The Iron Age 1910-06-16: Vol 85 Iss 24

tie Established 1855 Published Every Thursday by the DAVID WILLIAMS COMPANY 14-16 Park Place, New York Entered at the New York Post Office, as Second Class Mail Matter. Subscription Price, United States and Mexico, $5.00 Ai ; to Canada, $7.50 per Annum; to ( Foxeign, Countries, $10.00 per ieee, Cares T. Roor, - - - - - PRESIDENT CHARLES KIRCHHOFF, - - - - - VicE-P&EsIDENT W. H. Taycor, - - TREASURER AND GENERAL MANAGER Harovo S. BuTTENHEIM, - - - - - SECRETARY Geo. W. Core, - - - - - \ eorrons A. |. Finovey, - - - a - H. R. Cosreicn, - - . - - MECHANICAL EDITOR Branch Offices Philadelphia, Real Estate Trust Building Chicago, Fisher Building Pittsburgh, Park Building Cleveland, American Trust Building Boston, Compton Building Cincinnati, Metcantile Library Bidg. CONTENTS. PAGE Editorial : Moderate Activity in Finished Steel................ 1407 Vitality of the Valley Furnaces..............cceces 1408 Getting the Best Results from Men................ 1409 Profit Sharing and Leased Machinery............... 1409 Panama Lock Gates Bids Opened..............ccceeeees 1410 A New Steel Record at Pueblo...........c.ccccucecees 1410 Work on Duluth Steel Plant to Proceed at Once.......... 1410 we eee TOME BKVOCIROUER o.oo b a ws aes ce kab iva wee 1411 Causes of the Increased Cost of Living................. 1412 The Garland Corporation’s Industrial Town............ 1412 The Iron and Metal Markets Reports............. 1413 to 1422 ES PO NE UODOUR 5 aces wae cc sevedebn eiocle an 1422 MON Meee iwi i eae 1422 National Gas and Gasoline Engine Trades Association.... 1423 A New Factory for the Cooper Hewitt Electric Company.. 1423 OPMOUURD onc sinks so 1 vc bes cee s.cak ok be - Kaden en cs 1424 American Equipment at the Buenos Ayres Exposition.... 1424 The Machinery Markets Reports..............4.45 1425 to 1435 To Make Balata Belting in the United States............ 1435 PEIN, 670 GUNS Ys OR eG ke Tae eee eRare tar sees cece tenes 1436 The International Steam Pump Company................ 1436 The Steam Engineers’ Convention................0..-5- 1437 Co-operative Engineering Courses at Pittsburgh.......... 1437 German Aerostat-Destroying Guns. Illustrated.......... 1438 ON og a's Uns o iin.o- ars: 6 Gdiw Seal ob oe b oe ¥en wale 1439 m New Idea ty Portable Tracks. . 2.2... 5. ee ee ce ech 1439 I Sava i i eatin 5 plas 1439 The Personal Equation in Accidents.................... 1440 The Standard Screw Company. ..............dccacecess 1441 cee liistry and Cupola Practice... .... ic. secacecccces 1441 American Brake Shoe & Foundry Company Finances...... 1442 Specificatiens for Foundry Coke.................0.000- 1443 Street Railroad Development..........5........cceeceee 1444 Dominion Iror & Steel Company, Ltd................... 1444 A New Open Hearth Steel Plant........... OS eaGe a «acai 1444 See ape OF CMO BOCK SINS «ui. 6s ic 4 ea Uh cebu vac wae 1445 The Foundrymen’s Conventions at Detroit. Portrait..... 1446 The Pacific Coast Labor Situation..................... 1452 Large Gas Engines in Steel Works. Illustrated.......... 1453 Thin-Lined Blast Furnaces. Illustrated................. 1458 The Bridgeport Safety Emery Wheel Company Reorganized 1459 A Stoever Rapid Pipe Threading Machine. Illustrated.... 1460 Machinery and Tools in Russia. Illustrated............ 1461 The Jacobs Mfg. Company and Its Employees........... 1464 The Bickford & Washburn Open Die. Tlustrated......... 1464 The Kennedy Newtype Gate Valve. Illustrated.......... 1465 The Westinzhouse Machine Company’s Earnings......... 1465 rn 200 Saeeet SCI, ., . 1, oe cede meh pam sbeee e 1465 The Oxy-Acetylene Welding Process. Illustrated......... 1466 The New Underwood Pipe Bending Machine, Illustrated.. 1469 The Roto Boiler Tube Cleaner Head. Illustrated....:.... 1470 A Large Mesta Helander Condenser. Illmstrated........ » 1471 A Motor Drive Improved with Rawhide Pinions. Ilus.... 1471 ne: PERIOD. 5 0 oom Uda bi 6 o:0.00s amen hh cmee eis 1472 New York, June 16, 1910 THE IRON AGE — Vou 85: No. 24 Moderate Activity | in . Finished Steel Lower Prices on Northern Pig Iron Further Car and Locomotive Orders—Record Tin Plate Production The first half of June has brought more new busi- ness to the books of the large producers of finished steel than the corresponding period in May, yet the failure of demand to measure up to capatity is still the com- manding feature of the-situation. Pig iron has touched new low levels in the past week, and that market is pay- ing little attention to the periodic announcements that costs of certain producers have been reached on the way down. The surprising thing in this connection is that the furnaces which cannot stand the pace are not blowing out. Competition for the few large pig iron orders that have come out has been particularly sharp among Northern furnaces. Most Southern sellers seem to be holding to $12, Birmingham, for fourth quarter iron, while $11.50 is commonly done for June and third quarter delivery. Sales of foundry iron in New Eng- land have attracted attention for the low level reached, one 10,000-ton lot bringing out a cut of 50c. below re- cent prices. In the Pittsburgh district a purchase of 15,000 tons of No. 2 foundry and forge by one interest was at the lowest price of the year, and for the forge iron the lowest price in 12 months. Of steel making iron 15,000 tons was bought by a Shenango Valley steel foundry on a sliding scale. A producer of crucible steel is in the market for 15,000 to 20,000 tons of basic for the year beginning July 1. Reports persist that Bessemer billets have sold at $25, Pittsburgh, but the usual minimum is $25.50, while open hearth billets are held at $28. Further evidences appear of concessions on struc- tural material and plates. New business in both lines is rather better, but in Eastern markets, particularly in eastern Pennsylvania, more aggressiveness has been shown by one or two interests. The Kentucky and In- diana bridge at Louisville, 15,000 tons; the M. K. & T. bridge, 3000 tons, and steel buildings for the Interna- tional Harvester Company, 3000 tons, are the prin- cipal contracts awarded. A considerable tonnage will be required for the new steel plant at Duluth, which the United States Steel Corporation has decided to build as rapidly as possible. The June total of struc- tural steelipromises to exceed that for May, which was greater than that for May, 1909. ee Between 30,000 and 40,000 tons of plates have been 1408 taken by Pittsburgh and Eastern mills for gas and oil pipe lines in the West. Bids have just been opened at Washington for the construction of the Panama Canal lock gates, which will require about 57,000 tons of plates and other riveted work. The Baltimore & Ohio has ordered 2500 cars, and is in the market for 2000 to 3000 all steel coke cars and 2000 to 5000 steel underframe box cars. The Haw- ley lines have inquired for 5000 cars. The largest locomotive orders announced this week are 65 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and 85 for the Harri- man lines. In sheets there is some falling off in demand and competition is sharper. The premiums recently asked for blue annealed electric and stamping sheets have disappeared. June‘is expected to make a new record in tin plate production. A total of 33 new hot mills have been put in operation in recent weeks by independent producers. Copper has declined further, but at 12.50c. for elec- trolytic there has been little buying. Imports for June thus far have been almost equal to exports, and there are no signs of a better equilibrium between production and consumption. Vitality of the Valley Furnaces Prices recently made by Mahoning and Shenango valley furnaces have drawn attention to the competi- tive position, for these prices are below the cost of pro- duction to furnaces which must buy their coke and ore in the open market. In some quarters it is even said that “the day of the merchant furnace in the valleys is over.” We quote the words because a similar sug- gestion was being made with confidence in the late nineties, but was promptly tabled by the boom of 1899, which gave the valley furnaces about $25 for some of their iron. The valley furnaces have had an interesting career, and, on the whole, a prosperous one, although as in other branches of the iron trade there have been many wrecks. The third directory compiled by the American Iron and Steel Association, and the first, under the managemént of Mr. Swank, appeared in 1874. It lists for the Shenango Valley 31 blast furnaces, and for the Mahoning Valley 28, a total of 59. Our present list shows 20 for the Shenango and 22 for the Mahoning Valley, a total of 42. The decrease in course, is not out of keeping with the general trend of number, of the industry, for the average output per furnace has increased more rapidly than the total output of the The directory of 1874 listed 681 blast fur- Our list of coke and anthracite furnaces, used in compiling the monthly report of production, con- tains 413 furnaces, while the American Iron and Steel Association’s last report showed 49 charcoal furnaces in existence December 31 last, making a total of 462 furnaces in existence now, as compared with 681 in 1874. The valley pig iron market has declined steadily, although slowly, since last: November. The passage into a new ore season, with prices 50 cents a ton above those of 1908 and 1909, has not served to arrest or even retard the decline, and the result has been that country. naces. THE IRON AGE June 16, 1910 prices in some recent transactions are held to repre- sent an actual loss of approximately $1 a ton to fur- naces which must buy their ore and coke in the open market. There are valley furnaces which are strictly in that position, and there are others which own out- right and operate coke and ore properties, either or both, sufficient for their entire requirements. Of these latter there are relatively few, but between the ex- tremes there are a number of furnace operations which have various degrees of interest in ore. Each, then, has its own basis of cost. To assume a case, and avoid suggestive figures, a furnace may have a quarter im- If it draws its entire supply from that mine, and there is a loss of Io cents a ton in making pig iron and a profit of 20 cents a ton in min- terest in an ore mine. ing ore, it breaks even, for, while it loses 1o cents on the ton of pig iron, there is a profit of 40 cents in the two tons of ore involved, and of this 40 cents it re- ceives 10 cents. The vitality of the valleys as a pig iron producing district has been due to their very advantageous geo- graphical position, as they are almost in the center of the most important pig iron consuming territory in the world. Repeatedly they have suffered losses of trade which to districts having fewer channels of dis- tribution would have been fatal, only to find customers in a new direction. Within the space of two years in the middle eighteen-nineties the Carnegie Steel Com- pany bought the two Carrie furnaces and built and blew in the four Duquesne furnaces, and from being a large and regular buyer became a small and occa- sional buyer. Other large buyers appeared and dis- appeared. The Ohio Steel Company at Youngstown made steel from 1895 to 1900 from purchased valley pig iron, having no furnaces of its own until the later year. The Johnson Company at Lorain, Ohio, made steel from 1895 to 1899 without furnaces of its own, in a period when there was only one merchant fur- nace on the lake front of Ohio, so that naturally it was a large user of valley iron. These and other steel works customers of the val- leys disappeared by the beginning of the present cen- tury. They have been replaced in large part by the basic open hearth steel works which have sprung up in tributary territory, while other Bessemer steel works have appeared as buyers, only to disappear again. Thus the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company began making steel in August, 1906, from outside pig iron, but having built two blast furnaces has now completed a third and commenced the erection of a fourth. The Republic Iron & Steel Company was for years a fairly steady buyer, but its purchases have now dwindled to almost insignificant proportions. The spectacular pur- chases in the second half of last year of these and other companies, like Lackawanna, Cambria and Jones & Laughlin, are not likely to be repeated, but it is by no means a new experience for the valleys to lose im- portant custom. In the foundry iron trade the valleys have met fresh competition of an important character in the last few years, particularly by the building of merchant furnaces on the shore of Lake Erie. These have served to pre- vent the valleys from penetrating to New England ter- ritory as they formerly could. The railroads are known to be quite expert in ad- justing freight rates to the profitableness of the busi- ness, and the rates charged the valleys therefore sug- June 16, 1910 gest a high state of prosperity. On Connellsville coke the valleys pay practically 1 cent per net ton-mile, and on ore from Lake Erie about 1 cent per gross ton-mile ; while pig iron from the valleys to Cleveland and Pitts- burgh commands almost 1% cents per gross ton-mile. Another suggestion of a view that the valleys are well able to pay was furnished by the case of divisions to terminal railroads. When those divisions flourished there was not a blast furnace in Allegheny County which did. not have its terminal railroad, receiving a very comfortable “ division ’—which was practically a rebate—while divisions to terminal railroads in the valleys were practically unknown. Getting the Best. Results from Men The Japanese have a saying, which, like many Japa- nese things, is doubtless of exceeding antiquity, that To get the best results from men, overlook little faults in them. Maxims such as this throw light on human nature, opening up a vast deal of matter well worth sober re- flection. The complexities and the ever differing phases it presents to us are bewildering. Most of our “big men’”’ will unreservedly admit that their success is attributable in great measure to an understanding of their fellow men, especially of those whose behavior they control to a greater or less extent. When we engage the services of a “human ma- chine,” we always have certain duties laid out which the newcomer is expected to undertake, and we try to get the best man for the place. _Having engaged him, we set him to work and anxiously watch results. Has he ordinary or exceptional intelligence? Is he ener- getic, careful, calm under trying circumstances? In short, has he the right sort of stuff in him? If not, we look elsewhere. Now, when we purchase a machine tool and find it slightly unfitted for requirements, we can usually make a change in construction, which will correct the diffi- culty. We do not find it necessary to “ overlook little faults” in it. Why? Because the machine tool is never supersensitive; it is never obstinate, perverse, discouraged. If the human machine could be controlled by the set rules that govern machine tool operation, the world would be a much different place. Now, we must have our expensive Government, our expensive business or- ganizations, All because we can’t tell this minute what half the people are going to do the next. Of all costs, labor cost is usually greatest; more- over, the greater part of the running expenses of most businesses is the supervising expense. Good money ‘s paid to some people to see that other people do their allotted tasks correctly. Consequently, the supervising expense should command gravest consideration when conducting a “ greater efficiency’ campaign, which brings us back again to the Japanese maxim. There will. be hardly a dissenting voice if we make the statement that To get the best results from men, offer inducements com- mensurate with the cost to them of maximum effort. To expect men to do their utmost by simply driving them machine tool fashion, is contrary to human na- ture and pretty well understood to be so’ to-day. Ad- mission of the fallacy of this driving method is not, however, sufficient to get the results all manufacturers THE IRON AGE 1409 want; the pendulum must swing to the other end of the arc—the force must be attraction instead of propulsion. How, then, is the employer to do all this? How shall he plan and act that his employees will gladly, cheerfully exert themselves to the utmost for the en- terprise in which their éfforts are combined? Whoever has witnessed an intercollegiate boat-race has noticed how at the finish the crew of one boat will collapse, while those in the other boat row on without one faltering stroke. Both crews may have done the same amount of work; nay, the winning crew may have done a shade more work than the losers; why, then, the marked difference in physical and mental condition? In business a great many of us row a race every day, and we know that our condition at the end of to-day’s race has a great deal to do with our speed in to-mor- row’s race. Who, then, that employs men to “race” for him will deny that it is to his best interests to have his men feel that they have won at the end of each day’s race? There are many ways of accomplishing this, 1s many ways as there are different men and women. Some of them are well-known ways; others, though un- derstood by our Columbuses, our Hannibals, our Na- poleons, remain enigmas to most of us still. Perhaps the best known and most frequently practiced means is the provision of inducements affecting the worker's finances or ambitions; an ever present knowledge of sure reward or promotion does more to bring the result sought for than anything else to be named. Next in power comes, perhaps, the comfortable sense of satisfaction felt by a workman in knowing that his employer is worthy of his respect and his best ef- fort. Then, too, there is the intimately sympathetic and cheerfully enthusiastic employer who, because he is what he is and because he has made his workmen his friends, calls out from them unasked the daily sweat of their faces. To the healthy human being it is good to work and to work hard, when his work is made pleasant for him and when he is paid at least the market value for his efforts, Otherwise he becomes the unwilling horse, the oarsman with a broken oar, and even an enemy iu the camp. Profit Sharing and Leased Machinery The machinery trade is following closely the shoe machinery industry, not only because it is a large cus- tomer at the present time, but because it promises to become a still more important factor with the develop- ment of the independent companies. The business is undergoing a rapid evolution. The present period is believed to be developing more radical changes than any since the consolidation of the concerns controlling practically all of the important patents into the United Shoe Machinery Company, with the consequent estab- lishment of the principle of leased shoe machinery. This company sells no machines outright. Its custom- ers, who include a very large percentage of the shoe manufacturers of this and »ther countries pay rental based, for the most part, upon production. The claim of the exponents of the system is that the conditions of the machinery lease have become less onerous as time has gone on. The latest concession to the users is set forth in an announcement just received by them from the United Shoe Machinery Company of a profit shar- 1410 THE IRON AGE ing plan in which-they will participate. The terms follow: Beginning with January 1, 1910, the company will create a fund by investing each year, for three years, in the com- mon stock of the. United Shoe Machinery Corporation a percentage, increasing each year, of the amounts received frem its lessees for the use of its Goodyear welting; Good- year stitching and Goodyear turn sewing machines in the United States, and will add to that fund from time to time the dividends which shall have been paid in the meantime upon such stock, or shares of the common stock of the cor- poration purchased with such dividends. At the end of three years from that date it will distribute the entire amount of stock held in the fund among those lessees who use the Goodyear welting, Goodyear stitching and Good- year turn sewing machines in the United States and who shall have faithfully observed the covenants of their leases ; each lessee of these classes of machines to receive a share of the entire fund proportionate to the amounts paid by him for the use of such machines. Of the amount received from the use of Goodyear welters and stitchers in the United States, during the year ending December 31, 1910, not less than 15 per cent. will be invested in accordance with the foregoing plan, and of the amount so received from the use of the Goodyear turn sewing machines, not less than 10 per cent. will be so invested. It is interesting to note the parallel between the in- ducement here provided, for the continuous and satis- factory maintenance of the relations of the manufac- turer and user of the machinery and the bonuses some manufacturing corporations give employees who re- main continuously and faithfully in the service of the company. The proposed plan seems to steer clear of the objections long urged to the system of rebates, which is still employed by some manufacturers as a means of securing the handling of their goods to the exclusion of all competitive products. einen Galilee Panama Lock Gates Bids Opened The bids for the Panama Canal lock gates, covering the materials, plates and shapes, and the fabrication, were opened at Washington, D. C., June 15. Following were the bids submitted: By the Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Md,, for group A, $3,620,736.93; for group B, $4,788,- 632.38. By the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., for group A, $2,298,876.70; for group B, $3,075,598.12. By the Riter-Conley Mfg. Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., for group A, $4,322,152; for group B, $5,861,105. By the United States Steel Products Export Com- pany, New York, for group A, $2,690,308.02, alterna- tive, $2,616,670.15; for group B, $3,578,079.48, alterna- tive, $2,486,370.92. A New Steel Record at Pueblo.— All records of the open hearth department of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, at Pueblo, Colo., were broken in May, the total output for the month being 40,000 gross tons of rail steel. The superintendent of this department is R. W. Anderson, formerly of the Illinois Steel Company, South Works and of the Lackawanna Steel Company. The assistant superintendent is M. R. Schwer. em Plans for the shipment of a cargo of 2500 tons of Texas iron ore, from Texas City, Texas, in the steamer F. J. Luckenbach to Philadelphia, Pa., by E. J. Lavino & Co. have been deferred owing to labor difficulties. It was the intention of the shipper that this carga should represent ores from different mines in eastern Texas, the idea being to have the same tried out at some of the eastern Pennsylvania furnaces. Under the circumstances but 600 tons will be brought by this ves- sel, although subsequent cargoes will be shipped. The furnace to which the present shipment will be sent for trial has not been decided upon. June 16, 1910 Work on Duluth Steel Plant to Proceed at Once A committee of officials and engineers of the United States Steel Corporation visited Duluth, Minn., last week to study the situation as related to the proposed steel plant there and to decide as to the construction programme. The committee has made a report to the Finance Committee of the Steel Corporation and this has been approved. It is officially stated that it is the intention to proceed with the construction of the steel plant at Duluth with all reasonable dispatch. Foundation and other work on the site has been in progress for several months. One of the most impor- tant pieces of construction preliminary to the building of the plant is the double deck steel bridge over the St. Louis River, connecting the Wisconsin bank of the river with the steel plant. Over this bridge ore will be brought to the plant, and by it connection will be secured through the Belt Line Railway with various railroads having terminals at Duluth and Superior. It will be recalled that the original plans called for two blast furnaces, an open hearth plant, rail mill, struc- tural mill, merchant mill and auxiliary plant. sctcentaililipislipiseeciecinaien Stockholders of the Carborundum Company, whose works are situated at Niagara Falls, N. Y., met in the Pittsburgh offices of the company last week and voted to increase the capital stock from $600,000 to $2,000,- 000. The money secured, $1,400,000, is for the pur- pose of covering expenditures for enlargements and improvements in plant and equipment, which were re- quired by the growth of the business. The improve- ments have already been made, and there are at pres- ent no plans for further extensions, as the company has full capacity for its present business. The Blair Engineering Company, Chicago and New York City, has installed the Blair water cooled ports in the open hearth furnace departments of the following plants: The Illinois Steel Company, Ameri- can Steel Foundries, Maryland Steel Company, Lack- awanna Steel Company, Grand Crossing Tack Works, Carnegie Steel Company (Duquesne plant), Ports- mouth Steel Company and the Southern Steel & Iron Company. The Board of Trade of Greenville, Pa., has made arrangements by which a concern operating plants at Jamestown, N. Y., and Peru, Ind.; manufacturing automobile parts, will remove to Greenville, Pa. The Board of Trade of Greenville has given this company a bonus of $50,000, for which it receives 6 per cent. 10-year gold bonds free of tax, and which will be se- cured by first mortgage on the new plant. The Youngstown Foundry & Machine Company, Youngstown, Ohio, has received a contract for a table for the new 26-in. skelp mill at the Brown-Bonnell Works of the Republic Iron & Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, and also a contract for a large shear for the Mingo Works of the Carnegie Steel Company at Youngstown, Ohio. The American Gas Engine Company, Los Angeles, Cal., is erecting a building 50 x 125 ft., which it will use temporarily for manufacturing purposes. Later it will erect a building 50 x 200 ft., two stories, which it will equip with special high speed tools for the manu- facture of engines. June 16, 1910 The New York Skyscrapers Interesting Facts Regarding the Era of Tall Buildings BY THADDEUS S. DAYTON. A 16-story steel framework building at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets, New York City, is being torn down to make way for one more than twice that hight. It is the first of the skyscrapers to be demol- ished, and is the highest building that ever has been taken to pieces. Fifteen years ago it was one of the wonders of the construction of lower New York, an important point in the skyline of the city and the first big structure in what people were beginning to call the “cafion of Nassau street.” Skyscrapers Are No Longer a Curiosity At the end of last year there were no less than 30 buildings of over 20 stories each on Manhattan Island alone. Thus far the two tallest are the Singer, that rises 41 stories, and, including its tower, the Metro- politan Building on Madison square, that goes up 50 stories. Many more high buildings have been planned since then, and some are already rising skyward. At the corner of Forty-second street and Broadway a 30- story building is going up. ‘The new Municipal Build- ing, near the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, will cover something like two full city blocks, and though it is to have but 24 stories it will tower in the air 560 ft., more than half as high again as the St. Paul, the American Surety or the Flatiron buildings. The skyscraper era began 27 years ago, when the first steel skeleton building (the Home Insurance Com- pany’s) was erected in Chicago by W. L. B. Jenney, an architect of that city. This building differed somewhat in its principles of construction from the type that is in use to-day. The Chicago building was the first in which the system of “cage construction” was used. Cage construction means a framework of iron or steel columns and girders which carry the floors only and do not carry the outer walls. In skeleton construction the framework of iron or steel columns and girders carries not only the floors, but the outer walls also. The outer walls in cage construction had only their own weight to sustain and consequently might not have taken up much ground area if their use had been foreseen by the fram- ers of the New York building law. Under this law the saving of ground area by the use of cage construction was comparatively small, with the result that the tallest building of this type did not exceed 13 stories. In New York, therefore, the era of skyscrapers virtually began with the Tower Building. The Tower Building This first steel framework building erected in New York still stands on lower Broadway. It is almost lost to-day among the giants that surround it, and it does not seem as though it ever could have been remarkable. In it, as well as the skyscrapers that have succeeded it, the weight of the curtain walls and floors is transmitted by girders to the wall columns at initial points and there cared for by the footings. This Tower Building caused no end of heated dis- cussion among architects and engineers when it was planned and while it was being put up. It was said that it could not be constructed; it was predicted that it would topple over; it was scouted as a commercial success. But it triumphantly proved all these forecasts false and by so doing inaugurated a new era of build- ing construction and a new type of architecture that is essentially American. Here is a story that Bradford Lee Gilbert, the architect, tells of how he came to in- vent this building and how it received its name: During the spring of 1887 a client in New York, who had purchased a double plot on New street—just south of - THE IRON AGE 1411 Exchange place—with a Broadway frontage (two-thirds the length) of only 21 ft. 6 in., with the understanding that the adjoining property on Broadway could be purchased later to square the plot, found this impossible arid himself incumbered with a non-income property, difficult to dispose of except. at a considerable loss. In this dilemma my client appealed to me most urgently to find some possible solution of this problem ahich would allow him to retain and improve this property upon a paying basis. The building laws were explicit as to the re- quired thickness of walls for superstructure, and anything higher than the existing buildings on the plot could only be erected at an. actual loss, as it would not pay to erect a high building on the narrow Broadway plot ta reach the larger rear building, when the thickness of walls re- quired would leave a passageway only on the three main Broadway floors of a little over 10 ft. in width; while a low entrance building on Broadway for a higher office building on New street would only benefit abutting property. The problem grew perplexing and proportionately interesting. Studying over the seeming impossibilities, Mr. Gil- bert discovered two or three very interesting things. One of these was that the building law of New York did not limit the hight of the foundations either below or above the curb line. Suddenly the idea occurred to him that it would be possible and thoroughly prac- ticable to carry up the foundations seven or eight stor- ies—or even to the roof itself—in this way obtaining floor space and additional width where it was most valuable, thus starting the superstructure eight stories above the curb, or practically omitting it altogether. Skeleton Construction and the Building Law Though strikingly new and revolutionary from an architectural and a construction point of view, there seemed nothing in the building law to conflict with this theory. With his plans carefully worked out, Mr, Gil- bert went to Superintendent D’Oench, then of the Building Department, and discussed the matter in de- tail. Superintendent D’Oench agreed to the feasibility of the proposition, but stated frankly that, while it did not conflict with existing building laws, no law ex- isted under which this construction could be approvect. The plans therefore went to the Board of Examiners of the Building Department, with personal explana- tions, and were finally approved April. 17, 1888. Of them in detail Mr. Gilbert said: The construction throughout the narrow portion of the building, as filed and erected, called for 12 in. curtain or non-bearing inclosing walls between the foundation columns below the eighth story, and in some sections the entire hight of the building, thirteen stories, or about 160 ft.; the weight of the curtain walls and floors being transmitted by girders to the wall columns at initial points, and there cared for by the cement and pile footings. Therefore, out of a total available width of 21 ft., 6 in., 20 ft. clear space was ob- tained (on account of an existing party wall on the south) through the most valuable and rentable of the Broadway floors and offices. In fact, this wall space, saved and ren’- able over the usual and previous construction, was esti- mated as worth upward of $10,000 annually. It is interesting to note that 10 years later, during 1898, in “A History of Real Estate Building and Ar- chitecture,” written by William J. Fryer, who was a member of the Board of Examiners of the Building Department when the plans for the Tower Building were filed and approved, Mr. Gilbert was conceded to . be the inventor of the skyscraper constructions. On the Tower Building to-day there still remains the bronze tablet, placed there II years ago, reading as fol- lows: This tablet, placed in 1899 by the Society of Archi- tectural Iron Manufacturers of New York, commemorates the erection during 1888-9 in this the Tower Building, of the earliest example of the skeleton construction in which the entire weight of the walls and floors is borne and transmitted to the foundations by a framework of metallic posts and beams, originated and designed by Bradford Lee Gilbert, architect. Mr. Gilbert and the owner had some idea of getting the new principle of skeleton construction patented, but possible infringements and lawsuits, it was thought, would outweigh the probable advantages. What the public and the architectural profession generally _ 1412 thought of the new building Mr. Gilbert tells interest- ingly : How Fears of Stability Were Overcome After the plans were filed and the contract awarded, much interest being excited by the curious spectacle of a building 2144 ft. in width rising to a hight of 160 ft. above its footings at 50 Broadway, many prophecies and comments were necessarily forthcoming. The owner, some- what nervous, called one day with a letter from a prominent engineer who stated his belief that “the construction would prove dangerous if not disastrous during a heavy blow.” I confessed it did look as if a great blank wall so high and narrow would blow over, but it was hardly to be supposed that, even if I were willing to assume the per- sonal and professional risk, the Building Department would permit me to erect a menace to life and adjoining property. “What would happen to me,” the owner exclaimed, “ if it should blow over? Think of the damages resulting! It would ruin me!” “Well, how about me?” I*replied. ‘“ Probably a noose would remove me from all further worry.” Taking out my drawings and strain sheets of the wind- bracing from footings to roof—practically a Howe truss on end—I continued: “If you will kindly follow me, I will demonstrate to you by graphical analysis that the harder the wind blows the safer the building will be, as over 100 tons, under hurricane pressure, while the wind is blowing 70 miles an hour, is transmitted and cared for by the footings, and during the actual moment of inertia your building is safest.” He looked at me more confused than ever, and answered, “IT cannot follow you and know nothing about strain sheets. ” “I did not believe you did when I started,” I replied, “but as you must trust somebody, unless you know of some good reason otherwise you had better trust your architect for your peace of mind’s sake.” Then I added, “To show my faith in the building and its construction, I will move my offices over and occupy the two upper floors on the Broadway end, and if the building falls I will fall with it.” That seemed to satisfy him. Just after this conference, one Sunday morning I awoke to find the wind blowing at a regular hurricane. As the building was in its most dangerous condition, the walls partly up and openings un- covered, affording the wind full sweep, I hurried downtown ; and emerged from the elevated station on Broadway ; there stood the building! The watchman helped me, and after climbing to the top we dropped a plumb line’ to the base- ment, and not even yibration was perceptible. I returned up Broadway singing the Doxology. By a somewhat curious coincidence 1889, the year of the completion of the Tower Building, was also the year in which the first commercially successful electric elevator was designed. The elevator has been as im- portant in the development of the modern skyscraper as skeleton construction. The two mechanical prin- ciples were first combined in the same structure a year or so later in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The esti- mate is that to-day the elevators in the buildings of New York carry each 24 hours close to 7,000,000 pas- sengers, or almost twice as many as the combined trac- tion companies—surface, elevated and subway. Mod- ern elevator service is said to be at its best to-day when on each trip, on the average, stops are made at four- tenths of the landings and each car carries four-tenths of its maximum load. a The Lackawanna Steel Company has decided to move its principal offices from New York City to its works at Lackawanna, near Buffalo, N. Y., as soon as the necessary additions to its present office building at Lackawanna can be completed. Selling offices neces- sary for local business will be maintained at the pres- ent location, 2 Rector street, New York City. Formal notice of the date of removal will be given as soon as definitely decided. The National Mfg. Company, Pittsburgh, has re- cently secured orders from sheet and tin plate manufac- turers for over 150 annealing boxes, most of them being equipped with the Johnson patent protecting strip, which prolongs the life of the box. The company states that where this special box is used the results are so good that repeat orders are invariably the result. THE IRON AGE June 16, 1910 Causes of the Increased Cost of Living 4 The Massachusetts Commission on the Cost of Liv- ing has completed its inquiry and prepared its report to the Legislature. The report will shortly be printed for distribution. From advance sheets the findings of the commission are taken as follows with regard to the causes of the recent advance of prices: 1. The primary cause of the world-wide advance of prices since 1897 is the increase of the gold supply, which has reduced the purchasing power of money and brought about a corresponding increase of values meas- ured in money in all the leading commercial States, and at least in the United States has served as the basis for a vast extension of credit. 2. The advance of prices in the United States has been accelerated greatly by the economic waste of in- — come, through uneconomic expenditure for war and national armament and through multiple forms of ex- travagance, both public and private, and of wastage, both individual and social. The increasing burden of disease, accident, crime and pauperism imposed upon society, and a loss through expenditure on a rising scale for luxuries and through wasteful methods of management in the household, are potent contributing factors to the advance of the cost of living. 3. The advance of prices has been further promoted by a complexity of causes, operating on the side of sup- ply to reduce the volume and increase the expenses of production, and on the side of demand to extend and diversify the consumption of commodities. The main factors in restricting supply and enhancing the cost of commodities are the drain of population from the land, which has decreased the proportion of persons en- gaged in producing the food supply; the exhaustion of natural resources, which has resulted in increased ex- penses of production or diminished returns from the soil and uneconomic methods of production and dis- tribution, especially the latter. The chief influences on the side of demand which have worked parallel to the forces affecting supply are the growing concentration of population in great cities, which has increased the proportion of nonproducing food consumers; the gen- eral advance of the standard of living, which has en- larged the requirements on the part of individual con- sumers of all classes; and the national habit of ex- travagance, which has further extended and diversified the demand for comforts and luxuries created by the advance in the standard of living. 4. With regard to the tariff, the trusts and..the unions, which have been declared to be either primary or contributory causes of the high cost of living, the commission finds that none of these factors can be re- garded as a direct and active cause of the recent in- crease of prices. —— oo The Garland Corporation’s Industrial Town.—The West Pittsburgh Realty Company, an identified interest of the Garland Corporation, Bailey-Farrell Building, Pittsburgh, Pa., has issued a pamphlet directing atten- tion to the advantages of West Pittsburgh as a site for manufacturing plants. The town is situated on the east bank of the Beaver River, 40 miles from Pitts- burgh, five miles from New Castle and 20 miles from Youngstown. Its railroads comprise the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, Baltimore & Ohio, Pittsburgh & Western and Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh. Manufacturing plants already there and controlled by the Garland Corporation include those of the Safety Armorite Con- duit Company, Garland Nut & Rivet Company, Pressed Radiator Company of America, Sterling Conduit Com- pany and Woodhouse, Bopp & Co. The last named firm manufactures silk, A large plot of ground has been set aside for home building purposes, and already a number of houses have been erected for the men employed m the several plants. June 16, 1910 The Iron and A Comparison of Prices Advances Over the Previous Month in Heavy Type, Declines in Italics. At date, one week, one month and one year previous. Junel5, June8, May18, June16, PIG IRON, Per Gross Ton: 1910. 1910. 1910. 1909. foundry No. 2, standard, Phila- delphia Foundry No. 2; $16.75 $16.75 $17.00 $16.50 Southern, Cincin- PETA | 5d 0:0 tive eeeie< apes bic ee 15.00 15.00 14.75 14.50 Foundry No. 2, local, Chicago. . 16.75 16.75 17.00 16.60 Basic, delivered, eastern Pa.... 146.25 16.25 16.50 15.50 Basic, Valley furnace....i...4.. 4.75 14.75 15.00 14.75 sessemer, Vittsburgh...,...... 146.65 16.65 17.40 16.15 Gray forge, Pittsburgh........ 15.145 15.40 15.90 14.90 Lake Superior charcoa!, Chicago 18.50 18.50 18.50 19.50 BILLETS, &c., Per Gross Ton: Bessemer billets, Pittsburgh... . 25,50 25.50 26.00 23.00 Forging billets, Pittsburgh... .. 81.00 31.00 82.00 25.00 Open hearth billets, Philadelphia 28.50 29.00 29.00 25.00 Wire rods, Pittsburgh......... $1.00 31.00 32.00 29.00 Steel rails, heavy, at mill...... 28.00 28.00 28.00 28.00 OLD MATERIALS, Per Gross Ton : Steel rails, melting, Chicago.... 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 Steel rails, melting, Philadelphia 14.50 14.50 14.50 16.00 Iron rails, Chicago............ 17.00 17.00 17.50 17.00 Iron rails, Philadelphia........ 20.00 20.00 20.00 19.50 Car wheels, Chicago........... 15.50 15.50 15.50. 16.00 Car wheels, Philadelphia....... 15,00 15.00 15.00 15.00 Heavy steel scrap,.Pittsburgh... 15.25 15.25 15.00 15.75 Heavy steel serap, Chieago..... 13.00 138.50 13.50 14.50 Heavy steel scrap, Philadelphia. 14.50 14.50 14.50 16.00 FINISHED IRON AND STEEL, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Refined iron bars, Philadelphia. . 1.47% 1.50 1.50 1.45 Common iron bars, Chicago..... 1.47% 1.47% 1.50 1.35 Common iron bars, Pittsburgh. . 150 1.55 1.55 1.40 Steel bars, tidewater, New York 1.61 1.61 1.61 1.36 Steel bars, Pittsburgh......... 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.20 Tank plates, tidewater, New York 1.66 1.66 1.66 141 Tank plates, Pittsburgh....... >. 1.50 £1.50 1.50 1,25 Beams, tidewater, New York.... | 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.41 Beams, Pittsburgh............ 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.25 Angles, tidewater, New York.... 1.66 1.66, 1.66 1.41 Angles, Pittsburgh........4... 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.25 Skelp, grooved steel, Pittsburgh. 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.30 Skelp, sheared steel, Pittsburgh. 1.60 1.60 1.60 1.40 SHEETS, NAILS AND WIRE, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Sheets, black, No. 28, Pittsburgh 2.40 2.40 2.40 2.20 Wire nails, Pittsburgh*........ 1.80 1.80 1.80 1.70 Cut nails, Pittsburgh.......... 27%. -1.95 1.80. .1.65 Barb wire, galv., Pittsburgh*... 2.10 2.10 2.10 2.00 METALS, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Lake copper, New York........ 12.87% 13.00 13.00 13.62% Hlectrolytic copper, New York... 22.450 12.75 12.75 13.87% Sewer, New NOEs. phe tssace 5.65 5.15 5.30 5.50 Spelter, St. Lowies.. 6... ei es 600 5.00 5.15 5.35 Lead, New York............4.. 4.37% 4.37% 4.35 4.35 Febe,” Bty TAO sir hak sss odes 4.20 4.22% 4.20 4.25 Tin, NOW OUR sake kann + ase waa $2.60 32.85 33.20 29.50 Antimony, Hallett, New York... 8.12% 8.12% 8.12% 7.50 Nickel, New York......... »-++ 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 Tin plate, 100 Ib., New York.... $3.84 $3.84 $3.84 $3.64 * These prices are for largest lots to jobbers. Prices of Finished Iron and Steel f.o.b. Pittsburgh Freight rates from Pittsburgh in carloads, per 100 Ib.: New York, 16e.; Philadelphia, 15c.; Boston, 18c.; Buffalo, lle.; Cleveland, 10c.; Cincinnati, 15c.;‘ Indianapolis, 17c. ; Chicago, 18c.; St, Paul, 32c.; St. Louis, 22%4c.; New Or- leans, 30c.; Birmingham, Ala., 45c. Rates to the Pacific Coast are S0c. on plates, structural shapes and sheets, No. 11 and heavier ; 85c. on sheets, Nos, 12 to 16; 95c. on sheets, No. 16 and lighter; 65c. on wrought pipe and boiler tubes. Structural Shapes.—I-beams and channels, 3 to 15 in., inclusive, 1.50c. to 1.55¢c., net.; I-beams over 15 in., 1.65¢., net; H-beams over 8 in., 1.75c.; angles, 3 to 6 in., inclusive, \% in. and up, 1.60c., net; angles over 6 in., 1.65c., net; angles, 3 x 3 in. and up, less than % in., 1.75c., base, half ertras, s‘eel bar card; tees, 3 in. and up, 1.65c., net; zees, 3 in. and up, 1.60c., net; angles, channels and tees, under 3 _THE IRON AGE 1413 Metal Markets in., 1.50c., base, plus 10c., half extras, steel bar card; deck beams and bulb angles, 1.80c., net; hand rail tees, 2.80c., net; checkered and corrugated plates, 2.80c,, net, Plates.— Tank plates, % in. thick, 64 in. up te 100 in. wide, 1.50c. to 1.55c., base. Following are stipulations pre- scribed by manufacturers, with extras to be added to bage price (per pound) of plates: Rectangular plates, tank steel or conforming to manufactur- ers’ standard specifications for structural steel dated February 6, 1903, or equivalent, 44-in. thick and over on thinnest , 100 in. wide and under, down to but not including 6 In. wide, are base. Plates up to 72 in. wide, inclusive, ordered 10,2 lb. per square foot are considered %4-in, plates. Plates over 72 in. wide must be ordered \%4-in. thick on edge, or not less than 11 1b. per square foot, to. take base price. Plates ovet 72 in. wide ordered less than 11 lb. per square foot down to the weight of 3-16-in. take the price of 3-16-in. . Allowable overweight, whether plates are ordered to gauge or weight, to be governed by the standard specifications of the Association of American Steel Manufacturers, Gauges ufider 4-in. to and ineluding 3-16-in. on thinnest edge... esc sn. enews ‘ths d nthe aban hee $0.10 Gauges under 3-16-in. to and including No, 8..... A5 Gauges under No. 8 to and including No, §*...... 25 Gauges under No, 9 to and including No. 10...... .BO Gauges under No. 10 te and including No. 12..... 40 Sketches (including all straight taper plates), 3 ft. ODE OVEE ID MONET. isi keds sb cb vedere ese ed 10 Complete circles, 3 ft. diameter and over........ 20 Boller and: flamge steel vies . ovie< siviense s besys 055,98 10 “A, B. M. A.” and ordinary firebox steel........ .20 Brill. WOCCOR GENE. cou css SWawes och eWEEK VANS .80 Marine’: steels 686 6. HEISE EN Se edN fit ardows .40 Locomotive firebox steel. ....... cscs ceca eeceees 50 Widths over 100 in. up to 110 in., inclusive...... OF Widths over 110 in. up to 115 in., inclusive...... 10 Widths over 115 in. up to 120 in., imelusive...... 15 Widths over 120 in. up to 125 in,, inclusive...... -25 Widths over 125 in. up to 130 in., inclusive...... 50 WtRtes OVC LOO BM. cciccnucwevetovetecneevens 1.00 Cutting to lengths or diameters under 3 ft. to 2 CRc? SOCIAL W OA ic 0K 6:6 ek te He dieasis Chee Vewees 26 Cutting to-lengths or diameters under 2 ft. to 1 5E.; EGU oaks ic eccane ch atuk ve eee tines 50 Cutting to lengths or diameters under 1 ft...... 1.55 No charge for cutting rectangular plates to lengths 8 ft. and over. TermMs.—Net cash 30 days. Sheets.—Minimum prices for mill shipments on sheets in carload and larger lots, on which jobbers charge the usual advances for small lots from store, are as follows: Black annealed sheets, Nos. 3 to 8, 1.70c.; No. 9 amd 10, 1.75c. ;: Nos. 11 and 12, 1.80¢.; Nos. 13 and 14, 1.85c.; Nos. 15 and 16, 1.95¢e. Box annealed sheets, Nos. 17 and 2.20¢.; Nos. 22 to 24, 2.25¢.; Nos. 25 and 26,.2,30c.; No, 27, 2.35c.; No. 28, 2.40c.; No. 29, 2.45c.; No. 30, 2.55c, sheets, Nos. 13 and 14, 2.50c.; Nos. 1