The Iron Age 1923-10-04: Vol 112 Iss 14

ESTABLISHED 1855 THE IRON AGE New York, October 4, 1923 Distribution of Wealth in the United States VOL, 112, No. 14 Thorough-Going Analysis Shows the Fallacy of the Claim That “the Rich” Two Per Cent Own 65 Per Cent of the Country’s Resources BY DR. WALTER RENTON INGALLS* HE spreading of the farmer-labor movement in the West and the ascendancy of Senator LaFollette and Senator Brookhart and others like them fore- shadow attacks upon the corporations and wealthy persons of the United States in the next session of Congress. James A. Frear, a member of Congress from Wisconsin, stated the underlying idea in a recent newspaper interview, wherein he was represented as saying the following: “Undistributed and unlimited profiteering has brought about an unhealthy economic condition when 2 per cent of the people in this country are found to own 65 per cent of all the wealth. Millions of people who are scraping out a bare existence and fighting against a vicious sales tax urged by big busi- ness will approve any effort to curb these unconsciona- ble profits.” Genesis of the Error I do not criticize Mr. Frear, or any of the so-called radical Senators, for entertaining the belief that 65 per cent of the wealth of the United States is owned by 2 per cent of the people, for their belief is founded upon what appears to be good authority and is enter- tained by more scholarly persons than they. Prof. Homer Hoyt, in the quarterly of the American Statis- tical Association for March, 1923, discussed this sub- *Director of the American Bureau of Metal Statistics; formerly editor of Engineering and Mining Journal. ject, drawing attention to the discrepancy between the bulk of the wealth being owned by the few and the bulk of the national income being shared’ by the many, the latter having been proved by the National Bureau of Economic Research in a way that has received com- mon assent. Professor Hoyt remarks that no one has reconciled these apparently conflicting statements and adds that as a matter of fact both of them are correct; following which he proceeds to try to prove that what seems to be a paradox really is not so. A simpler mind would not jump so quickly to the conclusion that both of these conflicting statements are correct, but rather would deduce that one of them is probably wrong, and knowing the nature of the work of the National Bureau of Economic Research on the national income would conjecture that the error is in the statement respecting the distribution of wealth. The genesis of the latter statement is as follows: It appears in the “Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations” (Frank P. Walsh, chairman), pub- lished in 1915, wherein it is stated that “the ‘rich,’ 2 per cent of the people own 60 per cent‘ of the wealth.” 'The agrarian Senators refer to 65 per cent of the national wealth being owned by “the rich.” The Walsh committee says 60 per cent. Pr. King’s original statement was that “more than half, in fact, almost three fifths of the property is possessed by this fiftieth part of the people.” His state- ment, therefore, has been magnified in repetition, but we need not waste any space on this. UU SUYDAPUUCUEDEEDC OAL OGAL ELL ARAN AA EEA TT _ it true that 2 per cent of the people of the United States own 65 per cent of the country’s wealth? Dr. Ingalls shows in this article, which is the most thorough-going study of the subject that has yet been made, that statements that have been given wide currency, as to the concentration of property ownership, are not true. In his book of two years ago, “Wealth and Income of the American People,” Dr. Ingalls made a careful analysis of the physical property in the United States. In this article the study is carried farther, with a view to disposing definitely of the fallacy which radical politicians have used so widely in stirring up discontent. In the next twelve months the changes will be rung on the issue of unequal distribution of wealth, in the effort to array the house of “have not” against the house of “have.” Dr. Ingalls’ contribution to THE TRON AGE is thus a most valuable and timely document, and its conclusions should be widely disseminated. DQG 770 ase PP 881 RT * etl uy 6 ee pT ee pS PE Shh Koad ghettenant a 882 THE IRON AGE Mr. Frear, Senator LaFollette and the rest of them therefore find their authority in the report of a Gov- ernment commission duly transmitted to Congress. That commission was not, however, the original author- ity for the statement, but adopted it from the book on “The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States,” by Dr. Willford I. King, whom the Walsh Com- mission correctly characterizes as a “statistician of conservative view.” Reference to the work of Dr. King will show that he did not make the statement in quite so positive a way as represented. However, it is unnecessary to split any fine hairs, for the same reference to the work of Dr. King will disclose also that he made his state- ments upon the strength of very inadequate data, which will not withstand critical analysis. I know that Dr. King himself agrees to this, for he informs me that he is “now in doubt as to whether the amount of wealth escaping probate is not so large as to cause a curve showing the distribution of estates probated to give a very erroneous impression concerning the distribution of wealth among decedents.” * We have here an instance of a great misconception that may lead to grievous political consequences. It is founded upon the unsupported statement of a single economist, made eight years ago when the data avail- able were far less than what exist at present; a state- ment that, moreover, is based upon a method of com- putation whose very validity is challenged. It has been worth while to go into this explanation, even at the risk of being tedious, for if we are going to try to ascertain the truth it is desirable first to expose previous errors and misconceptions. This is, moreover, an excellent example of how unsupported statements are perpetu- ated, are incorporated and indorsed in Government reports, and become accepted as facts without anybody stopping to consider whether they really are so or not. Inventory of the National Wealth A study of the distribution of wealth in the United States will surely be complicated and probably more or less uncertain in its results. A method that immediately suggests itself is an analysis of the inventory of the national wealth. In my book on the “Wealth and In- come of the American People” I offered such an inven- tory, expressed in terms of the dollar of 1913. My totals were higher than would be indicated from Census estimates for previous years, and I made it clear why the previous Census estimates are to be viewed as untrustworthy and should not be used in comparison with other estimates. I made my own estimates in great detail and was quite frank in explaining how I arrived at them. I am unaware of any serious criti- cisms of them. I feel justified, therefore, in assuming that my figures are nearly enough correct. I estimated that the wealth of the United States at the end of 1920 was as follows: Physical property in the United States.. 272.8 billion dollars Foreign credit balance........cccscsece 17.8 TOR) si 0c taccseans Spal esi sais ove eee I expressed the opinion that the foreign credits are a doubtful asset. In so far as they are owed to the nation this will not enter extensively into a discussion of the distribution of wealth, for the loss, if there be any, will be spread over all classes of people. Any loss on commercial credits and foreign investments will fall, however, mainly upon the banks, corporations and investors. It may be remarked here that a considerable loss has already been sustained due to the extensive speculation in foreign currencies. Wealth Classified I divided my estimate of the physical wealth at the . Dr. King’s original deductions were drawn from an ex- amination of probate records of Massachusetts and Wisconsin. October 4, 1999 end of 1920 according to heads. A conden iLion thereof is as follows, in billions of dollars: Owned by the people in common........... 17.12 le. ae eee ee ee 75.03 Houses in cities and towns..............0. 55.244 Other UFbAn LOR] CURIE. «606.06 ccc cesses ces 23.67 Factories, railroads, mines, etc............. 57.3: Furniture, clothing, jewelry, etc........... 15.90( Gold and silver bullion and coin.........., 3.83 DERGUBODTIOS 6.6 6:4.6.5.5-5 6009.8 CRAEW A HEWN Geae 4.594 Ships, yachts, wharves, drydocks.......... 1.063 Shacks cf BORER. « ccccvce casas eeaee es cbc 19.000 WOE 5455 pacckuniewn coccccoccosccccces 245.780 An itemization of the industrial property, including public utilities, as of the ends of 1916 and 1920, is as follows. It will be observed that in these estimates the value of the railroads of the United States is put at a much higher figure than was tentatively allowed by the Interstate Commerce Commission: 1916 1920 PN Cesena cacabwomane eee $3,880,000,000 $3,269,000,000 FBIPOGEe: MOO. «066 ieee 24,500,000,000 25,500,000,000 MeatroeGn. GIOGtVIGi so. cei sosces 5,361,734,000 4,000,000.000 Express companies..... 38,597,253 $4,691,199 Manufacturing machinery and NE, ieee ae lea ee At alate 14,500,000,000 15,500,000,0006 Meat packing plants.......... 250,000,000 350,000,000 Telephones and telegraphs.... 1,475,000,000 1,800,000,000 i ree 130,000,000 150,000,000 ME MONIES Sidocik RK RROD 63,000,000 180,000,000 Petroleum pipe lines.......... 400,000,000 608,000,000 Petroleum tankage........... 50,000,000 60,000,000 Light and power plants...... 2,900,000,000 4,058,000,000 Gas lighting plants........... 1,250,000,000 1,500,000,000 Water works, privately owned 300,000,000 310,000,000 POLED su cele viekeceanwe $55,098,331,253 $57,319,691,199 Of the above enumerated wealth a good deal may be allocated as being of general ownership besides what has been so specified. Thus some of the gold and silver bullion is owned by every person who possesses gold and silver certificates, which he uses as currency. The wharves and dry docks are largely municipally owned. The estimate for the value of ships represents mainly the national fleet. There is certainly a wide distribution in the ownership of the automobiles, about one-third of which is ascribed to the: farmers of the country. Also in the ownership of furniture, carriages, clothing and jewelry. Although the well-to-do possess a great deal more of those things per person their number is too small to enable their aggregate of such possessions to loom very big. The stocks of goods are owned partly by the producers of raw materials, in cluding the farmers, partly by the manufacturers who fabricate them, and partly by the merchants, whol sale and retail, who distribute the finished products, Ownership of Real Estate The urban real estate, valued at $78,920,000,000, represents about 20,000,000 houses and apartments, outside of the farms. It is well known that to a large extent the American people own their own homes. According to the last census 55 per cent of the families in the United States rented the houses in which the) lived, while 45 per cent held title to them. Of the latter about five-eighths of them held their property free from encumbrance, while three-eighths held it sub- ject to mortgage. These percentages are calculated upon all of the dwellings, including those on the farms; but we may apply them to the 20,000,000 urban dwell- ings without going far astray. In my “Wealth and Income of the American People” I estimated the 20,000,000 houses and apartments avail able for use by people other than farmers in 1916 as being of an average value of $2,880, including the land on which they stood, giving a grand total of 57.6 billion. My estimate for the value of other urban real estate was 24.7 billion. With the aid of the October 4, 1923 s@ensus figures we may proceed further with the analysis. Of the 57.6 billions in houses, about 31.6 was owned by landlords. Of the 26 billion remain- dmg about three-eighths, or roughly 10 billion, was mortgaged. Inasmuch as mortgagees are generally 4mdisposed to lend more than two-thirds the value of real estate, we may conjecture reasonably that the total of mortgages on the homes occupied by owners in the United States was about 6 2/3 billion dollars. Farm Capital Dr. L. C. Gray of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture, at a meeting of the American Economic Asso- ciation in December, 1922, presented a compilation and analysis of the wealth and indebtedness of the farmers of the United States. He estimated the total farm capital at about 95 billion dollars, of which he reck- oned about 73 billion dollars as belonging to farmers who owed about 11 billion, making the net worth of the farmers proper about 62 billion. Dr. Gray esti- mated that nearly half of the total farm property not owned by farmers was held by retired farmers. It may be conjectured that the remaining ownership of farms is largely by local merchants and bankers. These data are not seriously out of tune with my own estimates. It will be seen that Dr. Gray’s estimate of the net worth of farmers is about 21 per cent of my esti- mate of the total national wealth, while his estimate of the farm capital is about one-third. This in itself is an important thing upon which to fix attention, for it is well known that the “rich” class that is especially the target for invective and taxation, is not in the habit of either investing in farms or lending money upon them. If 33 per cent of the wealth of the United States be in farm capital the “rich 2 per cent” of the people could not own 65 per cent of the wealth and leave anything for the millions of people other than themselves and the farmers, which result would be a prima facie absurdity. Mortgages on Real Estate Obviously this brings us right up to the considera- tion that the titular holders of the wealth of the United States may not actually own it free of claim by the money lenders. The farmers of the country do not own their farms in full. The townspeople who have title to their houses to a certain extent have only an equity in them. I have already estimated the mortgages on the latter class of property as amounting to about 6 2/3 billion dollars. According to the last census there were mortgages on about 40 per cent of the farms, aggregating about 8 billion dollars. It does not follow from this, however, that such claims apper- tain to “the rich.” The greatest lenders of money to the farmers are the life insurance companies, whose assets are the combined property of many millions of policy holders. So it is with the mortgages on urban real estate, the money for which comes largely from the life insurance companies and the savings banks, wherefore the claim upon these forms of property rests among many millions of people. Government, State and Other Bonds Besides mortgages on real estate, claims on the physical wealth of the United States by others than the titular holders of the property are represented by Government bonds and notes, State, county and munici- pal bonds, corporate bonds, and notes for bank loans. The obligations of the Federal Government are, of course, collectible out of everything through the medium of taxation. The State, county and municipal bonds are in the same way first liens on all the property within the respective political subdivisions. The public debt of the United States, June 30, 1922, was about 23 billion dollars, represented chiefly by THE IRON AGE 883 Liberty and Victory bonds. It was estimated by Treas- ury experts at that time that there were at least 10 million holders of these bonds. There were some concentrated holdings. Thus, at the end of 1922 the national banks owned 2 2/3 billions of United States securities. It is obvious, however, that upward of 10 million bond owners implies a wide distribution of this national claim upon the wealth of the country. The total of State, county and municipal indebted- ness in 1922 was about 8 billion dollars. These bonds are probably owned largely by the more wealthy class of investors. Bank Loans and Investments The total of loans and discounts by the national! banks at the end of 1922 was 11,600 million dollars. These advances were to a large extent attributable to carrying the country’s necessary stock of goods, both through the process of manufacture and through the period of sale. To a smaller extent they were loans to brokers and other persons on stocks and bonds. But here again it was not only the bankers’ own money that was loaned. Rather was it, in the main, the aggregate of the deposits of a great many people. It does not follow from the fact that certain in- terests are money lenders that the source of supply is a relatively few wealthy people. The greatest money lenders of all are the savings banks and the life insur- ance companies. At the middle of 1922 there were in American savings banks 26,637,831 accounts, aggre- gating $18,087,493,000. At the end of 1920 the life insurance companies had assets of $7,319,997,019, which was contingently the property of over 40,000,000 policy holders. Of this great fund 32.29 per cent was in- vested in mortgages, divided about half and half be- tween farm mortgages and the other kind made up of city, building, home and industrial loans. About 26 per cent was invested in railroad bonds and stocks. Loans on policies amounted to $820,000,000 and invest- ments in Government bonds to $772,000,000. The other investments were mainly in State, county and municipa! bonds, Indebtedness Among Ourselves In all of these forms of investment—savings bank deposits, life insurance and Government bonds—there have been important increases since 1916. This does not reflect increase in the physical wealth, which, as | have shown in my book, did not occur in the period 1916-20 and to but relatively small extent in 1921-22. What it does show is a transfer of the claims upon the national wealth from one group of people to another, probably from a relatively small group to one that is very much larger. The last is indicated by the great increase in the number of savings bank accounts, Gov- ernment bondholders, ete. The depletion of the smaller class is much greater than the transfer to the larger class, the difference being measured more or less by the decline in the national rate of saving from 15 per cent of the national income prewar to perhaps 7 or 8 per cent in 1920-22. The main features of internal indebtedness, which represents claims upon the physical wealth of the country by others than the titular holders, may now be summarized as follows: Billions of Dollars Fie DRI TA No aktcciespaaevccuceanssass 23.0 State, county and municipal debts......... . 8.0 Loans Up mation DRRES. . . <6 cee 6 ence wad os dice 11.6 Savings Damkt GG o4 66 6o conc oh ears UH os 18.0 TAGS Tee WHIM e 4 oc + 6 kin 0s 650 0 ht oe aes 7.3 WOO sss dvi acegpatc tyeastctbcaleeiae 67.9 The above summary omits obviously the claims of State banks and private persons. Conjecturally these a) DRT IVEd OnRD HEL T ye nOyOTRHDT nen CRT RONORINRERP PONT RERRERNTT: (Continued on page 915) pyran ee Ps ons Pe - New Steel Jobbing Foundry T j j Plant of Eastern Steel Castings at Newark Uses Both Acid Open-Hearth and Electric Furnaces—Exceptional Light Conditions and . Rugged Construction Feature the Building AVING completed its removal from the old plant at Bayonne, N. J., the Eastern Steel Castings now occupies a plant built in the closing days of the war for the National Brake Shoe & Foundry Co. at Avenue L and Edward Street, Newark, N. J., which was designed and constructed for the purpose of turn- ng out automotive cylinder castings and similar work and built on a “cost plus” basis by James Stewart & Co., New York. The construction is exceptionally heavy and is of a character far superior to that customary walls being of heavily reinforced con- trim, while in foundries, the with brick the roof of concrete tile is . crete bins, and the arrangement of a small anneali: nace operated with two cars. Three heavily constructed reinforced concret: intended originally for sand, because of the large » ‘ quirements of sand for core making in auton ( cylinder practice, have been converted into a pat' storage through the simple expedient of closing pern 7 nently the openings in the roof through which sand was to have been delivered by the overhead crane fron railroad cars, and erecting a heavy timber second fi about 8 ft. above the concrete base. An automatic sprin| ler system for protection of these patterns from pos WASH AND | LOCKER RM g CORE ROOM | Ay : i - wl | - ° —_____ I - | 4 AMMEALING FOE | o a . Eb OPEN-HEARTH FOUNDRY - CAR PITS S 7. = . i & ¥ x t . $ 3 : & ’ 2 Oi | 4 SHIPPING DEPT MACHINE SHOP Y A R 0 | - ‘vane . } } ) ) ) d } ) : : f ° ? J J J UW J J J UL LJ LJ = a J D zayout of the Plant of Eastern Steel Castings at Newark thre e pattern storage rooms at left were converted the bins with enough headroom tee] frame construction. available through both carried or of light monitors Broadly speaking, there is a main building 120 x 72 ft., with extensions at right angles to the length at both ends on the one side and storage bins outside the main dimensions on the other side. The entire plant, except for the power house, is within the one building, which has an extreme length of 520 ft. with an extreme width of 266 ft. The center of the main structure houses the open-hearth foundry, with the electric foun- dry at one end and the shipping department at the other end. The pattern shop occupies the end of one of the wings at the electric foundry end of the plant, while the office and the men’s locker room are located in the corresponding end of the other principal wing. Pattern storage and sand bins are in the wing back of the electric furnace, both being placed in the posi- tion designated for sand storage in the original layout of the plant. Among the unusual features are the character of the pattern storage, the commodious sand bins, method of charging the electric furnace, command of the yard crane over both the stockyard and its siding and the An unusual amount side windows and o deliver PR MIR RR RRRKRAR R ) J — J J J LJ J J e | ‘= LJ — N. J Showing Arrangement of the Various Units om sand bins The yard crane, with 95-ft. span, passes sand from a clamshell bucket through the roof scuttles danger of fire is to be installed. The space devoted to pattern storage occupies an area of 60 x 80 ft. on eacn of the two floors, with a corner cut out for the trans former room for the electric furnace. One of the sand bins remaining, and still used fo that purpose, will, it is estimated, hold the contents 0! 37 cars of 50 tons each. The smaller bins have an ag gregate capacity greater than this, so that the presen! sand storage capacity of all the bins approaches 5000 tons, for a plant with a present maximum capacity 0! . 750 tons of castings per month. Sand is taken by clam- shell bucket on the yard crane from railroad cars a! dumped through scuttles in the roof of the sand bins, this roof being about 18 ft. above the ground. __ The present battery of core ovens includes eig!' ovens in two rows of four, back to back, and using cok: for fuel. Originally the equipment included anoth: unit of this same size, the larger capacity for cor being required for the type of casting for which th plant was designed. Only half of the present equ!) ment, however, is in steady use, and it is felt that thes eight ovens will fill the needs of the plant for a long time. The pit where the other ovens were originally located is to be arranged eventually for sand reclama 884 October 4, 1923 THE IRON AGE Car-Type Oil-Fired Annealing Furnace, Fired on One Side and Operated on the Semi-Muffle Principle. Easy operation of the door by hand wheel is shown At right is a battery of bench grinders for cleaning castings tion, the grating which is to cover it being utilized as furnace with acid bottom, capable of turning out six a shake-out floor. As the plan shows, the core ovens heats per day, or one every 4 hr. It is possible to charge and the future shake-out floor are located in front of _ the electric furnace up to a maximum of 4 tons, or con- the electric furnace. Reclaimed sand is mixed with new siderably more than double its normal capacity, while sand in the ratio of about 80 per cent of the former to. the open-hearth furnace also can be super-charged. No 20 per cent of the latter. pig iron is used in the electric furnace charges, steel There is one car type mold drying oven, measuring scrap only constituting the charge, with such ferro- x 16 ft. alloy additions as may be necessary to complete the Melting is accomplished in a 1'%-ton Moore electric heat. For the open-hearth furnace not more than 10 furnace furnished by the Pittsburgh Electric Furnace per cent of pig iron is used, this being of low phos- Corporation, which is capable of turning out a heat per phorus grade. The usual charge carries between 8 and hour melting from cold stock, and an 8-ton open-hearth 10 per cent of pig iron. Much of the scrap used is of . er an ahs | >. aha att hoe gies An ste: Tapping the 14%4-Ton Moore Electric Furnace. Scrap bins are at the rear (left), while the weighing scale and “sugar scoop” charging trough are directly behind the furnace (not visible here). The transformer room is behind the wall corner at right 886 THE IRON high carbon; in particular a considerable quantity of shell steel still remaining from war operations 1s being melted here. Oil is used as open-hearth fuel. Charging the electric furnace is done by means of a so-called sugar scoop about 10 ft. long and mounted on wheels. This is filled with scrap and weighed during the time the furnace is melting the preceding charge. It then is run into the charging door of the furnace and dumped by the simple expedient of lifting the rear end by means of an air hoist, or electric hoist, both being available at that part of the plant. Charging of the open-hearth furnace is by hand, there being two charging doors capable of taking pieces about 42 in. wide. Product of the company consists wholly of castings ordered by outside customers. It includes particularly electric motor housings, headers for the tubes of water- tube boilers, parts for oil stills and other pieces of similar character, some of which have to withstand heavy pressures, while others such as the motor hous- ings do not. The output includes castings varying all the way from '% lb. to 5 tons, though the great bulk of the sales consists in castings of less than 200 Ib. each. All castings are annealed before shipment and, as many of them are made with large sink heads weighing fre- quently considerably more than the casting itself, a certain amount of work has to be done on each one, not only in cutting off the sprues and sink heads, but also in grinding off the burrs left by the sprue cutter. Some of the large risers are burned off, while swing- frame grinders are used to take off the burrs. Many of the castings are sand-blasted, while the smaller ones are run through tumblers after annealing, there being six of these tumblers located alongside the shipping department at the office end of the plant. Two annealing furnaces take care of this special process, both having car pits. One furnace measures about 7 x 11 ft. inside, while the smaller one is 3% x 15 ft. This latter has two cars in a pit, which are run in and then sealed by clay after the doors at the two ends of the furnace are lowered upon the ends of the cars. A grating placed upon the cars, under the cast- ings to be annealed, facilitates circulation by the heated gases, and causes the furnace to operate on the semi- muffled principle. Oil is used as fuel, with firing on one side, Power for the electric furnace, the yard crane and all the inside cranes, as well as for light and other purposes and for running air compressors, is furnished by a 450-kw. a. c. General Electric unit operated by a Unaflow engine of one cylinder built by the Skinner Engine Co. Arrangements are being made to install a second unit of 160 kw. for use at night, when much of AGE October 4. 1 Qo the power required during the day will not be 1 It is believed that the added investment wil] | ully justified by the greater efficiency of operation ¢) F vided. The two boilers of* 450-hp. are fired eo from six storage tanks in the yard, which hav gregate capacity of about 8 cars. Each boiler ) oil burners; two furnish ample heat to maintain pressure of 135 lb. under normal conditions; on: ficient under light load. Two air compressors made by the Chicago matic Tool Co. and operated by synchronous mot«; nish an air pressure which is maintained at 90 |). pe, sq. in. The two units are duplicates, with cylinders 17 and 10 x 12 in. Water which is employed to cool the frame and doors of the open-hearth furnace is passed from that point to a Cochrane feed-water heater in the power house and given further heat from the steam envine exhaust before being fed to the boilers. Water which has been used for cooling purposes on the electric fur- nace goes to a sump, from which it is pumped to a rifle arrangement on the roof for cooling, whence it drains into a tank and then is circulated back around the furnace. About 225 men are now employed, although for heavier production the plant might use 50 per cent more. They With a 95-Ft. Spar Yard Crane Extend Over Both the Spur Track and the Cor crete Sand Bins. Sand handled in a clam- shell bucket, is readily dumped through scut- tles in the roof. Steel for the open-heart! furnace is handled by magnet, from this same crane, being dumped on a platform at the far end of the sand bin structur whence it is moved ! hand to the furn charging floor on same level with platform have a locker room unusually commodious and wel provided with both light and ventilation. There aré several showers and other accommodations for the men. Esprit de corps is helped by a production chart ove! the door leading from the foundry floor to the men’s locker room. This shows, day by day, the output “this” month, compared with “last” month. As the plant is a self-contained unit, it has the usua! equipment of pattern-making machinery, sand mixers, overhead cranes, sand-blast equipment and a small ma- chine shop, besides grinding benches and heavy grind ing units at various locations through the foundry. The 5-ton yard crane runs on trestle rails over the roof of the sand bins and along the edge of the main building, extending also over the spur tracks. Th¢ operator’s cab is in the center of the 95 ft. span, £'V ing him a view of all operations. In the foundry is 4 10-ton overhead electric traveling crane, while an over- head hoist runway traverses the entire molding floor. As originally designed, the plant had a cupola 1n the place now occupied by the open-hearth furnace. The charging platform for this cupola was at the level 0! the top of the sand bins and there was an elevator 1! one corner of the charging floor. This floor had to ™ lowered about 10 ft. to form a charging floor for th: newly constructed open-hearth furnace, while a loading platform for scrap and other materials for the furnac October 4, 1923 was placed outside under the yard crane. Great dif- ficulty was experienced in cutting through the concrete and steel members of the building in lowering the floor just mentioned, because of the very rugged construction adopted. This same difficulty was experienced also in cutting doorways through the reinforced concrete walls of the old sand bins in refitting these bins for storage of patterns. Cleveland Steel Tube Co. Organized The Cleveland Steel Tube Co. has been organized with a capital stock of $1,200,000 by former stockhold- ers of the International Steel Tube Co. and has pur- chased the plant of that company, which had been in bankruptcy for some time, and which had never been placed in operation. The new company has also pur chased 20 acres adjoining the site of the plant, on which the old company had an option. The value of this land is said to have materially increased since the option was taken. Members of the new organization state ex “tit : ae The Electric Furnace Is Charged by a Sort of Mammoth Suga: Scoop This scoop is loaded at the bin, then wheeled into position for charging. With the nose of the scoop THE IRON AGE In Addition to the 10 Ton Crane Which Serves the Molding and Pouring Floor, a Monorail System With Hoists Extends Throughout This Sec- tion of the Plant. The roof structure with concrete tiling and good light may be noted from this illus- tration that all the claims against the old company have been paid, including claims for plant equipment which had not been installed when the former company got in financial difficulties. The new company expects to issue bonds to the amount of $400,000 to $500,000 to pro- vide working capital and hopes to be able to place the plant in operation within a few months. The officers of the Cleveland Steel Tube Co. are: Jacob Kahler, president; H. E. Smythe and J. E. Jontzen, vice-presi- dents; M. E. Cunningham, secretary, and H. D. Marble, treasurer. These officers, with F. E. Baker and Don F. Wood, constitute the board of directors. The railroads on Sept. 15 had 10,792 locomotives in need of repair, or 16.8 per cent of the total number on line, according to reports filed Oct. 1 by the carriers with the Car Service Division of the American Rail- way Association. This was an increase of 275 over the number of such locomotives on Sept. 1, at which time there were 10,517, or 16.3 per cent. ~ aw RE ee nserted into the charg- ing door of the fur- nace, the rear end is raised by a hoist and the material thus dumped into the fur- nace for melting [ron and Steel Exports Fall Once More | August Imports Smallest of Year—Pig Iron Imports Lowest in Months—Machinery Exports Increasing, with : Machine Tools Leading WASHINGTON, Oct. 2.—Exports of iron and steel in in August, 1922. Imports of machinery in August August totaled 161,426 gross tons, valued at $19,402,293, valued at $602,665, as against $796,596 in July. a slight decrease in volume from the exports of July, which amounted to 168,558 gross tons, valued at $21,- Exports by Countries of Destination 982,626. Imports of iron and steel in August aggre- (In Gross Tons) Hig Kight Mor Months 1 ] Steer linded August, Aug (In Gross Tons) August, August, 1923 19 Kicht Months Plates 1923 1923 Galvanized Wire: Ended August Canada 7,155 71,563 Canada .... 993 10 \ugus August Vhilippine SRORM ev vic 741 14,21 ) 1923 1922 1923 Islands .. 382 549 Mexico es 521 2 9 117 17.564 20).928 Japan L156 612 EOS dees 484 6,07 O84 ~ 9" O94) COR. vivusss 120 740 CRHG > 6. és. se 370 a : \ 84 77 657 South united a ‘ » EEO R84 hg 528 America .. S84 899 Kingdom . 267 l Mexico “a 13 507 CipG wa ss aes 253 | 9 684 76.421 79.601 Galvanized Sheets: _ Argentina .. 200 9,44 ; a5 10.@S Canada .. 1,878 25,616 Australia .. 181 1,66 S * ARK 12 §2 *127.876 111 124 Cuba . 1,069 9,530 Barbed Wire: \ 117 027 1.666 Philippine Ce: “ene a's's 863 7 \ 48 115 19.67 Islands .. SS 1,834 MGHION oc 732 2,7 o'r og =1 687 g3'en9 Mexico ... 196 4,333 Brazil ee 722 7,02 Sheet y nized » ¢ 8.942 29' 09 823.89] Central British South < ‘ ‘ 721 188.65 69.188 America . 399 2,700 Africa ... 511 { S 134 589 10.217. Chile ... 358 1,842 Australia .. 363 1,49 H : | i Japan ; 249 2,870 Colombia .. 229 ; 99 457 re nOR Argentina 284 3,630 Central ‘olombia 9 3,561 America .. 235 2,41 ‘ “4 { 0 Black Steel Sheets: Canada .... 105 1, S } Canada 3.926 38,998 West Indies ie 6.1 n material 16 1 SF 798 11.026 Japan 1080 19,907 Argentina .. .... 6.41 Structural material 7s Cuba 280 1,415 Steel Rails: tes 7.639 7 GBS 19 ORI 0.019 Argentina 1 1,690 ee, «cue be 7.618 34.868 Stes rails 17.658 718 902 2] 165.050 Philippine pS ee eee 4,972 49,7 R fastenings Islands ‘ ‘ 160 Canada .... 4,541 31,700 vitches. frogs. et 2 266 167 24 960 6 052 Tin Plate SEL. 5 6 asses 1,929 2,7 Boiler tubes. weld Soe Canada ~»- 2,314 19,4123 Philippine ind fittings 184 18 49 17.851 127.099 Japan » 1893 18,034 Islands .. 721 3,346 . ron pipe and fit . Argentina 748 3,833 Colombia 27 gS 2s 9 09 tQ4 17.270 17.897 Uruguay 267 o,eee Mexico .... 113 2,684 ‘ Wil 8.4 1690 86.74 62.206 China . 36 ; Honduras 10 7.34 pea Wire and Wovel Cuba . > 91 é Chosen eee 250 9 O04 vire fencing > 4 na 19 g {887 Hong Kong i8 2,022 Kwang Tung .... 11,14 Wir th and secre Mexico 153 1,413 Argentina .. .. S34 166 i) 4 1.16 Chile 74 1,264 cee 5 «aso - eee 2,11¢ Wire rope Rs 167 Lg 1504 Italy 2 266 New Zealand .... 10 WV nails > j 14.516 611 British \ ther nails and India > 931 ys 6.114 H < s { ys Y pnts Msc ae aia a sae ss chine tool exports in August totaled 19,022 in number, i Pasig aaleaaie’ Gan acme z eae 7s cae j2'ago With a value of $1 018,613, as against a total of 5176, I neg 89 167 6.877 H.SO with a value of $503,283, in July. Exports, January 1922. to July, 1923, Inclusive (Gross Tons) h All Tron Pig Semi-finishe _ o nad st Dare and Steel Iron Material *A\verage 1912 to 1914 . 2,406,218 221,582 145,72 *Average, 1915 to 1918 », 295,333 438,462 1,468,0 FAM + Dé me ma ° Calendar al G19 92 97 9 O98 958 Q() gated 45,439 tons, valued at $2,475,512, as against is ny . > oe Wiper 248°126 oy a ) » 7; - ‘ . 5 : , ‘ . ‘ ° 16,1406 é 160 a >, 40 464 tons, valued at $2,1 47,112, in July. Exp rts of Calendar year 1920 4,961,851 217,958 9216.87 achinery in August were valued at $28,240,760, Fiscal yc ar 1921; 5 4,168,619 wie ed a. 149 } OR . : . . . - : . ‘ - @,#ldv, é 25,000 ,00 ympared with $26,469,980 in July; and with $20,262,870 ihtaaien: aban ea een ree er Ja al £ O92 > 0 ’ February ‘ 133,975 1,430 6,62 March ... 208,843 2.724 10,00 Vachine Tool Exports \pril ; 198,830 2.750 9,37 May ‘ 230,062 3 897 3,09 August, 1923 July, 19238 June -o+ 212,295 1,996 13,17 Quantity Value Quantit Value 95 = $99,913 i $96,780 Fiscal year 1922 eat be 63,1 drilling ma- July 10,149 258 ti SO 24 67.505 Aucust 9.3 shapers and September 6.81 14 92,891 lf 32.538 October 8 36 a power Novembet 7,15 - ; I ‘ ‘ 7.704 14 19.0230 December 8.449 d ” 0,371 Mi nacn 18,481 13 17,913 Calendar year 1922...... 1,986,297 30,922 107,201 : eae ; AG ACcrew s fale ; January, 1923 te 123.190 2.482 10.56 ogee + se AVY L4t,on4 i 27,913 February. s a 133,902 2 786 7.733 - - é @ id she Pe March 4 7 at 163,920 2 881 11.416 ‘ b¢ ver hammers { ) a ie 10,006 \pril aa : ime 177,471 1,844 11,247 Rollins snaciia 100 3 oc, | es 203,389 848 12,824 . ing Iacnhnines | ] wi ie . ‘ . ** ove ‘ ° ' “2 ; Sharpening and grinding ee June . : ’ cr eerese 171,183 2,960 9,69- i Chucks, centering. lathe -_ (102 Miscal year 1923. .3..05 «3% 1,816,329 31,891 113.377 drill and other metal July , i seocee 168,558 2,966 6,480 working tools 2,429 26,090 2,271 36.504 August ..... en nen 161,426 3,117 9,684 Pneumatt portable tool 15.027 110.070 987 4.946 a i celia mang Eight months eee me 20,928 79,601 Total 19,022 $1,018,613 5.176 $503.9R8° , *Calendar years 888 October 4, 1923 Imports of iron.ore in August amounted to 267,677 tons, while imports.of manganese ore were 23,026 tons. For the eight months ended with August imports of iron ore reached the substantial volume of 2,035,535 tons, while imports of manganese ore for this period leaned ve" ona and Steel into the United States (In Gross Tons) Eight Months Ende d August August, August, - — - 1922 1923 192 2 1923 Pim IFO wc ce¥ occ esac 17,105 14,564 62,332 328,464 Ferromanganese ..... 15,959 6,845 69,093 64,894 BerrogilicoM «éececades 2,083 489 9,159 8.911 Sorae ss.ccncexsaceene 9,085 9,900 48,045 140,762 Steel ingots, blooms, billets, slabs and steel DRE “s5 6000s 3,904 3,579 14,936 12,623 Rails and splice bars.. 726 4,449 21,161 20,099 Structural shapes ... 355 1,389 1,598 7,463 Boiler and _ other IMAGE? sevicnvence. Saede 828 Je aae 1,312 Sheets and saw plates 54 740 383 1,672 Bar WOR sc cascasewne 619 1,208 3,909 6,271 Tubular BOOGIE ic Beco e ae “edeere 3,027 Castings and forgings* oe Mla 232 2,028 Nalis ahd sereWS"... <<a: Se} 8. aetna 883 TINDIRIO® 6c vw tude 66 160 2,185 9,631 Bolts, nuts, rivets and WASHOE” v2 cu canes er 22 ‘ 150 Wire SOG sc. eis ceeds 94 60 1,067 2,195 Round iron and steel WHO .cvanaceetasl ) emer 205 ea 2,755 Flat wire and_ strip MGR 6k Meee “aceite 58 Gin wee $13 Wire rope and insu- lated wire, all kinds* ewews 326 oes 780 iD: eee re 50,050 $5,439 233,868 614,726 Manganese ore ...... 62,121 23,026 280,668 27,238 On. OF8 wvacavreceseus 171,142 267,677 545.549 2,035,535 Magnesite 12,978 945 76,765 60,689 *Not reported separately previous to Sept. 22, 1922 were 127,988 tons. Pig iron imports were 14,564 tons in August and 328,464 tons in the eight months. Steel rails constituted the largest item of iron and steel exports in August. Of the foreign shipments in Leenveaneepeneneanroraaanenresenenne Imports of Machinery (By Value) Fight Months Ended August August, August, -—— <A - 1922 1923 1922 1923 Metal - working ma- chine tools and DOF. .x cvendadvaus $18.926 $14,486 $146,515 $265,069 Agricultural machin- ery andimplements 54,967 84,486 424,515 660,045 Electrical machinery and apparatus® .. ...... 12,587 hee 363,748 Other power gener- ating machinery.. ...... 52,438 plc 1,489,251 Other machinery 340,375 248,905 1,969,348 1,803,546 Vehicles, except cultural agri- 111,604 189,763 969,114 1,946,953 SUC =e Gare eaawat $525,872 $602,665 $3,509,492 $6,528,612 *Not reported previous to Sept. 22, 1922. this month, amounting to 22,718 tons, Cuba took the greatest tonnage, the quantity to that country amount- ing to 7618 tons, while Japan came second with 4972 tons and Canada third with 4541 tons. For the eight months Japan was the largest foreign buyer of Amer- ican steel rails, taking 49,753 tons out of a total of 165,050 tons. Of the 5781 tons of black steel sheets exported in August, Canada took 3026 tons and Japan 1080 tons. Imports of Tron and Steel in Gross Tons (Monthly Average) Manganese Total Pig Ferro- Oreand Imports Iron alloys Oxide* 1909 to 1913, inel..... 26,505 14,132 eae 1914 to 1918, inel..... 23,351 4.645 3,281 $47, 155 1919 to 1921, inel..... 23/901 5,708 3,710 37,115 i Oe ee eee 59,545 31,954 9,117 31,204 January, 1923..... 120,078 83,935 5,120 829 February ...... 67,704 35,793 9,234 4,636 one js! ee Ce 106,197 72,344 9,030 12,799 BONE ki eites bene Sis. oe 36,371 7,221 14,071 BMY «.vésuenadsnoew ea 75,885 39,764 10,482 12,734 June ae wh emdes . 68,019 30,033 12,794 36,138 Six months’ average... 85,964 49,706 8,980 13,535 POY 6 a0 eset eben aan 53,464 19,760 12,381 23,824 August sis alas aie ae 45,439 14,564 7,334 23,026 *Not included in “total imports. *Includes ferroalloys. tAverage for three years, 1916 to 1918 only. THE IRON AGE 889 By Value Eight Months Ended August, August, August, August, 1922 1923 1922 1923 Locomotives. f . $1,528,478 $289,725 $7,000,192 $2,982,943 Other Steam Engines 42, 243 40,790 364, 282 422,999 Boilers. . . a 118, 084 38,053 678, 785 727, 986 Accessories and Parts 58, 604 197, 631 696, 076 819, 734 Automobile Engines 237,013 280, 862 4,010,009 3,846,880 Other Internal Combustion Engines 682,921 528, 536 4,205,513 4,670, 451 Accessories and Parts for 222,701 309, 546 1, 759, 707 2,220, 765 Electric Locomotives 10, 462 321, 057 186, 821 2, 666, 287 Other Electric Machinery and Apparatus 428,550 676,021 5, 907, 647 5, 506, 509 Excavating Machinery. . . 75, 896 65, 650 926, 186 993,994 Concrete Mixers 51, 686 36,729 389,932 362, 685 Road Making Machinery 28, 236 101, 846 217,759 622,71 Elevator and Elevator Ma- chinery 367, 190 436, 850 2, 810, 082 3, 151, 129 Mining and Quarrying Ma- ehinery 515, 288 1,070,072 4,103,001 6, 366,346 Oil Well Machinery 160, 289 808, 054 2/979; 286 4,390, 852 Pumps. . 554,718 573, 408 3, 825, 423 4,728,724 Lathes 52,963 99,913 516, 898 560,978 Boring and Drilling Machines 31,371 46, 283 396, 098 433, 630 Planers, Shapers and Slotters. 11,980 32,891 193, 781 163, 403 Bending and Power Presses 16,061 77,704 262, 702 193,377 Gear Cutters 15,290 22, 131 77,168 117,009 Milling Machines 27,631 48,481 213,873 289, 061 Thread Cutting and Serew Machines 13, 530 114, 557 117,121 382, 666 Punching and Shearing Ma- chines 6,735 23, 443 112, 507 126 , 892 Power Hammers. = . 10, 534 22, 280 75,213 105, 001 Rolling Machines 734 1, 100 155,119 18, 849 Sharpening and Grinding Ma- chines 79, 356 93, 670 519, 335 656,519 Other Metal Working Ma- chinery and Parts of 527,438 481,850 3, 689, 856 3, 126, 002 Textile Machinery 618, 619 905,188 10,927,720 6,321,614 Sewing Machines 614,495 961,916 4,083,045 5,752, 283 Shoe Machinery 92,419 111,613 676, 533 944,962 Flour-Mill and Gristmill Ma- chinery 19,946 132,432 $41, 637 729, 676 Sugar-Mill Machinery 347,725 919,993 1,891, 615 2,442,960 Paper and Puip Mill Machinery 62, 652 135, 172 1, 283, 205 1,531, 638 Sawmill Machinery 30, 816 165, 249 372,568 478,142 Other Woodworking Machinery 186, 734 65, 797 922, 786 691,048 Refrigerating and Ice Making Machinery 72,709 139, 496 1, 287, 129 1,551,301 Air Compressors 286, 000 260 , 956 1, 466, 899 1,672,845 Typewriters 729.727 981,553 7,537,428 9.322, 192 Power Laundry Machinery 80,577 105, 887 435, 095 682,231 Typesetting Machines 253 , 882 387,709 2,503,704 2,361,949 Printing Presses 200, 735 476, 196 2,454,375 2,931, 460 Agricultural Machinery and Implements 3,533,483 6,325,306 16,537,000 34,479,641 All Other Machinery and Parts. 7,261,370 9,327,163 57,988,800 66,675,144 Total $20, 262,870 $28, 240,760 $157, 600,050 $189, 241,550 It is expected that as a result of the recent Japan- ese disaster considerable impetus will be given to American mills in the way of demand from Japan for black and galvanized sheets, pipe, wire nails and cer- tain types of machinery. While it is doubted that this demand will be reflected in the September export move- ment, it is believed that it will be shown in foreign shipments of October. Imports of August reveal a further decline in in- Sources of American Imports of Pig Iron (In Gross Tons) Fight Fight Months Months Ended Ended August, August, August, August 1923 1923 1923 1923 England 6,036 164,464 Mexico .. 1 1 British India 5,062 13,980 Belgium 12,817 Canada 2,375 40,858 Germany 20,740 France 5 595 56,604 Austria bam bean 299 China , 275 oon Sweden . . 120 705 Total . -14,564 328,464 Seotland F 100 16,771 coming shipments of pig iron. The movement of this blast furnace product to the United States gradually has been tapering off since domestic furnaces have been meeting demands. Of the imports of pig iron in August, amounting to 14,564 tons, 6036 tons came from England and 5062 tons from Canada. American Imports of Iron Ore (In Gross Tons) Sources of Eight Months Ended August August, August, ——___—__A~ 1922 1923 1922 1923 Spain ee, teehee 28,197 184,000 Sweden covets, Cle 52,523 185,952 599,082 ares 87 369 1,408 23,379 Cuba . cease eee 96,650 199,489 527,001 Other countries. 36,506 118,135 130,503 702,073 Total 171,142 267,677 545,549 2 035, 535 et New Experiments with Repeated Shoeks ' Influence of Cold Drawing Considerable, Especially on Due- tility—Ultimate Strength and Elastic Limit Raised: Compression and Elongation Lowered BY N a preceding article, we drew attention to the im- portance which is attributed to resiliency, while not enough stress is laid upon the elastic limit. We have seen pieces of extra soft steel with 2 per cent nickel, which frequently broke, giving 30 to kilo- grammeters (217 to 253 foot-pounds) in the shock test Mesnager bars. To avoid all variation in breakage, s found necessary to temper them and thus make them exceed the elastic limit of 30 40, while the re- siliency came down to 13 kilogrammeters 94 ft.-lb.). or ov on + a { a W to Moreover, we clearly pointed out that this point of view was not new; that es LEON GUILLET in.) length and 13.8 mm. (0.543 in.) diameter, the n being, as should be carefully noted, in its cold } mered or tempered condition. Breaking Test ] i This was performed on Mesnager test bars of 10 x 55 mm. (0.39 x 0.39 x 2.16 in.), with groove of 2 » mm. (0.08 x 0.08 in.) round bottom, which were bro with Charpy hanging drop hammer. pecially the experiments of Mr. Nus- baumert had demonstrated it quite learly. He added, however, that at all N00 c events it was necessary to insist on the 4 ’ steel makers and metallurgists realizing 0 40 learly these little known facts; more- = ' ver, to insist on the tests being made a good deal more popular, by continued ( q ‘fforts along these lines. r To put the matter still more tersely, we have made a series of tests that have i seemed suggestive, notwithstanding the 3 criticisms which might be made against ba them. In these tests, we took a bar of at ordinary soft steel, of good quality, which gE was tempered at 850 deg C. (1562 deg. f Fahr.); the bar was of round section, | [evi | © — | JOSS sees ae ae with a diameter of 18 mm. (0.71 m.). 7 We cut it into five equal parts and, while ab ee = - ait oat one of these parts was left at its original : 2 5 3 diameter, the others were turned to 17, ed vO r, mm 16, 15.5 and 15 mm. (0.67, 0.63, 0.61 and (General Comparison of Compressive Resistance with Tensile Strength 0.59 1n.). nd Elastic Limit, Ductility and Brittleness, Resistance to Shock and 4 Then the first three were drawn out Brinell Hardness Number ia 30 as to reduce all three, as well as the =} piece of 18 mm. diameter, to 15 mm. Under these Hardness Tests rn onditions we had five bars, all o 5 n. diamete ‘ - j which had undergone the ees aca ? These ———e made under 2 eee of 1000 kg. 2205 1. A tempered bar. lb.), with 10 mm. (0.39 in. diameter) ball, the test being 2. A thin drawn bar, tapered 0.5 mm. on the diam- made on a shock test bar, with the direction of appli - cation perpendicular to the direction of drawing. 3. A thin drawn bar, tapered 1 mm. on