The Iron Age 1910-11-03: Vol 86 Iss 18

THE IRON AG Established 1855 Published Every Thursday by the DAVID WILLIAMS COMPANY 14-16 Park Piace, New York entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Mall Matter. . Subscni k $7.50 per Annum; to Other Foreign Countries, $10.00 per Single Copies, 20 Cents, Cuar.es T. Root, - - - - « PRESIDENT W. H. TAYLOR, - ° - TREASURER AND GENERAL MANAGER Haro.o S. BUTTENHEIM, - - « ” - SECRETARY Geo. W. Cope, - - - - A. |, Finovey, - - - - H. R. CosLeicH, - - - - } Eprrons MECHANICAL EDITOR Branch Offices Philadelphia, Real Estate Trust Building _ Chicago, Fisher Building Pittsburgh, Park Building Cleveland, American Trust Building Boston, Compton Building Cincinnati, 807 Andrews Building Milwaukee, 1417 Majestic Building. CONTENTS. Editorial : PaGn. A Beginning of Bail OnG@er@esc si.cpe ss ccc scceeceninve 993 Steel Rails by the Pound. .........cceeeenwceseree 994 Industrial Switching Railroads...............66+.- 995 A Premium System for Traveling Salesmen......... 996 American Capital for Chinese Development......... 996 me MachWiGl see PMIOs si ce easvancevectheseseves se 997 The New Prices for Steel. Rails. .:.:....066 6 vecewiesceeves 997 The Iron and Metal Market Reports............... 998 to 1008 Tron and [sm@vemereen Mee er hls 2 0 no oe n9.0,.0.0:8-0 0,050.08 1008 Pittsburgh Steel Company Blast Furnaces............... 1008 The Allis-Chalmers Compamy’s Report...............++. 1008 Judicial Decisions of Interest to Manufacturers.......... 1009 New Publlentiogi... s&s. sacee een cd ven he td oo Chek tana eee 1009 Personal: ..0i0 65 piwiee- 6d Rk R ROW alc bad titel Ad. 8 chide doi 1010 Ob ary ge dBi VEE TREE FEET CS FEES CT TEN SR TU 8 1010 The Machinery Market Reports.............0+-0. 1011 to 1021 Preventable Blast Furnace Accidents..............+e0+5 1022 Safety Measures in Steel Works... .. 2... ccsecccceccencs 1024 Needless EE I ak 6 as oe oa hid Ga ERODE © o.03aeaa oo 1024 High Spee Ss a os ote, n+ coo Réw) wean Ow Maa 1025 Eng ineety- Se Vaeee MN 6 5 > 5.4 tie pe GOR aA EO Ae VASae 1025 AsObes Sey CR NS ay 5 ak Lick weds se oa be 0 ke CEM 1026 British Ratipgueepebeanite 28 So ee esse 1026 Untario Irom’ Siiie Me BOG uid eS ae. 1027 Crerar, Adams & Co.’s New Quarters............... vos: 1027 Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company’s New Machine Shop. TNustem CR oa ace es a ui na coal) £46 aa Wie aban Oa 1028 The Volatile Matter: of CeGlsic ccd; 6 Wi kewidicilaes « vShens 1028 The Allen Safety Set Screw. Illustrated................ 1029 Thi Betterment of Labor Conditions in the Steel Industry 1030 The Steptoe 26-In. Triple Geared Shapér. Illustrated.... 1033 New Bailey Sheet and Pair Furnace Installations........ 1033 International Exhibition at Budapest................++- 1033 Paying Factory Salesmen’s Expenses........s0.eeses ess 1034 Employees Remembered by a Deceased Manufacturer. .... 1036 The Gang Universal Drill Table, Ilustrated............ 1036 A New Gould & Eberhardt Gear Hobber. Illustrated... .. 1037 r he Anderson Gear Rolling Machine, illustrated........ 1038 George W. Perkins on Profit Sharing................... 1039 A Baltimore Shippers’ Association............ gas ed vhas 1039 The Fay & Scott 16-In. Lathe, MIlustrated............. 1040 Some Diffieult Special Castings. Tlustrated............. 1041 Ra ad Equipment Orders...........--«s- a aieikach Pack ces 1041 Ball earings in Machine Tool Construction. Ilustrated, 1042 Customs Decisioms.........ceees goes, sce evEbies ... 1044 The Cazadero Hydroelectric Plant. sis. .....csseeeesees 1044 A Direct Process in Waghington...........-«««+cseeers 1044 A Now Niles’ Mill Trotley, Tdustrated.............:..-8 1045 x ] prove National Forging Machine. Tilustrated..... me “CCUM osc us ailbe She ied Gk COR s SL RENE SR) Kees a rman Aerial Gasoline Engine. Mlustrated........ 1046 7a Este Th ON Ctx. i vkva Ve co gs Kieu vad 1047 x © ‘lather Tilting Shaper Table. Ilustrated.......... 1047 Sew Tools Mh MMMM ID. schon cae deine se swale 1048 Trade Publications... <.. «sas. :+0s:2 hi dada co thee wae Rarrent Motel WWAGMdd. "dune. acd cvelarcedebotes cova! 1008 ieee Maile. Rag) iti) . Vou. 86: - Reining: of R Rail Odes Several Other Roads About to Place Contracts Bar Specifications No Longer Withheld—Sharp — Curtailment in Tin Plate ; No. 18 ———= Rail buying for 1911 has begun, the various rail manufacturers having opened their books in the past week, The Erie has practically closed for about 33,- coo tons, and the Pennsylvania and New York Cen- tral requirements are now under consideration, as are those of the Norfolk & Western. Several Western roads are also making up their estimates. The impor- tant question is whether these usual and expected pur- chases will be on a scale which, together with orders for equipment and supplies, will prove a real stimulus to the steel industry, prepared as it is to cope with double the business now coming in. Announcement is made that rail prices will be quoted hereafter by the pound instead of the gross ton an innovation that has been long considered. The familiar $28 quotation for a 2240-lb. ton of Bessemer rails is replaced by 1.25¢. per pound, which is the iden- tical rate of the past nine years. Open hearth rails, heretofore $30 a gross ton, are now 1.34c. per pound. Extras for lots less than 500 tons and 20 tons, respec- tively, correspond to the $2 and $4‘per ton hereto- fore charged, making the price for Bessemer rails 1.34c. in less than 500-ton lots and 1.43c. in less than 20-ton lots. Car orders, which had dwindled to driblets, are more encouraging. The Lackawanna has bought 1000 cars and 1000 will be built for the New York Central at the shops of the Merchants’ Dispatch. The Hawley lines have revived their inquiry, and it is now for 4250 cars. The Pennsylvania Railroad is also expected to come into the market soon. Prices of finished materials show that co-operation among producers is effective in the main. There is shading by smaller mills on bars and wire products, and in plain structural material the price asked by leading manufacturers has been cut $1 a ton, but these cases are the exception. The shutting down of a large number of tin plate mills is the chief development of the week. - Cannery shipments are over for the most part, and some ctr- tailment is therefore seasonable. This year it is more drastic than usual, as no stocks will be accumulated on a 36c. tin market. By another week nearly one- . third of the capacity of the leading producer of tin — plates will be idle and independent companies are ex- pected to make some reduction also, Such action may ~~ have a salutary effect on the cornerers of tin, ba deal have had things pretty much their own way pane Agricultural works, after withholding sp for steel bars for some weeks, apparently. k 994 1.35c. bars in the Chicago district threatened to affect contract business, but: the larger sellers have main- tained the 1.40c. basis, while the smaller producers, who were shading prices, are believed to be well sold up. Prospects are better in the structural trade. The American Bridge Company will build the Florida East Coast bridges, about 7000 tons. For the postoffice at the Pennsylvania Terminal in New York the contract will be tet next month. For the superstructure esti- mates run from 8000 to 10,000 tons. The 40-story Woolworth Building, Park Place and Broadway, New York, will require 5000 tons, but bids have not yet been taken. October has the distinction of bringing out a larger business in foundry iron than any month of the year. The month has also been marked by a progressive de- cline in prices. In the past week the buying has been both and classes of The two leading radiator interests well distributed, as to sections foundry product. have taken 50,000 to 60,000 tons on this movement, but deliveries go only through the first quarter. Cincin- nati reports good sales for the first half, and there has been an increasing sale of $11 Southern iron for the first quarter of 1911. Steel making pig iron is weaker. A sale of 5000 tons of basic was made at Buffalo for shipment by water to Chicago. At Cincinnati an inquiry is up for 7500 tons of basic. Pig iron stocks at furnaces have been growing and merchant producers are probably carrying upward of 1,600,000 tons. Another belated curtailment is under way, and in Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Eastern Pennsylvania six or seven furnaces have gone out or will blow out in the next week. The Steel Corporation is banking four of its Youngstown, Ohio, furnaces Saturdays and Sundays. The export trade in iron and steel has fallen off lately; in the past two weeks the shrinkage in inquiry has been pronounced. Spot tin at New York has worked slightly be- low the London equivalent, being the first response to the sharp cutting down of tin plate production, Steel Rails by the Pound Steel rails, which, since the beginning of Bessemer rail manufacture in the United States in 1865, have sold at so many dollars a gross ton, are now to be sold by the pound. The change has been under discussion for a year, and the more it was considered the more it commended itself to the manufacturers. But no op- portune time was found for putting it into effect until the books of the mills were opened for rail orders for IQII. The chief reason for establishing rail prices on a pound basis is no doubt to bring them into direct com- parison with the prices of other finished products. Heretofore billets and rails, both sold by the gross ton, have been classed together. With most rail producers, not many years back, a deficiency of rail orders meant just so much more steel to be marketed as billets, and it was thus common to compare the prices of the two products. Whenever the rail tariff was up for con- sideration, or when some Western railroad which hauled little freight to or from steel works sought to break Be THE IRON AGE > - November 1910 the rail price, we would hear how the cost o: ‘ling rails was but little more’than that of billets. 1: \ouiq be pointed out in reply that such a»statement \..5 far from the fact and the case of the rail would pre- sented in its real light —the severity of the, te-:s. the rigidness of inspection and the cost of rejection “ie the rail price has always stirred up a certain mount of protest (if we except the prices reached in the stee] rail war of 1897 and 1898) and the much quoted letter of a steel master as to the cost of producing rails in the Pittsburgh district has been cited as though it con- tained the last word on the subject. Over against that letter, it may be said in passing, are the exhibits pre- sented to the Ways and Means Committee nearly two years ago showing that for the five years from 1902 to 1906, inclusive, the lowest average cost of making rails in the United States was $20.74, while one producer showed an average of $26.61. The force of the popular feeling concerning rail manufacture was seen in the reduction of the rail tar- iff last year from $7.84 to $3.92 a ton. But the de- mands of the railroads for rail quality and for more expensive methods of manufacture have been more and more insistent. As the result of the agitation of 1907 and 1908 specifications have been adopted, as is well known, making the cost of steel rails greater than in years. It is to be considered that rail steel must not only have high resistance to breaking strains, as is re- quired of structural steel, but it must meet the almost equally important requirement of resistance to abra- sion. Moreover, limits have been put upon the speed of working rail steel in the mill, and the stringency of tests has been increased, adding to the probability of rejections. Besides these considerations on the cost side is the fact that the railroads, after using the rail in main track have still the value represented by its use on spurs or sidings, and after that its market value as 4 relayer for mine or other industrial use; or, when its full capacity for service is utilized by the railroad, there is still left the value of the rail as scrap, which at times has been known to equal or even to exceed the price of new rails, All these considerations and others have been urged from time to time in justification of the price of steel rails, and there has been in addition the fact that while other products have cut loose in boom times and soared At the same time there has been no way of keeping constantly before the buyer of rails the position of this product in relation to other finished forms. The $28 price for a ton of 2240 Ib. figures out exactly 1.25 cents a pound, to high levels rails have been kept uniform. and that is the price now being quoted for Bessemer rails for 1911 delivery. This price compares to-day with 1.40 cents for bars, plates and structural material ; in 1906 and 1907 it would have contrasted with 1.7° cents for plates and structural material. Where pre miums have been paid the price for plates, and shapes has at times been near the 2-cent basis. Since the rail specifications of recent years have more and more made steel rails eligible to classification as a highly finished product there is appropriateness in the new departure In the export trade it may be expected that quotations will continue to follow the traditions since there is ° move as yet by foreign manufacturers to follow the lead taken by the United States. 7 Nove! r 3; 1910 Indus: al Switching Railroads x. oad officials who consider and act upon gen- tions of policy have had under discussion for ie the status of the industrial railroad which , switching service for large shipping indus- eral some per! tries. Uy a long established custom an allowance of $2 to -4 per car is paid to these industrial roads for the tching service which they render, this allow- ance cing paid out of the through rate by the railroad which receives cars from or delivers them to the in- terchange track of the industrial road. Several cases have been decided by the Interstate Commerce Com- mission in which it was held“that the switching road had no just claim for such allowances. In view of these decisions officials of leading railroad systems are consideritig the advisability of cutting off all such al- lowances, except where the industrial railroad can make a case before the commission and force the pay- ment of these switching rates. The proposed action would add an appreciable percentage to the receipts of the railroads from industrial traffic, and would be equivalent to a corresponding advance in rates with- out inviting the embarrassing discussion that arises when tariff rates are advanced. Practically all of the large plants which produce iron and steel, with thousands of other individual man- ufacturing industries, are served by industrial rail- roads of this character. The question is, therefore, one of general interest among manufacturers, espe- cially since an increase in transportation charges will add somewhat to the cost of production and to market The question is one in which the manufac- turer is placed at a disadvantage in public discussion, and even before judicial bodies or commissions, on ac- count of the prejudice that has been aroused by many years of agitation of the question of rebates. The Interstate Commerce Commission has in several cases taken the position that it will not interfere when the railroads voluntarily pay nominal rates per car to these ‘witching roads, but it will not enforce payment when the trunk line railroads refuse recognition to the switching roads. The trend of the decisions by the commission is that the switching road must possess within itself the qualifications of a “common carrier,” in order to claim any share of the tariff rate. It must perform service for several industries, or must have stations where freight is received from the public, or in some manner establish legally its position as a common carrier. If it serves only one industry, by which it is owned or controlled, it is a “mere plant facility” which the shipper should maintain at his own expense. There are many cases, especially in the steel industry, where industrial roads owned by shipping corporations are so extensive in their operations that they are recog- nized by other railroads as common carriers, and would be so recognized by the courts, but in, per- haps, a majority of cases these minor railroads would ‘all within the commission’s definition of a “ mere plant tacility,” ‘i values. . This question is one of many transportation prob- ‘ems in which the theories of legislation do not harmon- ize with commercial usage or commercial necessity. The interstate commerce law is built up around the theory that a tariff rate is a charge for carrying freight between two points, Fifty years ago a railroad station THE IRON AGE 995 was a “point.” The ordinary country station still maintains this character of a point, with a freight house and, perhaps, a short team track or switch at- tached to it. As villages grew into towns and towns into cities, the volume of traffic became too great to be handled at one “ point,” although this fact is not yet recognized in law. A manufacturer could not receive and ship all his materials and goods by wagon through the station freight house, if his business were of any magnitude, In a large city it would create impossible congestion for all the wagon shippers to receive and ship their freight at one point or freight house. The necessities of the railroad have made it customary to have several freight houses and team tracks in large cities, and it has been a serious problem to increase these facilities as rapidly as the growth of traffic requires. In the evolution of the railroad the manufacturer has been encouraged to take his business away from the crowded “point” or original station. Industrial tracks have been laid for the use of each plant that is large enough to require this service; the manufac- turer loads and unloads his own freight in the cars, and the railroad sends switching engines and crews at stated times to place or “spot” incoming cars at the exact place required for unloading and to take away the loaded cars. The original village “ point” has expanded into a great city with hundreds or even thousands of these independent “ points” at which freight is received and delivered with no additional charge to the shipper. Except in a few Eastern cities the railroads interchange switching service so that an industry or “ point” on the terminals of one road has its cars switched to arid from other railroad sys- tems entering the same city, without any charge to the shipper except the through tariff rates. .The rail- coad which performs terminal switching service of this character, without any compensation from the shipper, receives a switching allowance from the road which receives the tariff revenue. The industrial railroad represents a third step in the evolution of the legal “point.” The trunk lines have found that it costs them several dollars per car, at an average, to perform the switching service which is required by large industries. The shipper, on the other hand, has found that he cannot rely upon the service performed by switching crews which come to his plant once or twice a day. He cannot load or unload cars as promptly as necessary, and there is too much delay in correcting mistakes made by an outside crew. The railroad is unable to give him as’ good service as it gives to the small shipper who only handles a few cars per day. To evercome this trouble the industrial switching road came into existence. It is regularly incorporated as a railroad, has its own tracks—usually many miles in extent—and its own switching engines and crews, and gives good service because it is under the im- mediate control of the shipper, usually through owner- ship of its stock. The cases are rare where these roads earn any profit on their investment, but they facilitate the business of both the industry and the trunk line railroad, and the allowance to the switching road out of the through rate is usually less than what it would cost the trunk line to perform the service’ it~ self. The interstate commerce law recognizes the le+ | . } : | | ele ee 4 # * Sh eT W At ee. ” * 996 THE IRON AGE gality of an allowance by the railroad for any service performed by the shipper, and merely gives the com- mission the power to regulate such allowances, as a check on the payment of rebates through this;channel. The railroads have established by their own expert wit- nesses voluminous records to show the cost of per- forming switching service, and there can be no moral question of the justice of a reasonable allowance for this service when the shipper performs it, either di- rectly or through the medium of an incorporated indus- trial railroad. In a recent case decided by the com- mission the railroads had undertaken to collect a switching charge, in excess of the through rate, for making deliveries of cars on industrial sidings, but it was held that this was unreasonable, and that the tar- iff “ point” embraced legally any industrial points or private sidings within a reasonable distance of the point specified in the rate. Railroads are profitable only where they control a large movement of industrial freight, moving in car- loads. The branch lines or “ feeders ” that are extend- ed into the country seldom pay expenses, if credited only with their mileage proportion of the rates on the traffic they handle. Instances have been brought into the records in rate litigation where branch roads in agricultural districts do not earn $1000 per mile, which is less than the average expenditure of railroads for maintaining the track. The profits of the railroads come from the concentration of traffic in trainloads, on trunk lines. The large systems can maintain an ex- tensive mileage of branches, because the loss on the traffic of the branch is covered by the profit in moving the same traffic on the trunk lines. Independent rural railroads, which have no industrial traffic, seldom pay dividends, although they receive average rates per mile for the traffic they move. Large industries of a character requiring the serv- ice of independent switching roads receive and deliver trafic in train loads. They are usually located near trunk lines, so that the traffic they produce passes directly into trunk line movements without any con- siderable expense. An industry of this character pro- duces as much traffic in a year as 100 or 1,000 miles of branch lines or feeders, which are maintained at a nominal loss by the large systems, in order to control the profitable traffic which is gathered or distributed by the rural lines. The large industry is therefore entitled to unusual consideration. While it should not, on moral grounds, be permitted to ship at lower rates than its small competitor which produces only a car or a few cars of traffic a day, it would seem as though an injustice would be done if the large shipper is com- pelled to bear a higher cost for the same service than the small shipper. A Premium System for Traveling Salesmen An important house manufacturing power equip- ment has adopted a premium system for its traveling salesmen and believes that the plan is operating with distinct mutual benefits. Each man’s income beyond a certain point is regulated by the amount of his sales, which is a condition by no means uncommon, except that in this case the method is different. A standard is established for each man, consisting of the volume of gross sales that the territory should produce under November » igio ordinary conditions, previous experience being taken as the basis. A given cost is determined, COMPTising sal. ary and the expenses. The profit sharing is fixed py the ratio of the two items of gross sales and ti). cost of covering the territory. . If the latter item shoulg total $3000 and the basis of sales be $30,000, the one being 10 per cent. of the other, then the salesman divides with the house 10 ‘percent. of any amount of sales in excess of $30,000. Should the total reach $40,000, he receives one-half of 10 per cent. of $10,000, or $500. The stimulus of the usual percentage basis js present, while at the same time the employer is a part- ner in the gain. ° American Capital for Chinese Development The announcement that American bankers are to finance a loan of $50,000,000 to China is highly sig- nificant. Comment upon it will naturally bring ou the seeming anomaly of $50,000,000 of American money going into China, while an American railroad goes abroad to find buyers for $10,000,000 worth of notes it has just put out. It may be expected, too, that emphasis will be laid on the considerable amount of the new loan that will find its way to the United States in expenditures for railroad equipment and for the industrial operations the Chinese Government is plan- ning to encourage. In the same connection attention will also be called to the fact that of the $30,000,000 railroad loan to China which European and American bankers arranged some time ago a portion will doubt- less be spent in this country. There is a larger significance, however, in this Chi- nese loan, taking the broad view of the uplift in China of which the projected expenditures are but one indi- cation. The growing wants of the Chinese are of great import to the iron trade of the world since they mean a new standard of living among China’s hun- dreds of millions. That means, as it means every- where, an enlarged consumption of iron and steel. The millions of dollars that are soon to be spent for railroads and industrial development are only a begin- ning. The awakening in China in the past few years, of which some of the features have been almost start- ling, represents the beginning of a period of appre- ciation in all values throughout the Chinese Empire. It will be many years before China ceases to be the cheapest labor market in the world, or one of the cheapest; but the point is that it is journeying toward higher costs of living. Moreover, an. important fac- tor in the new scale of national and individual ex- pense is iron. So much attention is given to the fluc- tuations that come from year to year in the condition of the iron trade at home that the tendency is to ignore movements in the countries of low iron con- sumption. Chiva will come far short of the, pace at which wants have increased in the United States — making it almost literally true here that many !ux- uries of the last generation are the necessities: of to- day; but China must be given no small place in any estimates that would measure the growth of the world’s demand for iron and steel in the next, decade. Chinese production of iron and steel will grow at the same time, it may be assumed, since, both ore and) coal are available in quantity, but the demand. may be expected to develop much more rapidly. than the domestic supp!Y- er 3, 1910 ‘he Machine Tool Builders nr ent Fred A. Geier and Secretary Charles Presi Hildreth Re-elected—Closing Session of ‘the Convention Had Features of Exceptional Value e proceedings of the opening session of the an- nual convention of the National: Machine Tool Build- ers \ssociation at the Hotel Astor, New. York, on Tuesday, October 25, were given in The Jron Age of last week. The proceedings of Wednesday, the final day, comprised the reading of papers and the general discussion following them andthe business meeting which elected officers and named Atlantic City for the convention place next spring. Fred A. Geier, Cincinnati Milling Machine Com- pany, Cincinnati, Ohio, was elected president; C. H. \lvord, Hendey Machine Company, Torrington, Conn.., first vice-president ; S. H. Reck, Rockford Drilling Machine. Company, Rockford, IIL, second vice-presi- dent; A. E. Newton, Prentiss Brothers Company, \Worcester, Mass., treasurer, and Charles E. Hildreth, \\hitcomb- Blaisdell Machine Tool Company, Worces- ter, Mass., secretary. The following concerns were admitted to member- ship, in addition to those mentioned in last week’s is- sue, bringing the growth for the year to 45: Cincin- nati Pulley Machinery Company, Covington, Ky.; Mil- waukee Machine Tool Company, Milwaukee, Wis.; Wilmarth & Morman Company, Grand Rapids, Mich. ; Acme Machinety Company, Cleveland, Ohio; Putnam Machine Company, Fitchburg, Mass.; Bardons & Oli- ver, Cleveland, Ohio; Willard Machine & Tool Com- pany, Cincinnati, Ohio; Wood Turret Machine Com- pany, Brazil, Ind.; Cleveland Automatic Machine Com- pany, Cleveland, Ohio; Sloan & Chace, Newark, N. |.; Newton Machine Tool Works, Philadelphia, Pa. The programme of papers was carried out as an- rounced. Frederick L. Eberhardt, Gould & Eber- hardt, Newark, N, J., and -C. H. Norton, Norton Grind- ing Company, Worcester, Mass., made interesting ad- dresses in executive session on “ Who Should Pay the Expenses of a Representative from the Factory When Sent Out at Request of the Dealer to Help Close a Deal?” Henry Hess, Hess-Bright Company, Phila- (elphia, Pa., had a very instructive paper on “The Use of Ball or Roller Bearings in Machine Tool Con- struction,” illustrations being distributed’ among the members that the subject might be most clearly under- stood. Thomas H. Moore, advertising manager for John W ey New York, spoke on “ Advertising —Large Space in a Few Papers vs. Small Space in a Number of Papers.” James N. Heald, Heald Machine Company, Worcester, Mass., had as his topic, “ Con- crete vs. Wood Flooring,” which gave rise, to a very interesting discussion as to methods. The important ‘cpic, “The Design and Construction of Machine Tools ‘rom the User’s Standpoint,” was discussed by C. K. Lassiter, mechanical superintendent of the American Locomotive Works, and John Riddell, General Elec- ‘ric Company, Schenectady, N. Y. ‘1 Wednesday evening the members and their ids were the guests of the American Machinist at catre party, ' Thursday the members of. the association and ' others of prominence in the machinéry trade “ guests of Machinery on an excursion to Sea Cliff, (his was the eighth annual event of the kind ‘iiged by Alex. Luchars. The trip was made on ‘camer Majestic, and an excellent luncheon was ‘dat the hotel at Sea Cliff... A programme of was carried out, including a potato race, a relay ‘nd football and push ball games. The outing ‘mirably conducted, affording more than 700 ma- THE IRON AGE 997 chinery men a chance to renew old acquaintanceship and make new friends. The New Prices for Steel Rails As commented on elsewhere, the steel rail manu- facturers are now quoting for their product prices per pound instead of per gross ton, but there is no change in the rate, Bessemer. rails are now quoted at 1.25 cents per pound, which is exactly the equivalent of $28 per ton of 2240 lb. For open hearth rails, hereto- fore $30 per gross ton, the market price is nOW 1,34 cents per pound. The old extras are retained. For lots less than 500 tons and more than 20 tons, Bessemer rails are quoted at 1.34 cents (formerly $30 per gross ton) and open hearth rails at 1.43 cents (formerly $32 per gross ton). For lots less than 20 tons, Bessemer rails are quoted at 1.43 cents (formerly $32 per gross ton) and open hearth rails at 1.52 cents (formerly $34 per ton). Prices per pound will also apply in the case of light rails, or rails weighing less than so Ib. per yard, these corresponding in the same way as indicated above, to the prevailing prices per gross ton for the respective weights. ee The John W. Danforth Company, Buffalo, N. Y., has been awarded contract by the Navy Department for furnishing and installing pumping stations—in- cluding pumps, motors and other apparatus, with pipe lines—for pumping oil from large storage tanks to the Government wharves at the naval stations at Brad- ford, R. I.; Norfolk, Va.; Charleston, S, C., and Key West, Fla. The Navy Department, having adopted the burning of oil on torpedo boats and other vessels, the facilities provided by this contract will enable the boats to fill their tanks with oil from outlets on the wharves. The contract price is over $85,000, and the work is to be entirely completed in four months. The steam and power pumps and the electrical apparatus for this work are to be furnished by the International Steam Pump Company and the General Electric Com- pany, respectively, through their Buffalo offices. The Hagstrom Bros. Mfg. Company, Lindsborg, Kan., is distributing glass paper weights of ‘attractive appearance. Attached to the underside of the glass are illustrations of the Hagstrom spark plug and the Hagstrom blow-out, of special interest to the automo- bile trade. : The Sharon Steel Hoop Company, Sharon, Pa., has closed its branch office heretofore located in the Union Bank Building, Pittsburgh. The purchasing depart- ment, formerly located in the Pittsburgh office, has been transferred to the general offices of the company. The population of Minneapolis, Minn., is 301,408, an increase of 48.7 per cent. The population of Ches- ter, Pa., is 38,537, an increase of 13.4 per cent. The population of the new city of Gary, Ind., is 16,802. The Liberty Mfg. Company, Susquehanna street, Pittsburgh, manufacturer of steam specialties, has pur- chased the patents and business of the Pittsburgh Feed- water Heater: Company. The Empire Steel & Iron Company, Catasauqua, Pa., has blown out one of its Crane furnaces and now, out of eight stacks, has but two in blast —one Crane and one Oxford. The blast furnace of the Central Iron & Coal Com- pany, at Holt, Ala., was blown in October 26 and is now reported producing at its hone? Fate. | The Ohio Crucible Steel Company, Cleels Cleveland, Ohi is installing one 2-gross-ton special ter, which it expects to have ready for “toe ¢peraiog 3 November. BS a Nf ep ho aaet ie: Cee aie 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, Nov. 2, Oct. 26, Oct. 5, Nov. 3, PIG IRON,, Per Gross Ton: 1910. 1910. 1910. 1909. ndry No. 2, standard, Phila- vmeciee ee ata as Bela $15.75 $15.75 $16.00 $19.00 Foundry No. 2, Southern, Cincin- ee Cee eee. 14.25 14.25 14.25 17.75 Foundry No. 2, local, Chicago.. 16.00 16.00 16.25 19.00 Basic, delivered, eastern Pa.... 14.75 15.00 15.00 19.00 Basic, Valley furmace.......... 18.00 13.00 18.50 17.25 Bessemer, Pittsburgh.......... 15.90 15.90 15.90 19.90 Gray forge, Pittsburgh......... 14.15 14.15 14.15 17.15 Lake Superior charcoal, Chicago 18.00 18.00 18.25 19.50 BILLETS, &c., Per Gross Ton: Bessemer billets, Pittsburgh.... 23.50 23.50 24.00 27.00 Forging billets, Pittsburgh..... 28.50 29.00 29.00 30.00 Open hearth billets, Philadelphia 26.00 26.00 26.00 30.60 Wire rods, Pittsburgh......... 28.50 28.50 28.50 32.00 Steel rails, heavy, at mill...... 28.00 28.00 28.00 28.00 OLD MATERIAL, Per Gross Ton: Steel rails, melting, Chicago.... 13.50 13.50 13.50 17.25 Steel rails, melting, Philadelphia 13.50 3.75 14.00 18.00 Iron rails, Chicago............ 16.00 16.00 16.00 20.50 Iron rails, Philadelphia........ 18.00 18.00 18.00 21.00 Car wheels, Chicago........... 18.50 14.00 14.00 18.50 Car wheels, Philadelphia....... 13.75 3.75 18.75 17.50 Heavy steel scrap, Pittsburgh... 14.25 14.25 14.25 17.50 Heavy steel scrap, Chicago..... 12.25 12.25 12.25 16.00 Heavy steel scrap, Philadelphia. 13.50 13.75 14.00 18.00 FINISHED IRON AND STEEL, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Refined iron bars, Philadelphia. 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.62 Common iron bars, Chicago.... 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.55 Common iron bars, Pittsburgh.. 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.60 Steel bars, tidewater, New York 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.66 Steel bars, Pittsburgh......... 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.50 Tank plates, tidewater, New York 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.66 Tank plates, Pittsburgh........ 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.50 Beams, tidewater, New York... 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.66 Beams, Pittsburgh......... ie i 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.50 Angles, tidewater, New York... 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.66 Angles, Pittsburgh............. 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.50 Skelp, grooved steel, Pittsburgh. 1.25 1.30 1.40 1.45 Skelp, sheared steel, Pittsburgh. 1.35 1.40 1.50 1.55 SHEETS, NAILS AND WIRE, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Sheets, black, No, 28, Pittsburgh 2.20 2.20 2.20 2.30 Wire nails, Pittsburgh*........ 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.80 Cut nails, Pittsburgh.......... 1.60 1.65 1.65 1.80 Barb wire, galy., Pittsburgh*... 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.10 METALS, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Lake copper, New York........ 12.8714 12.874%412.75 13.25 Electrolytic copper. New York.. 12.7% 12.80 12.50 12.87% Spelter, New York... ..5.: vc0s.. 5.95 5.60 5.60 6.30 i aie "eS 5.80 5.45 5.45 6.10 “EN OE. a cs wes town wia'h 4.40 4.40 4.40 4.40 CE es A a cn g's 0 a ep AOD 8 4.27% 4.27% 4.27% 4.25 i” ee 36.80 386.15 36.50 30.40 Antimony, Hallett, New York... 7.75 7.75 7.871% 8.25 Nickel, New York. .........6. 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 Tin plate, 100 lb., New York... $3.84 $3.84 $3.84 $3.74 * These prices are for iargest lots to jobbers. ———~-o—____ Prices of {Finished Iron Yand Steel f.o.b. Pittsburgh Freight rates from Pittsburgh in carloads, per 100 Ib.: New York, 16c.; Philadelphia, 15c.; Boston, 18c.; Buffalo, llc. ; Cleveland, 10c.; Cincinnati, 15c.; Indianapolis, 17c.; Chicago, 18e.; St. Paul, 32c.; St. Louis, 22%4c.: New Or- leans, 30c.; Birmingham, Ala., 45c. Rates to the Pacific Coast are 80c. 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 Material.—I-beams and channels, 8 to 15 in., inclusive, 1.40c. to 1.45c., net; I-beams over 15 in., 1.50c. to 1.55¢., net; H-beams over 8 in., 1.55c. to 1.60c.; angles, 3 to 6 in., inclusive, 4% in. and up, 1.40c. to 1.45c., net: angles over 6 in., 1.50c. to 1.55c., net; angles, 3 in. on one - or both legs, less than 14 in. thick, 1.45c., plus full extras as per steel bar card, effective September 1, 1909; tees, 3 in. and up, 1.40c. to 1.45c., net; zees, 3 in, and up, 1.40¢. to THE IRON AGE The Iron and .November 1910 Metal Markets 1.45¢., net; angles, channels and tees, under 8 in.. |. 45¢., base, plus full extras as per steel bar card of September ] 1909; deck beams and bulb angles, 1.70c. to 1.75. net: hand rail tees, 2.50c.; checkered and corrugated plates, 2.50c., net. Plates.—Tank plates, %4 in. thick, 6% in. up to 100 ip, wide, 1.40c. to 1.45c., base. Following are stipulations pre- scribed by manufacturers, with extras to be added to base 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, 14-in. thick and over on thinnest edge, 100 . wide and under, down to but not including 6 in. wide, are pase. 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 in. thick on edge, or not less than 11 lb. per square foot, to take base price. Plates over 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 under \%-in. to and including 3-16-in. on CRUAMONE: CORD. 0 ive Kis onde Khas eee een $0.10 Gauges under 3-16-in. to and including No. 8..... 15 Gauges under No. 8 to and including No. 9......: 25 Gauges under No, 9 to and including No. 10...... .30 Gauges under No. 10 to and including No. 12..... 40 Sketches (including all straight taper plates), 3 ft. Ons CuO BO ROMBUR. 6 6 oo as ee uiblt bis 6b eas 10 Complete circles, 3 ft. in diameter and over..... .20 Boller amd Mane Pleel . ... oo c'oc00 0 sk tsudds & whe 10 “A. B. M. A.” and ordinary firebox steel........ .20 till RORRONE WARE. < 6 < és c.e's occ 0s-4s wei ees swe. ao PEGSRNO WOON 5 0 0.0 0:0 Sadbennakedes lst s keane es 40 Locomotive firebox ste@l...... ccc ci cccccccccee 50 Widths over 100 in. up to 110 in., inclusive .05 Widths over 110 in. up to 115 in., inclusive 10 Widths ever 115 in. up to 120 in., inclusive...... 15 Widths over 120 in. up to 125 in., inclusive...... .25 Widths over 125 in. up to 130 in,, inclusive...... 50 WiGtes OVOF. 100 PMs. . vsccsaccivne thats 1.00 Cutting to lengths or diameters under 3 ft. to 2 $b.. TOGO VRs 6:05 «0 cinin) Combe Fe hie dive $49 sb eee Cutting to lengths or diameters under 2 ft. to 1 £U., MAGIUBIVERs 056. cies ewe ease ce eawaemeeen Cutting to lengths or diameters under 1 ft....... 1.55 No charge for cutting rectangular plates to lengths 3 ft. and over. TERMS.—Net cash 30 days. Sheets.—Makers’ prices for mil] shipments on sheets in carload and larger lots, on which jobbers charge the usual discounts for smail lots from store, are as follows: Blue an- nealed sheets, Nos. 3 to 8, 1.60c.; Nos. 9 and 10, 1.65c; Nos. 11 and 12, 1.70c.; Nos. 18 and 14, 1.75c.; Nos. 15 and 16, 1.85c. One pass, cold rolled, box annealed sheets: Nos. 10 and 11, 1.85c.; Nos. 12 to 14, 1.90c.; Nos. 15, 16 and 17, 1.95c.; Nos. 18 to 21, 2c.; Nos. 22, 23 and 24, 2.05c.; Nos. 25 and 26, 2.15¢c.; Nos. 27 and 28, 2.20c.; Nos. 29, 2.25c.; No. 30, 2.25c. Three pass, cold rolled sheets, box an- nealed, are as follows: Nos. 15 and 16, 2.05c.; Nos. 17 to 21, 2.10c.; Nos. 22 to 24, 2.15¢.; Nos. 25 and 26, 2.20c.; No. 27, 2.24c.; No. 28, 2.30c. Galvanized sheets, Nos. 10 and 11, 2.20c.; Nos. 12, 13 and 14, 2.30c.; Nos. 15, 16 and 17, 2.45¢.; Nos. 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2.60c.; No. 22, 2.60c.; Nos. 23 and 24, 2.70c.; Nos. 25 and 26, 2.90c.; No. 27, 3.05c.; No. 28, 38.20c.; No. 29, 3.80c.; No. 30, 3.50¢. Painted roofing sheets, No. 28, $1.55 per square. Galvanized sheets, No. 28, $2.75 per square for 2% in. corrugations. All above prices are f.o.b., Pittsburgh, terms 30 days net or 2 per cent. cash discount 10 days from date of invoice. Wrought Pipe.—The following are the jobbers’ car load discounts on the Pittsburgh basing card on wrought pipe, in effect from October 1: Butt Weld, : ‘ maa ee a faa ron.—~ Black. Galvy. Black. Galv. AM A a ee 72 58 68 54 O05 vd wa oe or ew aS ee 75 63 71 59 Cb EAM os. o's dao bianca ake . 79 69 75 65 SS PRS Ri ax 80 70 76 66 Lap Weld. De hs eens. Fehon ten 76 66 72 62 Bs OP Oise viatgs eas 78 68 74 64 Oe 10 OR Sik SE 77 67 73 63 FOO BBO oe. , wnhtn'od Slade 75 59 71 55 ae OO BU teks bse neat 51%... o* - Butt Weld, extra strong, plain ends, card ae F % \%, dics ohn tele o> Se 69 59 5 ee da eee hiner. tae 74 68 70 64 0-356 Ride ves 62 Santl 78 72 74 68 to 8 Ro at alec ae ue até “ ee 69 .ap Weld, extra strong, plain ends, card we # OE a tk lacie 7 ~~ O69 Ti «6 CO MR cL: . e306 nc <a oe [7 71 73 67 Ste 06-8 MA, Fo. BOSS 76 70 72 66 De cai s gas aacekee 69 59 65 55 eS oe eR ee 64 54 60 50 Butt Weld, double extra trong) pate onda; card Seat , Mc cwceseeceserpeecens eee ¢ to 1 te Ss eo 67 61 630 s«57 Site Citi rice iia web 69 63 65 59 Lap Weld, double extra strong, plain ends, card weight. Rat ig teens als ek ee 59 61 55 2 to 4 in Rie fo aes ve 67 $3 = Sa COG. Leek AN SSG Teh BOs aniices sleds witucabsaen 49 55 45 } Nove 3, 1910 THE IRON AGE 999 THE IRON AND METAL MARKETS Plugged and Reamed. disappointment, not being as large as expected. Low prices Weld ( Will be sold at two (2) points lower basing (high- er price) than merchant or card weight pipe, Butt o4in....Lap Weld lor Lap Weld as specified. e discounts are for “card weight,” subject to the ave tion of 5 per cent. Prices for less than carloads are ; oints lower basing (higher price) than the above dis- 2 to 3 in. Butt ree eounts Tubes.—Discounts on lap welded steel and char- Boiler coal oiler tubes to jobbers in carloads are as follows: Steel. Iron. AUEo ie 6.cth: 6% Slais pice Widens chee uO ie ate cce ee 49 43 1 QM, Wad odio dla oe eeW hd bs gic aie ee vee 61 43 «oc oe 6 bbls bani te rete watlies e's a00 Solow gana 63 48 5 5S inns coo panics ik ditaten aud alae 69 «= s«BS ( 13 $b. 's.i/e7e wialeebelaca oo weebiy lel atahe ew cub eeeneee 61 43 and smaller, over 18 ft., 10 per cent. net extra. and larger, over 22 ft., 10 per cent. net extra. Less than carloads to destinations east of the Mississippi River will be sold at delivered discounts for carloads lowered by two | for lengths 22 ft. and under; longer lengths, f.o.b. soure Wire Rods.—Bessemer, open hearth and chain rods, GOR MW) Pp Steel Rivets.—Structural rivets, *%4-in. and _ larger, 1.90c, base; cone head boiler rivets, %4-in. and larger, 2c., %-in. and 11-16 in. take an advance of 15c., and ™%4-in. -16 in. take an advance of 50c.; in lengths shorter also take an advance of 50c. Terms are 30 days, f.o.b. mill. Pittsburgh Park BuILpING, November 2, 1910.—(By Telegraph.) Pig Iron.—On Friday, October 28, bids went in on the inquiry of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company for 1000 tons or more of malleable Bessemer, and gray forge iron for delivery in first quarter and first half of next year, but the business has not yet been closed. The Union Steel Casting Company of this city has bought 1500 tons of standard Bes- semer iron, deliveries 250 tons a month over first half, at $15, Valley furnace. The inquiry for pig iron is light, and the market continues weak. We quote standard Bessemer iron for forward delivery at $15; malleable Bessemer, $13.75; No. 2 foundry, $14; basic, $18, and gray forge, $15.25, all at Valley furnace, the freight rate for delivery in e Pittsburgh district being 90c. a ton. Steel—The market is very quiet and prices are weak. Not enough business is being offered in billets or bars to test prices, but several consumers of sheet and tin te bars have inquiries out for their requirements for st quarter. We quote Bessemer and open hearth billets at $25.50 to $24; Bessemer and open hearth sheet and in plate bars, $24.50 to $25, and forging billets $28.50 to ‘<0, all f.o.b. cars, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, or Wheeling (By Mail.) After the election on Tuesday next is now named by the Sanguine element as the time when the long deferred im- Provement in the iron trade may be expected. No definite reasons are given for this belief and there is nothing tangi- ble in the situation that would seem to indicate early bet- ‘ement. The railroads are not buying a pound of iron or el they can possibly avoid, and consumers generally con- _— ‘o place orders only for such material as they abso- ‘utely need. It is a fact, however, that several of the lead- ing railroads, including the Pennsylvania, have made up ‘heir estimates for track material needed for the first half °l hex! year and some orders for rails, though probably not \ ‘rge ones, will likely be placed in the near future. The ers have adopted a new method of quoting on rails, tions now being on a pound basis, but this does not ¢ price of standard sections, which still figure out cross ton. The inquiry for pig iron continues light market is weak. Some furnaces are willing to sell first quarter of next year at present prices. The irket continues weak, Bessemer billets being freely at $23.50 and open hearth sheet and tin bars at The sheet mills are entering a good deal of new most of it at the prices recently adopted, which 1 on 2.20e. for No. 28 black, but in some cases prices ‘d about $1 a ton. The amount of new business in steel entered in October by the leading makers com- rably with September, but at the same time was a Ste affec t $28 and throug Stee] Offers $24.50 tonnag are | are « iron a Pares continue to rule on coke and scrap. Ferromanganese.— A leading consumer in the Youngs- town district is reported to have bought 2500 tons of foreign 80 per cent., for all of 1911 delivery, at a price slightly under $39, Baltimore. There is some inquiry out for first half shipment. We quote 80 per cent. foreign at $38.50 to $39, Baltimore, the freight rate for delivery in the Pitts- burgh district being $1.95 a ton. Ferrosilicon.—This material continues somewhat scarce for spot shipment, for which higher prices are offered than for forward delivery. We quote 50 per cent. ferrosilicon for delivery over the next four or five months at $54.50 to $55, Pittsburgh, while for prompt delivery a premium of $1 a ton or more is asked. We quote 10 per cent. blast furnace silicon at $23; 11 per cent., $24; 12 per cent., $25, f.o.b. ears, Jisco and Ashland furnaces. Skelp.—The low prices ruling on both iron and steel skelp have brought out some new business, and we note sales of 4000 to 5000 tons of grooved steel. skelp at 1.25c., de- livered at buyer’s mill in the Pittsburgh district, and 500 tons of sheared iron skelp at 1.70c. for same delivery. We quote grooved steel skelp, 1.25c. to 1.30c.; sheared steel skelp, 1.35c. to 1.40c.; grooyed iron skelp, 1.60¢. to 1.65c., and sheared iron skelp, 1.70c. to 1.75e., all for delivery at consumer's mil] in the Pittsburgh district. Rods.—The inquiry for both Bessemer and open hearth rods is light and confined to small lots for early delivery. We quote Bessemer, open hearth and chain rods at $28.50, Pittsburgh, but Bessemer rods are not so firmly held as open hearth. Muck Bar.—Consumers are now pretty well covered for the remainder of this year and into first quarter. We quote best grades of muck bar, made from all pig iron, at $30 to $30.50, Pittsburgh. Eastern muck bar continues to be offered in this market at $29 to $29.50, but we do not hear of much being sold. Steel Rails.—The rail makers have adopted the method of quoting prices per pound instead of per ton on both standard and light sections. In the case of standard sections this does not make any change in price, as they are quoted at 1\4c. per pound, which figures $28 per gross ton at mill, the same price that has been in effect for some years. Last week the Carnegie Steel Company received new orders and specifications against contracts for about 2500 tons of light rails. , Structural Material.—A fair amount of new inquiry is coming out, b