is a two-story structure 60 feet long and 50 feet in width, which is used for of- fices and machine and polishing shops. The foundry is now busy on Government contracts and turning out all sizes of castings, from 1 ounce to 2 or 3 tons in weight. The company are sole owners and manufacturers of the Victor non-corrosive and acid proof metal. It is white and takes a polish equal if not superior to silver, will not rust or corrode, and its tensile strength as tested is about 48,000 pounds to the square inch, with an elastic limit of 18,000 pounds. Other specialties are the Azalea anti-friction metal and Victor manganese bronze. This bronze has been tested by the United States Government, and returns of tests recently made at the Watertown Arsenal showed 48,240 pounds tensile strength to the square inch, 23,600 pounds elastic limit and 4 inch elongation. The orders which the company receive for the Azalea anti-friction metal are a proof of its superior qualities, especially for high speed machinery. _— —— Central Pennsylvania Notes. HARRISBURG, Pa., March 26, 1900.—In a talk last week before the Board of Trade, The Iron Age correspondent, referring to tbe industrial development of Harrisburg during his residence of 17 years in this city, made use of some interesting figures. He showed that since 1883 the number of employees of the Pennsylvania Steel Works had increased from 2500 to nearly 7000, and that since that year the plant has increased from one blooming mill and rail. mill to the present large Bessemer depart- ment, witb 14 open hearth furnaces, a second blooming mill, a large slab mill, merchant and billet mills, bridge and construction department and frog, switch and signal depariment, now in process of enlargement by the erec- tion of an additional building. He showed that the value of the product turned out by the company to-day, not- withstanding the fact that prices are very much lower than in 1883, is probably three times as great. He fur- ther showed that In 1883 the capacity of the Central Iron & Steel Company was about 10,000 tons of plates, as against 120,000 tons last year. The same company em- ployed in 1883 about 150 men, as against 700 last year. During the same period a large universal mill has been erected, and all the other departments have been en- larged, so that the capacity of the concern now, with the addition of the P’axton Iron & Steel Company’s plant, is 150,000 tons. Officials of the Pennsylvania Steel Company do not appear to be seriously impressed with the charge of Richard P. Rothwell of the Engineering and Mining Jour- nal, to the effect that because of the great demand for steel rails the mills of the country are turning out an in- ferior quality of rails, containing a percentage of phos- phorus sufficient to make the rails dangerous. In fact they characterize it as the veriest rot. One of them stated to-day that in view of the fact that the name of the maker is invariably stamped on each rail turned out it would be the hight of foolishness for a company to manufacture what Mr. Rothwell alludes to as high phosphorus rails. ‘ Every rail that goes out of the mills of the Pennsylvania Steel Works,” said he, “ is inspected by the representative of the company for whom it is made, and while he may not make an analysis of the materials entering into the composition of each particular rail he is supposed to be an expert in-this line and not easily deceived into accepting a brittle or defective rail. The Pennsylvania Steel Company have a reputation as makers of superior rails to maintain, and are not engag- ing in any such practices. The company are now finish- ing. a 90,000-ton order for steel rails for the Trans-Si- berian Railroad, and have strong expectation of securing another large order from the Russian Government, which expresses itself as well pleased with the rails supplied last year on this order.” ; The Pennsylvania Steel Company have been rather unfortunate in having vessels carrying consignments of their manufactured product wrecked hefore reaching their destinations. Mention has been made of the loss of the freighter carrying a lot of steel frogs for a new un- 8 THE IRON AGE. derground trolley road in Paris, which order was obliged to be duplicated in about ten days, and is now on the high seas. A few days ago the company were notified of the loss of another vessel taking 1600 tons of steel rails to Havana for a street railway in that city. Both these cargoes were insured to their full value. Their plant at Steelton continues busy, and several departments are considerably behind in their orders. Work is progressing satisfactorily on the new additions to the plant. About half of the new machine shop is completed, and founda- tion work on the big frog, switch and signal department has been commenced. The company have advertised the frame buildings on the site of the proposed new office building for sale. They must be removed by May I, when work on the new structure will be commenced. The bricklayers are working on new open hearth and heating furnaces. Over 100 names were added to the pay roll last week. A new shifting engine has been added to the yard equipment. General Manager Campbell was in Washington Friday testifying before a Congressional committee. President Felton is recovering from his at- tack of quinsy at his home at Overbrook. The car serv- ice has been rather unsatisfactory, and shipments have been delayed in consequence. By April 10 the old plant of the Harrisburg Foundry & Machine Works will have been entirely abandoned, and thenceforth operations will be confined to the new plant in West Harrisburg, every department of which is now in practically full operation. The: company have lately booked quite a number of contracts for engines. All departments of the Lalance & Grosjean Mfg. Com- pany’s plant continue in full operation, and will likely keep busy throughout the summer. Manager E. Stan- ford has been under treatment at a Philadelphia hospital for several weeks, but is expected to return to his duties this week. Inquiries are reported as increasing at the Harris- burg Boiler & Mfg. Works, and several large contracts are in progress of negotiation. A new foundry will shortly be erected at this plant. The Harrisburg Pipe & Pipe Bending Company have completed the construction of their new pipe mill, and are now installing the machinery. It will be put in op- eration May 15, and will employ 100 additional men. The company recently shipped coils for a large ice ma- ao plant to Havana. Inquiries are reported fairly sk. Gilbert M. McCauley. general manager of the Central Iron & Steel Company. has been reappointed chairman of the Committee on Manufactures of the Harrisburg Board of Trade. Mr. McCauley has always taken an ac-