EbbsSbS
flffP,"
THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH.
SECOND PART.
PAGES 9 TO 12.
DIFFERED COST
Of the Improvement of the Riv
ers and Purchase of the
Railroads.
THE FIRST AN EASY TASK
Compared to the Complications Sure
to Follow the Other.
NOT A SOCIALISTIC EKTERPKISE,
Cat One That Woald Encourage Competi
tion and Individualism.
EFFECT OX inOJT, COAL, GKAIN AKD OIL
PAPEE NO. 10.
The people of the United States can do
one of two things: they can improve their
waterways at a cost of 515.000 per mile; or
they can buy the railroads at a cost of 560,
000 per mile.
They must do one thing or the other, and
that very soon.
They can improve their waterways and
ptovide transportation routes ample for the
traffic of all times; or they can buy the rail
roads, extend them and increase them yearly
and let the next generation improve the
waterway s as the only adequate relief.
To improve the waterways will not mater
ially add to the duties of employes ot the
Government, complicate its organization or
so extend its functions as to increase its
interference with the citizen. To buy the
railroads would so load the Government
with duties, complicate its organization and
increase the number oi its employes that the
machine could hardly be made to run; while
the relations of the Government to the daily
life and business of the people wonld be so
close the individual would be touched so
nearly and so constantly that a chance ot
party would mean ruin to whole sections of
the country. As a resnit party strifes
would be intense and perpetual, to the ex
tent of rendering life unbearable nnder such
conditions.
To improve the waterways would augment
and perfect that glorious individualism
which is the mainsprine of success in Amer
ican Democracy its elastic strength, its
supple grace, its all-conquering, all-uplifting
fire.
To buy the railroads would bring upon ns
an onerous State socialism destructive to
our manly fiber. We would be bound in
fetters, cribbed in iron vaults, our individ
ualism destroyed, onr progress hampered
beyond conception.
Individualism in democracy is Ameri
can, a wonder-working genius.
State socialism is Chinese lead wings for
the eagle.
It may be argued we do not hang on the
horns of this dilemma. "We do.
Seventy years ago Webster said of the
then new law of succession in France that
the Government must change the law or the
law would change the Government. The
French Benublic proclaims the foresight of
the American statesman.
No Websterian foresight is needed to see
that our people must chance transportation
methods, or the transportation methods will
chain the people.
What! Arc we to see the people taxed
5400,000,000 a year that 40 railroad nabobs
may have incomes or 510,000,000 each?
To this measure is it cornel Every dollar
of increase in the fortunes of these nabobs is
represented by a dollar of depreciation in
the value of the farmers' lands. Charginz
'what the traffic will bear" has been rather
teverc on farmers, who have seen their lands
shrink in value and their debts increase.
The people are robbed, the few are made
nargerously wealthy. The past 30 years
lme witnessed a most cxtraordinarv con
centration of wealth in these United States.
A lew families have become affluent by
ll c increasing value of citv property; a few
bankers and merchants, have piled up rail
lions by increasing devotion to trade. This
happens everywhere and can be guarded
against only bv a law of succession, such ns
that of Trance. A few manufacturers have
made zreat fortunes, while building up our
industries, with the consent and approval
of the people. Inventors have produced
ideas which have added enormously to the
wealth, comfort and productive power of
the people at large, and have reaped con
siderable profits, as they deserved to do.
But none of these people have enriched
themselves by making other people poorer.
All the fortunes in the above category are
tmial compared to the great sums of money
ncniunulated by the transportation nabobs.
Here is the bald comparison. On the one
hand are the transportation nabobs, enor
mously, dangerously wcilthy; on the other
hand are our farmers, who have employed
ana been robbed by them, grown poorer and
poorer with every passing year.
The men who have carried the freight
have "chargea what the traffic will bear";
the farmers, who fnrnish the traffic, have
seen their profits dissolved in the water of
the corporations.
Within 30 vears the transportation nabobs
hae grabbed one-fourth of the treasure of
!.c nation, and the farmers' lands have
shrunk in value an equal amount.
It is futile for sophistry to endeavor to
veil the facts with fine phrases. The people
cannot be fooled. They have paid too well
for their knowledge.
They see that the farmers, the mass of the
people, have lost their monev.
They see that the railroad and transporta
tion nabobs have got it.
What can be done about it? Indolence
may suggest that we let thincs go; allow the
inequality to increase until the nabobs own
eicirthing and the people notning; until
ve have become a nation made up of a few
princes and a world of paupers; that we
drift into a bastard feudalism, lacking the
manly and charitable features of its media
yal namesake; until the plaint of the poet
JUW rH g - -K IM 05JVCE ' ' ' 1 ' ' ' I Tl M 11 i n ,
SKKIU i 1 KK m B J , CASX WcFl I " I
' ! v -Si . ! ' v
v ' zn t I
,pHj rn t" ii rs5j ? , '
i , csujuj t s ' jjtai jLSi M I I v
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22 S " S 3S Sg j i " , J
" ' ' . . .' ' t ' 1 " U f I ... JL.. .1 4 1 I '
of "The Deserted Village" becomes the wail
of our once fair country:
111 fares the land, to bast'nlng ills a pray.
Whore wealth accumulates and men decay.
Pnnce and lords mav flourish, or may fade,
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
liut a bold peasantry, their country's pride.
When once destroyed can never be supplied.
Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who surrey
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay.
Tis yours to indf e how wide the limits stand
Between a splendid and a happy land.
Dishonesty may tempt, in sophistical
propositions, to "resume" or appropriate
the railroads, after the Henry George plan
steal them, in plain English, as he pro
poses we should "tax" the land.
Propositions emanating from confused,
impotent or dishonest minds will never find
ear with us. . The United States will never
impair the validity of a contract. "We are
not a nation of rogues, whatever fine speci
mens ot that kind we may turn out.
Xejther are we a nation ot do-nothings. :
We will adopt one of two courses; in the
last resort, every other measure failing, we
would buy the railroads and operate them
for the public good, as nearly as we could,
assuming the tremendous burden on our
means and the awiul strain on our political
system.
But this desperate chance will not come.
A wide open way is before uand we need
but walk therein to escape the evils of our
present state without incurring the risk in
cident to a radical change of policy and
Bysicm. i
Our relief is in our waterways. By im- J
proving them we will reduce our railways
to a subordinate position, and restore to the
people their prestige and primacy. Our
ncglectof nature's opportnnities our water
ways our natural avenues of trade has
made the transportation nabobs our masters
has placed it in the power of a clique to
ruin millions of people. To do our duty,
now will shear these people of their power
and make them our fellow laborers.
With highly developed railway transpor
tation facilities and undeveloped water
transportation routes, the waterways feed
the railroads. The resources of nature and
the labors of the people all go to enrich the
railroads. They command, and all other
things and people are subordinate to them.
To develop our water routes, make them
navigable to the fullest possible extent, and
connect them by great arterial canals, will
make the railroads the feeders ot the water
ways, restore to the people sovereign power
and prosperity, and reduce the inequalities
of wealth.
Then the resources of nature and the in
dustry of the people will enrich the people
and not a few.
This will follow when the development of
our waterways enables a man with $5,000 to
become a common carrier, where to-day a
thousand times that sum is not sufficient
capital. This will follow cheap water trans
portation, bringing widely separated regions
into cheap exchange, and establishing trade
and competition between regions now en
tirely cut off from intercourse.
Let us see how this would work In par
ticular instances. New England and the
East arc to-day in the clutches of the
Anthracite Coal Combination cut off from
the boundless coal measures of the Ohio
Valley, as though on another planet Her
manmacturcrs and families pay 55 a ton or
more for coal. Given 20 feet of water be-'
tween Pittsburg and the Hudson river, and
snips will load coal at the mine's month, and
lay it down on the wharves ot Bangor,
Boston, Fall Kiver, Providence, Bridgeport,
Hartford, New York, Syracuse, Rochester
ct al, lor less than halt what these places
now pay.
Thus the Anthracite Coal Combination
would be broken, the people east of the
mountains rescued from a villainous extor
tion amounting to 550,000,000 a year, and
the demand for Monongahcla coal increase
200.000,000 bushels per year.
Such items as the following would cease
to appear;
KEGtJLATING COAX. TBODUCTION.
Sales Asents Hold a Sleeting at New York
and Take Action.
New Yoek, Jan. It The sales agents ot the
coal-producing companies met to-day and were
In session about two honrs. No official Infor
mation could be obtained In rejrard to the re
sults arnreu at. but it is stitprl that afler a
lull discussion of the condition of tbo trade, it
was decided to arrange monthly productions
on the basis ot a production of 37,0001000 tons
lor the year, and lo continue the percentages
that were in lorce during the past year.
The saving to the people east ot the Alle
gheny Mountains, in coal bills alone, will
in six months pay for the canal from Pitts
burg to Lake Erie. In iour years it will
pay for an opeu waterway 20 feet deep from
Pittsburg to New York; and in six vears
will pay far the loute from New York "City
to the head waters ot the Missouri.
It was the perception of this erand oppor
tunity,.and the desire to divert the profits
therefrom arising, away from the people
and into their own pockets, that led the
Standard Oil monopoly to dispatch their
ablestengioeer and most trusted agent, W.
P. Shinn, to buy the Monongabela coal
field, immediately after the Pittsburg and
Erie Ship Canal was broached and the
American Society of Civil Engineers had
taken under consideration the creation of a
navigable waterway 20 feet deep from Buf
falo to New York City.
The effect on the l'on and steel business
would be almost equally marked. The
competition of the mills at Steelton, Spar
row's Point, and other Eastern points, when
aided by railroad tariffs on onr products,
will prevent ni from lending a rail or a bar
l2 1 i '. sl sts D , g) fj su-gi sIsiolslolol-cJcJololoilioisioi'gi gi,
th, -j -M ii&rf&L ',V -a - .; tj
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H , , HjCiMBjjurjD.Jt ugggzl J 'DIAGRAM i
' 1 jsiifc 3 -msc 3ALNG D STAIICIS "i
i,;. v f ft-juaasa p j( Y Uf
I? 49' I I HFZLsaL-ii.lJPnpairfiirrheu .!
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fo( Y .Slk i i. j ". j ATopo rap ilea En line srf
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east of the mountains. Water transporta
tion, together with our cheaper ore and
fuel, will put us on equal footing. We can
sell our metal in any port on the Atlantic
or any of its rivers. Yesl right in Balti
more, to the neighbor of the Sparrow's Point
mills.
Free navigation will redeem the oil busi
ness. Tank steamers will load crude or re
fined oil right in the heart of the oil coun
try, the independent oil producer will have
as cood and as cheap an outlet as any com
petitor, and the Standard Oil Monopoly,
which exists by virtue of its control of the
pipe lines, will become a legitimate business
enterprise, competing on even terms.
Let us seeliow the grain trade wonld be
affected. The cost oi transferring grain
from the farmer in Kansas or Nebraska to
the consumer in the East, or putting it afloat
in New York, is from 20 to 30 cents per
bushel. The development of our water
routes would save freight and elevator
charges to an average amount of 15 cents per
bushel. This train, or half this gain, means
the gain of independence to the Western
farmer.
There is yet another aspect to the ques
tion. At this moment corn is 60 cents in
Pittsburg, 60 cents in New York, 60 cents
in St. Louis, and probably 30 cents in Kan
sas. Coal is worth 5 cents a bushel in Pitts
burg, 20 cents in New York, and 40 cents in
Kansas. It would seem that Pittsburg
coal and Kansas corn would be exchanged.
No I Transnortation rates forbidl
The Kansas farmer can burn his cor,
and the Ohio Valley miner can work half
time. The improvement ot our rivers
would bring these people together. Coal
would go to people who want warmth and
light and power, and corn would come to
those who want meat. The Kansas farmer
would live and prosper and the Oh,ion Val
ley miner would work full time.
These things cannot be considered nar
rowly. We cannot help one section only.
Every sod turned in the Missouri Valley
makes a pulse leap in the heart of Eastern
business.
New Ensland cannot grow cheap grain;
but her farms are peculiarly well watered
and adapted to stock and dairy farming.
Cheap water transportation, giving her
cheap grain, would build up her stock and
dairy industry, repeopie her healthy hills
and vastly widen the grain market Under
such conditions New Eneland wonld ex
port great quantities of meat and dairy
products. Her market for hides she does
not look abroad for.
The great copper-producing districts are
Montana and the Lake Superior district.
The great copper and brass mills are, with
few exceptions, in Connecticut The de
velopment of waterways giving cheap con
nections between these widely separated
regions would reduce by one-tenth the cost
of brass and copper goods.
In 1800 the world produced about 300,000
tons (2,000 lbs.) of copper. We produced
130,255 tons; 61,475 tons coming from Mon
tana, ot which Anaconda yielded 32,023
tons. Lake Superior produced 49,785 tons,
29,500 coming from Calumet & Hccla.
If Montana had water transportation to
the Atlantic by an improved Missouri, and
the great arterial canals, the saving in
freight on her Eait-bound copper would be
not less than $1,000,000 yearly enough to
pay tor 35 miles of first-class river improve
ment; while the saving in freight on the
manufactured product from the Eastern
mills to the consumers would be half as
great The saving on 187,000 tons of lead
would equal that on coppei; and the saving
on C8,000 tons of zinc would be no mean
figure.
It is probable that the saving in freights
on copper, lead, and zinc and their manu-.
factures would exceed $5,000,000 annually,
which stems a great sum. But how small
does it appear when we trv to imagine the
effect of the saving ou the 17,300,000 tons of
domestic and 2,800,000 tons ol imported iron
ore, and the iron and steel produced there-
iron, more than one halt ot wnicn would
have found a market alone the line of our
great river system; on the tens of millions of
tons ot coal, and the hundreds ot millions oi
tons of agricultural products.
Why do not the cotton growers of the
lower Mississippi sell their bales to the
cloth-wearers ot the upper vallev? Why
does the fiber go to New England, and the
cloth, the cotton, and the goods in which
tucy are paid for make the circuit of the
country instead of following the short,
straight line from producers to consumers?
Because so long as our rivers are unim
proved, the longer is the cheaper way.
The same is true of wool and woolens.
Transportation charges compel unnatural
and expensive courses.
Given water transportation and St Louis
ought to be the center of the woolen and
cotton trades, because located at the inter
section of the roads connecting the people
who grow the fibers and the people who must
wear the fabrics.
To enumerate all the phases of this ques
tion would be to discuss the business of
every village and every man in the United
States, and then to treat of foreign conn
tries. Let those interested figure it out for
themselves. Let them determine sailing
distances, as given Jn the diagram, to their
markets, and then calculate the difference
between water transportation at 1 or 1
mills per ton per piile and what they now
pay. The result will make every man who
will do so a believer in, and an advocate of,
the improvement of onr rivers to the fullest
extent, to rob them of their destructive
power, ana at the same time to create a ays-
PITTSBTTE&, SATURDAY,
tern of navigable waterways free to all the
people.
The main object of these papers has been
to make clear to the people of the Missis
sippi Valley that their interests are one;
that what will benefit the people of the
extreme headwaters ot the tributaries will
'also benefit the dwellers of the bottom lands;
that the measure desirable to add to the
wealth of the one section are necessary to
preserve the lives and property of the
other. Although these people are separated
by vast distances; live in different climates;
follow different pursuits; their interests are
united.
Owing to the labor necessary to prepare
these papers and also to give time lor con
sideration of what has been printed the
publication of the next papers will be de
ferred for some weeks. Later it will be
shown that the interests ot the Pacific States
are closely linked to those of the people of
the Mississippi Valley and that the im
provement of the waterways of the Missis
sippi Valley is a necessary part of. the Pan
American plan of building up the com
mercial intercourse of the republics of this
continent.
It will also he shown that in (he arid re
gions of the West, irrigation and naviga
tion must go hand in hand; that the same
measures will provide the water necessary
to grow the crops and the means to give
them carriage when they are harvested. In
this connection, also, they will give an an
alysis ot the rainfall in the Mississippi
Valley, and show the moderating effect upon
n
To determine sailinq distances, by improved rivers and
arterial canals, find city on diagram and look on top or bottom
for distance in miles from New York.
Points on Lower Mississippi and tributaries, as Red and
Arkansas rivers, do not figure to New York.
the temperature and humidity of the air, of
developing to the fullest extent the reservoir
action of the water courses of those regions.
The necessity in these regions of saving
the water, that with it we may redeem the
land to agriculture, requires "an improved
method of locking vessels. One paper will
therefore be devoted to describing a lock or
ship elevator which will permit navigation
without preventing irrigation by wasting
the water in raising and loweringyvefsels.
HEAD Robert Louis Steyenson's opening
South Sea Island letter in to-morrow's bie
DISPATCH.
PROPERTY VALUATION.
The County Commissioners Think It Is Too
low and Issue a Circular to the Assessors
Tho Board of Revision "Willing to
Work.
The following circular was issued from
the County Commissioners' office yesterday:
There appears to exist with some people, in
various parts of the county, a doubt as to
whether assistant assessors are to be elected at
the election to be held on the third Tuesday of
February, 1891. Wo wish to state for the In
formation of all persons interested, that under
tho existing law, no candidate for the office of
principal Assessor should be voted for at the
coming election in borouehs, townships and
cities of the third class. But two assistant as
sessors shall be elected in all wards, townships
and boroughs, except Braddock borough.
Homestead borough, Millvale borough, Taren'
turn borough, Wilkinsburg borough. In cities
of the second class, there should be elected one
principal ana two assistant assessors.
Fromreportson flloin this office it appears
that a great inequality of valuation is shown.
In some districts too low a valuation is on tho
records, while in many other districts the most
glaring inequalities are found. In order to
correct this condition of affairs, and in its stead
to have a just, trne, equitable and legal
valuation for taxable purposes, men should be
elected as assistant assessors with a view to this
end. It is very important that the assistant as
sessors should he men possessed not only of
local interests, but also be citizens of good
judgment While there are some snch men on
the various Boards of Assessors, there are not
enough. Tho equities of the case demand that
radical changes be made in tho county valua
tions at the next triennial assessment.
It is the desire of the County Commissioners
to assist the Board of Assessors all that lies in
their power in the performance of their dlffl
cult duties. With this object we have prepaiea
lists of sales for the two years past, of property
in tho different districts, together with tho
prices paid, for the use of the respectivo Boards
of Assessors, who, we trust with this as their
guido in making the triennial assessment dur
ing the fall and winter months ot this year will
be able to mako the best assessment vet re
turned to this office. J
Inequalities have heretofore prevailed to-wif
The valuation in some districts is not more than
50 per cent of the real value, while in others
they run CO. 80 and 100 per cent of the real
value. This is owine altogether to the fact that
tho Board of Revision has not in this county
sufficient time to revise and adjust the returns
of tbo different Boards of Assessors; and if the
Boards of Assessors will follow closely and to
tbo letter the instructions given under tho dif.
fcrcnt acts of Assembly, it will obviate the
necessity of the Board of Revision increasing
tho return made by any Board of Assessors!
which certainly will bo done when it appears
that the returns are not in conformity with the
acts of Assembly and the information fur
nished. A hearty co-operation on this bisis by
all Boards of Assessors will prove to be a real
benefit to the vast majority of the taxpayers bf
the county.
WOMEN trace workers receive attention
at the hands of Bessie Bramble in THE DIS
TATCH to-morrow.
THEY MUST WOBK HOW,
Buttner and Hughes, the Divorce Paper
Forgers, SentenceoUto Imprisonment
New Yoek, Jan. 30. William H.
Buttner and William D. Hughes, con
victed of forging divorce papers, were
sentenced in the Court of General Sessions
this forenoon by Eecordcr Smvth.
Hughes was sentenced to five years' im
prisonment, aud Buttner to seven years at
hard labor.
FAILED FOB 8600,000.
The Winona Paper Company, of Holyoke,
Suspends Payments.
SPBinaFiELD, Mass., Jan. 30. The
Winona Paper Company, of Holyoke, has
suspended payment The liabilities amount
to nearly $000,000.
The company claims that its assets amount
to considerably more than its liabilities.
BEAD Itudyartl Kipling's third letter on
America - In To-Sorrow' DUpatch,
JANUARY 31, 1891.
THE BOTTOM POINT,
Prices on All Kinds of Iron
Touch Almost the Lowest
Spot on Record.
NO REACTION IN PROSPECT.
The Local Situation How . Presents
Many Serious Conditions.
LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION OF IT.
A Nnmbar of Heavy Contracts for Some
Pittsburg Companies.
IHCEEASIKG TOE CAPACITY OP SIILLB.
The close ot the month of January finds
the local iron and steel trades confronted
with many serious conditions. The pro
ductive capacity of the country is far beyond
the present demand, and, as a conseqnence,
prices on every grade of raw or manufac
tured iron and steel are down to almost the
lowest point ever known. This is especially
true of pig iron and steel rails, and the most
disconraging feature is that there is likely to
be no reaction in prices, at least during the
remaining months of this winter. Though
the production of steel rails has been greatlv
reduced in Pittsburg during the last six
weeks, it is still far beyond all requirements.
The formation of the Steel Bail Makers'
Association in the East last week, having
for its object the regulation and divis
ion of the output among the different
mills, may relieve the trade somewhat, but
owing to the refusal of the Carnegie and the
Illinois Steel Company, the two largest produ
cers in the country, to enter.the success of the
association is doubted. The best evidence
of the abnormal depression iu this branch of
the trade is the shutdown of the four mills ot
the Illinois Steel Company, all of which
have been idle since January 1, aud it is
expected that none of them will resume
again before February. The Edgar Thom
son Works will also close down in about a
week, to remain closed for repairing, which
will last about a month.
The Pig Iron Situation.
Among pig iron producers the situation is
no brighter than in the steel rail trade.
Among the local furnaces 23 furnaces arc in
blast, casting about 4,200 tons daily and
four are out of blast furnaces A
and X) at the Edgar Thomson plant
at Braddock, one stack at the
new furnaces of the Monongabela Furnace
Company near McKeesport and one stack
at the Isabella plant near this city. The
reason of the activity among Pittsburg
furnaces in the face of the general dullness
is the fact that all the iron produced in this
vicinity is consnmed at the various mills of
those who produce it. There is quite a laree
stock of pig iron held at the different
furnace and storage yards in and about the
citv awaiting a rise in prices for disposition.
There is no change whatever in the con
dition of affairs among the Mahoning and
Shenango "Valley furnacem en, though many
persons in a position to know
declare that the railroads are beginning
to show signs of weakness. The fur-
nacemenin the valleys, have reorganized
the "old association into a new one under the
name of the Mahoning and Sbenanco
Valley Iron Manufacturers' Association,
and will include every mill and furnace in
the two valleys. What this shut-down
means to the trade is shown in the fact that
at the first of the year the productive capac
ity of the two valleys was 20,000 tons per
week.
The result has paralyzed business within
a radius of 100 miles of Youngstown.
Almost all the men employed in the lime
stone quarries in that vicinity have been
discharged and are now idle. The different
railroad companies entering the two valleys
have thousands of empty cars idle, and
many of their brakemen, engineers and fire
men are seeking employment elsewhere.
The idleness among the furnaces has further
caused a decrease in the demand for coke.
Operators Are Standing Firm.
There is no change in the strike between
the miners and operators along the Monon
gahcla river. The operators declare most
positively that they cannopand will not pay
the 4 cent advance asked for. The ship
ments during 1890 were the largest in the
history of the trade, and the consequence is
tnat stocks ot coal are extremely large at
Southern ports, and Monongahcla river coal
can be bought on the flats at Cincinnati as
cheaply as it can be bought here in Pitts
burg.
The mine owners further declare that the
miners are being illy advised; that the walk
ing delegates and master workmen are con
tinually stirring up strife in order to attach
importance to their position as the leaders of
tiie strikers and afterward as the instru
ments of peace, and that the miners fail to
recognize the fact that Pittsburg does not
hold supreme sway over the Southern mar
kets, as in years gone by, but it must enter
into active competition with Kanawha, Ken
tucky, Tennessee and Alabama coal. On
the side of thd strikers their leaders main
tain that the men arc more determined than
ever; that they are more united and better
equipped to go through this strike than they
ever have been, and nothing less than 3
cents per bushel will satisfy them.
The miners further assert that the bill
now pending in the Legislature for the cre
ation of an examining board of mining ex
perts, and that all miners must pass a satis
factory examination and receive a certificate
of efficiency before eligible to work in a
mine, will prevent the operators from secur
ing Hungarians. TJp to the .present writing
there has been no suffering among tne
miners lor lack of food or clothing. They
went into the struggle prepared for a long
sicce, and ant aid that may be needed will
be furnished from the general defense fund.
Increased Demand for CoaL
The changes among mills from gas to coal
is progressing slowly, caused by the insuf
ficient mill sidings, and the timo and mobey
which are necessary to build receptacles for
the coal. TJp to the present there are 24
mills out of the 36 mills in the city wherein
coal. is wholly or partially used. The
change i3 principally in puddling furnaces
and will increase the consumption of coal
about 2,500 tons every day. There is also
quite a heavy demand for slack coal for use
in gas prodncers and other devices! for fuel
making.
At Lindsay & McCutcheon's mill there
has been a periodical shortage of coal owing
to the miners' strike. Such has been the
case at J. Painter Sons& Co.'s mill iu the
West .End and 300 men were idle temporar
ily. At this latter mill about SO furnaces
arc now using coal and 26 others,
together with all the furmices in the
heating department are being supplied with
gas. The trestle work for the coal dump at
this mill is now being built. At the lower
Union Mill of Carnegie, Phipps & Co., on
Twenty-ninth street, on the 28th iust., five
heats were made in one turn for the first
time in three months. Orders at this mill
are not very plentiful. At the Thirty-third
street mill operations were resumed on the
26th inst. after a suspension of six weeks.
The firm wjs experimenting with the Linn
crude oil at one of the furnaces iu this mill,
similar to the process tried at Painter's mill,
but the return ,of a full supply of gas pre
vented a completion of the experiment.
At Park Bros. & Co.'s mill the shortage
was at one timoTery serious, the fall work'. J
ing force of 1,200 men being at times idle.
Many of the departments were shnt down for
repairs last week. Coal is to be tried in
eight of the puddling furnaces as a reserve.
At the Pennsylvania Tube Company new
furnaces were built and are adapted to use
fuel gas. Producers were also constructed
without interfering with operations.
Itesorting to Fuel Gas.
A number of furnaces are running on fuel
gag manufactured from coal, and recently
150 tons to each heating furnace was heated
with this fuel in 24 hours. .
It is reported that a company with a
capital of 5200,000 has purchased a site in
the Twenty-t;hird ward, this city, on which
to construct a plant to produce iron for
crucible steel by the Adams direct process,
the capacity to be 60 tons per day. The
Latrobe Steel Works has adopted the
Adams direct process for making open
hearth steel for locomotive tires. They are
having constructed at Youngstown a tire
mill, which will roll tires from the size of
the largest locomotive to that of n small
car wheel. The mill weighs 100 tons, con
tains seven hydraulic cylinders, and will be
driven by a pair of 1,400 horse-power
engines.
The strike inaugurated some weeks ago at
the works of the Braddock Wire Company
is still in force, and, at present, appears to
be no nearer settlement than when it was
first enforced. The men claim it is not con
tinued solely for the reinstatement of the
two discharged rail workers, but also to
obtain recognition of the Amalgamated
Association Committees by the manage
ment. Tne strike at Baker's Chain Works
at last accounts was still on. Twenty-five
furnaces are idle on account of it, and the
boys who are out for an advance ot 20 cents
a day, declare they will not return without
the advance.
Strikers Were Not Sustained.
The Millvale Iron Company started in ail
departments after two weeks' shut down.
The strike was not sustained by the nnion,
and new men were secured at Carrie Furnace
Ho. 1. The three old style hot-blast stoves,
which are in use at present, will be replaced
with a similar number of Massock &
Cooke's make. At the Homestead Steel
Works they are now turning out steel plates
for 16 new boilers for two blastfurnaces
built by the Badford Crane and Iron Com
pany, Virginia. Kiter & Conley, of this
city, have secured the contract for making
the boilers, which will be each 32 feet long
and 42 inches in diameter.
At the works of the Lewis Foundry and
Machine Company they are building a 150
ton Tallman wire rod mill for the United
States Steel Company, of Jactson, O. The
Lewis firm has also shipped to the Roanoke
Iron Company, ot Roanoke, Ya., a 50-ton
squeezer and a large shear. Will
iam Fisher's engine, fonndry and machine
works has secured a contract tor a crnsher and
nine-foot grinding pan for a local brick
making firm. They just skipped two similar
pans as the above to the Crescent works, on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Wilson,
Snyder & Co. have been awarded the con
tract for building two 10,000,000-galIon
pumps for the Cincinnati Water Works.
Riter & Conley have seenred the contract
from Bicbard Heckscher & Sons, of Swede
land, to build their No. 2 furnace, which
will be 15J feet by 80 feet, and erected at
Swedeland.
The Totten & Hogg Iron and Steel Com
pany is furnishing, besides other equip
ment for the Westerman Natural Gas and
Iron Company, at Marion, Ind., a large
double lever plate shear. The local com
pany is also turning out a number of steel
castings for drawbridge construction at
Memphis and other Southern points, as well
as stocking up on tneir stone crushers, an
ticipating a heavy demand next season.
Big Orders lor Local Firms.
H. K. Porter & Co. are ready to ship for
the United States Government, for use on
the Mussle Shoals Canal improvement in
Alabama, in towing barges through the
canalL'two Forney style locomotives. 48
inches gauge, ana named respectively "Yan
kee" and "Dixie." J. R, Witherow & Co.
have contracts on hand for the construction
of nine new blast fnrnaces, all at different
points in thr South, and all of the material
for the construction of which will be sup
plied from this market.
The following is a partial list of orders
received by the Westinghouse Machine
Company: For compound engines, one 200
horse power, for New York, Cincinnati and
St. Louis eacn, and two 200-horse power lor
Newark, N. J.; two 150-borse power for De
troit; one 150-borse power for Gilford, Ark.;
one 100-horse nower lor New York and Gal
veston; one SO-horse power for Media, Pa.;
two 65-horse power for Bryn Mawr, Pa.;
two 50-horse power and one 33-horse power
forsbiptnent to Australia. For Standard
engines, one 250-horse power for Michigan
City, Ind.; one 100-horse power for West
Croton, Mass., and onn 45-horse power for
Germany. For Junior engines, one 75
horse power for New Cumberland, W. Va.,
and two 60-horse power for Walls station.
The aggregate sales for the month of Decem
ber were 47 engines, with a total horse
power of 3,530. The sales for the entire
year of 1890 numbered over 900 engines,
with an aggregate horse power of over
60,000.
Improvements, Additions and Stoppaces.
The men employed at the National Tube
Works, numbering about 4,000, have a
movement on foot to organize a mutual
benefit association. Hussey, Binns & Co.,
of this city, recently melted the first crucible
steel ever produced in Washington county,
at their new works at Charleroi. The Clin
ton Furnace, on the Southside, was recently
banked, to admit oi necessary repairs being
made.
Shoenberger & Co.'s blast furnaces, on
Pike street, are now doing better work than
ever. In one week recently the largest ton
nage of pig iron in the history of the plant
was made. The Neshannock Furnace, at
New Castle, owned bv the Crawford Iron
and Steel Compauy, has just blown out,
after a successful runot 90 weeks, producing
in that time 109,790 gross tons ol Bessemer
iron, and average of nearly 1,219 tons per
week, which is one of the best average runs
of any furnace iu this vicinity. The Alle
gheny Bessemer Steel Works, at Duquesne,
closed down last week, to remain closed for
several weeks for repairs. Gas will be put
under nearly all the boilers in the works.
A large 20-ton converter will be added aud
a new blooming mill completed.
Will Dimand n Scalo.
It is rumored (hst the workmen desire
a scale similar to the one in force at the
Edgar Thomson (mill and tbo Homestead
mill, and it such! a demand is made it is
likely it will hi granted, as that is the
favorite wage syslem of Mr. Carnegie. Car
negie, Phipps &Co. are rapidly pushing to
completion the immense new beam mill at
Homestead, which will cost fully f500,000.
It will be some months yet before all the
contracts will be given. The only work so
far completed is the ponderous engine built
by Robert Wcthernc & Co., of Chester, Pa.
The ilrn heel weighs 150 tons, the bedplate
uuu ouwuaru nci;u ivu wus, iiuu iue snail
is 26 inrhes in diameter.
The Edgar Thomson Works of Carnegie
Bros. & Co. at Braddock will suspend opera
tions on Saturday, February 7, to admit of
several repairs, and improvements being
made, and the suspension will probably last
a month. Three new 15-ton converters will
be put in, and a trestle will be built in the
rear of the mill, ou which will ran ladle
cars for conveying the metal while hot to
the converting department. A new engine
will also be placed to operate roils No. 2.
Furnace A, of the blast furnace plant, was
torn out last week, and will be rebuilt. A
new "bosh" will be put in furnace D, which
has been off for a month, and will not be
put in blast for some time. Seven new sup
porting columns have been added, and the
furnace will be re-lined.
These works during 1890 n ade 404,000
tonso. Bessemer steel, an iucreasccf .ibnut 8
per cent over 18S9. The increase was due to
the addition of a new converter, uiaeing
four in all, and tbs time which would be
lost while the others were being repaired
was saved. The blowing and rolling
capacity remained the "same.- C E. ;
Ireland, with her woes and wrongs, what
ever those may be, is a frequent topic of dis
cussion in these days. For myself, I do not
pretend to be a judge of political matters,
but I do know that our sister isle is a very
disagreeable anil unsafe place to live in.
Twice I nearly lost my life there, and I
leave the reader to judge whether I have not
good cause to detest the country.
My first visit to Ireland was, I am bound
to confess, a very pleasant one, until the last
evening; but the terrible experience of that
night shall I ever forget it?
It was in the height of summer, one of
those perfect July nights whichseem the ful
fillment of the sweetest promise of the year,
and the scene was a ballroom at the house of
an old schoolfellow with whom I had been
staying.
On the morrow my regiment was to sail
from Cork, but I had extorted permission to
delay joining until the very last moment, in
order to be present at the Coventry's ball. I
had strained every effort not to miss th
dance, and had looked forward to it as to a
dream of delight; and yet now the evening
was more than half over, and I had not en
joyed myself at all.
I felt that there must be black ingratitude
somewhere or other to account for this state
of things.
All around me I could hear the buzz,
chatter and inane remarks of the wallflowers
and partnerless demoiselles.
"Such a delightlull ball!" "What a
charmingly pretty scene!" "A most pleasant
evening quite a success," etc; and I had
the consolation ot knowing that these ex
pressions were justas bitter-a mockery to
them as they were to me.
Some people were enjoying it, no doubt.
Miss Marsac, for instance, and that idiotic
young coxcomb with whom she was gliding
so gracefully around the room.
I stood with my back against the wall,
gloomily watching them, and giving myself
up to the bitterest reflections.
At that moment not a landlord-hunting
tenant iu the whole of that wretched country
felt more desperate and hardly used than I.
For why? I had not danced once with Eva
Marsac, and now the precious moments were
last slipping away and l should have to go.
At last the never ending din of the fiddles
ceased, and the lovely Eva, in obedience to
a telegraphic summons irom the ever watch
ful maternal eye, gravitated to her place be
side Lady Marsac, who sat in the front rank
of the dowagers, a monument of volumin
ous matronhood.
At that moment I perceived Tom Coventry,
my chosen friend and ally and the only son
of the house, in the act of putting up a pla
card roughly inscribed with the mystic
words, "Supper extra."
Here was my chance. I rushed up to Miss
Marsac, andwas in time to secure her for
the dance, just as Tom was bearing down
upon her. I saw his disappointed face as
he turned away, but I had no sympathy to
snare for him, for I was full of triumpb'.and
I recollect I was inspired to make some
witty remark abont the knight oi the rueful
countenance. The band struck up with the
last new waltz, and to the strain of that de
licious melody I lost myself for a brief
space in a dream of perfect happiness.
It was over too soon. Eva said she was
tired.
"Tiredl" I whispered with tender re
proach as we quitted the heated air of the
ballroom for the cool of the conservatory.
"Why, I could dance forever with you with
out feeling tiredl"
She said nothing, but I thought I could
detect a deeper flush on her fair face, and I
angured well from her silence.
The conservatory doors were open, and we
passed out into the balmy summer night.
The moon was shining peacefully over the
nuiet p-trk. and the spreading trees flnng
deep shadows on the smooth bright lawn,
which sloped gradually down to the edge of
a dark lake.
From within came the echoes of the sweet
waltz refrain and the distant sound of danc
ing feet and the murmur of many voices.
Outside, where we stood in silence, the most
intense stillness reigned, not a ripple dis
turbed the surface of the gleaming water,
not a breath of wind stirred the glistening
leaves of the evergreens. All was wrapped
in the solemn hush of natnre. Naturally of
a poetic temperament, I am sensitivo to ex
ternal influences, and I felt that this was an
opportunity not to be lost. In a few
passionate sentences I poured out all the
love and devotion that lav pent up within
me, and I listened breathlessly for my dar
ling's reply.
She looked more bewitching than ever as
she turned her face away and fluttered the
feathers of her fau in pretty confusion.
"Ob, Mr. Robinson!" sue said, coyly;
"you cannot mean all thatl You will soon
forget me in the excitement of the war. You
see you are so very young."
J. coniess that this allusion
to my youth
annoyed me, particularly as I happen to be
especially sensitive on that point; and I
harbored a lurking suspicion that Miss
Marsac was aware of the fact. But I put
that aside as nn idle fancy, and hastened to
assure her of ni y undying constancy.
"As for the warlike scenes of which she
spoke," I added, "should it bo my fite to
survive the perils of the campaign, I would
prove my devotion to her by the ardor with
which I wonld woo honor and renown for
her sweet sake."
She did not seem so much affected as I
could have wished at the mention of the
dangers of my profession, but she encouraged
m'e to go in for honor and renown, and she
might have said something more satis
factory; but at this most critical moment
Tom Coventry burst upon us in his usual
inopportune and tactless fashion. Though
he was my friend, I must say that I found
his meddling and interfering ways very try
ing sometimes. He seemed In a great state
of perturbation about something or other.
'Oh, here you are, Jack," tu exclaimed.
4, jjjaM
"I have been looking for you all over the
place. It is high time for you to be off, my
dear fellow; the train is due at 11:30, and
I'm blessed if it isn't 10:45 now. I've got
the black mare already harnessed, and I'll
arive you myself but it will be precious
sharp work."
The music bad stopped, and the dancers
were pouring into the conservatory. Lady
Marsac's voice was heard inquiring for her
daughter, and I dared not linger. I had
only time to whisper a hasty farewell to
Eva, and press her band, before Tom dragged
meaway. I was anything but jirratefnl to
hint for his ofneiousness, and I "suppose he
saw my annoyance, for he said apologeti
cally: "It seems a shame to hurry yon off like
this, old man; but it cannot "be helped.
There is not a moment to lose. We ought
to have been off ten minutes ago."
The dogcart was waiting at the door, and
my luggage had already been put in. Tom.
jumped up, seized, the reinsand before I
was fairly in my seat he swnng the whip
into the air with a crack and a hiss. Tt.
fore it descended the fiery black mare threw
DacK ner neaa, ana, with a violent plunge,
that nearly upset the whole concern, set off
racing at full speed down the avenue.
We dashed through the parte like the
wind, frightening the deer and rousing the
echoes slumbering under the shadow of the
grand old trees. Here and there, through
an opening in the wood, we conld see the
stately front of the house, with the light
streaming from all its windows, and a faint
sound ot music still reached onr ears. But
soon we rattled through the park gates, and
then, turning a sharp corner, we left that
peaceful scene far behind us. Tom has no"
soul for poetry, and I was aroused from my
pleasing meditations by the unsympathetic
tones of bis voice.
"Br jove 1" he observed; "if those con
founded church wardens haven't been and
laid down new stones all along this bit of
the road. We shall never do it."
I now remarked that we were careering?
over freshly laid flints. The jolting and
Rattling were terrific: for, far from slacken
ing speed, Tom was endeavoring to increase?
it. I remonstrated.
"She is going very well, Tom. Have)
some mercy."
"My dear fellow, I know she goes well;
but horseflesh is no match for steam, and I
don't want you to put down the loss of your
promotion to my door. I almost wish thatl
had let them put in the chestnut; he has not
so much go in him, but he is more depend'
able. Now with this animal you never
know where you are. I wanted to call her
Vixen, but my mother insisted upon Perdita;
and upon my sonl I think it is not a bad
name for her, for she really is just like a lost
spirit. It seems as if she were possessed by
the wickedness of all the devils sometimes."
"Is she safe to drive?" I inquired, with
some anxiety.
Oh, she goes well enough in harness," re
plied mv friend carelessly. "She bohs oc
casionally; but I have got her well in hand
to-night, and I'll take care to give her no
time to play any of her pranks."
We had now passed the stones, and were
flying like the wind along a dark piece of
road overshadowed by trees on one side, and
bordered by a running brook on the other.
In the uncertain light the most familiar ob
jects took strange mysterious shapes, and the
knarled old willows hanging over the stream
looked intensely weird and unearthly.
"Thank goodness we're out of thatl" ex
claimed Tom, as we shot out of the shadow
of the overarching trees and dashed along
the level high road. "My heart was in my
boots all the time we were in the dark bole.
It was the very place for Perdita to make a
boggle over, and if she turns vicious there's
no doing anything with bcr."
"You don't mean to say that it was your
groom that was killed last year, and this is
the animal?" I cried, suddenly recalling a
ghastly story that bad reached my ears.
"Absit omen I" ejaculated mv friend: and
I saw by his embarrassment that my conjec
ture was only too true.
"We never talk abont that business,
Jack," he continued, after a brief silence.
"For one thing, there are some matters one
hates to thins: about, and then it's best to
let sleeping dogs lie. You know we are not
bound to shoot the animal, for the gossoon
did not die for some time after, and he im
plored us with his last breath to spare Per
dita." "Poor Mickey Flanagan! poor little
Mick!" said Tom, relapsing into unwonted
sentimcntalism. "He loved the creature as
if she had been a human being; and he
could not die easy in his bed until he had
my promise that no harm should come to
her."
After these cheering remarks it may be
imagined that I felt my position in that
higli two-wheeled vehicle behind that de
moniacal mare was anything but an envia
ble one. I glued my eyes apprehensively
upon Perdita's ears, which were pricked up
as if ready for instant mischief, and, on the
side farthest away from my friend, my
hand furtively sought the iron bar ol the
seat, so as to have a firm grasp in ease of the
worst.
Mice is by good luck a marching regi
ment, and I have no false shame in admit
ting that I know nothing whatever about
horses-. In fact, ever since my childish
days, when I came to grief with a donkey, I
have always entertained a rooted dislike to
the species, and the bad impression they
made upon me was not likely to be dimin
ished by the fiendish appearance of this
specimen.
Tom would persist in talking, though I
implored him to give his whole mind to the
management of the reins; but when I said
this he only laughed, and replied that ha
knew what he was abont. It is a consola
tion, however, to reflect that all his conver
sational efforts were wasted upon me, for my
attention was, riveted upon Perdita's ears,
and I did not hear a syllable of what he
said. The pace was something tremendous,
and I told myself that even Perdita could
not keep it up long; yet she showed no sign"
&a
.L- -.,