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14 MARINE REVIEW. PIG IRON PRODUCTION DURING 1900. The American Iron and Steel Association has received from the manufacturers complete statistics of the production of all kinds of pig iron in the United States in 1900; also complete statistics of the stocks of pig iron which were on hand and for sale on Dec. 31, 1900. The total production of pig iron in 1900 was 13,789,242 gross tons, against 13,620,703 tons in 1899, 11,773,934 tons in 1898, and 9,652,680 tons in 1897. The pro- duction in 1900 was 168,539 tons greater than in 1899. The following table gives the half-yearly production of pig iron in the last four years: Periods. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. Bipst halt... .... 4,403,476 5,869,703 6,289,167 7,642,569 Second half ..... 5,249,204 5,904,231 7,331,586 6,146,673 OUAL Yose sty 9,652,680 11,773,934 13,620,703 18,789,242 The production of pig iron in the second half of 1899 and the first half of 1900 aggregated 14,974,105 tons, or almost 15,000,000 tons. It will be observed that there was a decline in production in the second half ot 1900 as compared with the first half of 1,495,896 tons. The production of Bessemer pig iron in 1900 was 7,943,452 tons, against 8,202,778 tons in 1899. The production of basic pig iron in 1900, all made with coke or mixed anthracite and coke, was 1,072,376 tons, against 985,033 tons in 1899. The production of spiegeleisen and ferromanganese in 1900 was 255,977 tons, against 219,768 tons in 1899. The production of charcoal pig iron in 1900 was 339,874 tons, against 284,766 tons in 1899, oe The Association’s statistics of unsold stocks do not include pig iron sold and not removed from the furnace bank, or pig iron in the hands oi creditors, or pig iron manufactured by rolling mill owners for their own use, or pig iron in the hands of consumers. The stocks which were un- sold in the hands of manufacturers or their agents on Dec. 31, 1900, amounted to 442,370 tons, against 63,429 tons on Dec. 31, 1899, and 338,- 053 tons on June 30, 1900. Included in the stocks of unsold pig iron on hand on Dec. 31, 1900; were 12,750 tons in the yards of the American Pig Iron Storage Warrant Co., which were yet under the control of the makers, the part in these yards not under their control amounting to 3,650 tons, which quantity, added to the 442,370 tons, above mentioned, makes a total of 446,020 tons which were on the market at that date, against a similar total of 68,309 tons on Dec. 31, 1899, and 342,907 tons on June. 30, 1900. The total stocks in the above named warrant yards on Dec. 31, 1900, amounted to 16,400 tons, against 4,900 tons on Dec. 31, 1899, and 5,800 tons on June 30, 1900. ; The whole number of furnaces in blast on Dec. 31, 1900, was 282, against 289 on Dec. 31, 1899, and 283 on June 30, 1900. DECLINE IN PINE LUMBER PRODUCT. Lake shipping interests are, of course, very much interested in-all | that pertains to the pine lumber product of 'Michigan,. Wisconsin and Minnesota. The permanent decline in this product is set forth in a recent report by the American Lumberman.. This report, which covers opera- tions for 1900, says that the last year the product passed the 8,000,000,000 -mark-was 1892, and now it has dropped below 5;500,000,000. The grand totals for the last eleven years in round numbers are as follows: £000 sess 5,485,261,000 ft. 1894 .:....6,821,000,000 ft. 1800). os. 6,056,000,000 ft. + 1898 eevee?’ 7,326,000,000 ft. 1ROR oi. 5 «3 < 6,155,000,000. ft. ~ 1892 .......8,594,000,000 ft. ABUT fs es 6,233,000,000 ‘ft. ~ 1891 ......7,880,000,000 ft. ° 1896. ....: .5,726,000,000 ft. 1890, aon 8,597,000,000 ft. 1895. «i.35. 7,050,000,000 ft. mei aes 8 During the last two years there has been every inducement for the mills to turn out a heavy product, and yet there was a slight falling off in 1899 as compared with 1898, and a heavy decrease in 1900. Every resource was strained to make a heavy output, but without result, except to prove that at last the closing years of the white pine industry of the northwest, as one of great magnitude, are at hand, With such results it must be ad- mitted that the product will decrease annually until it reaches a point where, by the adoption of preservative forestry methods, it can perma- nently be maintained. The decrease is not confined to any particular part of the white pine territory, but is seen in Minnesota as well as in Michigan. West of the Chicago district the total for 1900 was 4,077,000,000 ft., against 4,401,000,000 ft. in 1899. This includes the mills west of Lake ‘Michigan, except those along the Green bay shore and in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Every district in this territory but two shows a decline. Even Minneapolis and upper Minnesota cut less in 1900 than in 1899. The Mississippi river below Minneapolis, however, cut 562,000,000 ft., against 504,000,000 ft. in 1899, and the Wisconsin valley 613,000,000 ft., against 542,000,000 ft.- The mills in the ‘Chicago district—including those on Lake Michigan and in the upper peninsula of Michigan—cut 1,056,810,000 ft. in 1900, against 1,150,721,000 ft. in 1899. The heaviest percentage of decrease was naturally found with the mills on Lake Huron waters. The grand total of stock on hand at the mills or primary points on Dec. 31 last was 2,839,705,000 ft., against 2,728,271,000 ft. at the same date in 1899, 1,494,789,000 ft. in 1898, 3,915,558,000 ft. in 1897, 4,053,937,000 ft. in 1896 and 4,180,360,000 ft. in 1895. It is to be noted that there was a decrease of 58,000,000 ft. west of the Chicago district, where is produced three-quarters of the entire output. There is thus shown a heavy falling off in shipments for 1900 compared with 1899, and yet stocks aré nowhere near ane old-time standard ‘either in actual quantity or compared to the output. - Pee é s : The total shingle output of the pine and hemlock mills of the north-. west for 1900 was 2,400,000,000, against 2,899,000;000 in 1899. This reduc- tion followed that in lumber, but shows that the output of shingles is holding up much better than that of lumber. It is about the same as that of 1895 and 500,000,000 larger than that of 1896. The territory west of the Chicago district produced 969,000,000 shingles in 1900, the Chicago district 917,000,000 and the eastern part of the field 514,000,000 eas ‘The twin-screw dredging steamer Sabine, recently built by the Town- send & Downey Ship Building-& Repair Co., Shooter’s Fela, N.Y. for the United States government, was given a series of trials, both for speed and dredging, last week, in which she was highly successful. She will be employed at Sabine Pass. : aged TOE [January 31, REORGANIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA STEEL CO. President Fulton of the Pennsylvania Steel Co. has sent out the following circular to the stockholders of the company: = “The volume of your business has increased from sales of $6,873,590.75 in the year 1896 to $19,693,848.79 in 1900. Your capitalization remains the same, and in the opinion of your directors is wholly inadequate to handle your present transactions with advantage and is an absolute barrier to future growth. Both your share capital and your bonded debt are com- paratively small and do not represent either the present intrinsic value of your plants or their earning capacity as income producers for the future, with its outlook for increased foreign and domestic trade. The total amount of your bonded debt outstanding upon both your Steelton and Sparrow’s Point plants is $6,500,000, and your share capital is $6,500,000, or $13,000,000 in all. The actual value of these properties, as they exist today, is in excess of $20,000,000. In order to properly develop their capacities and to keep up with the progress in the art of steel making in its various branches, and of ship building, not only must large sums be spent immediately for improvements and for the acquirement of cheap fuel and ore, but means must be provided for similar expenditures when necessary in the future. “Your directors wish to place the situation fully before those whom they represent. It is impossible for your company to continue in business with profit to its owners unless ample capital is now contributed in cash and additional stock held in the treasury unissued but available tor use when required in the future. The profits of the past two years have been large, and, except a small sum paid in dividends upon preferred stock, every dollar of them remains in active use in your business. :The year of 1901 opens auspiciously, and in some departments the company has already sufficient orders to keep them running the entire year. Raw ma- terials cannot be bought to advantage on credit; their manufacture, ship- ment and delivery consume time, during which period very large sums are necessarily invested. Your directors have formulated a plan tu increase your resources and take advantage of the business offered; they ' consider it the best method for the purpose, and they recommend it in the strongest manner for your acceptance. Immediate action must be taken.” The new corporation is to be named the Pennsylvania Steel Co. and is to be incorporated under the laws of New Jersey. The stockholders are given until March 15 to assent to the plan of reorganization, which accompanies the circular. SEEKING AMENDMENT OF CANADIAN RULES OF THE ROAD. Capt. A. B. Wolvin, president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, has lately been in Ottawa interviewing the minister of marine in reference to a proposed change of the ‘Canadian rules of the road to conform to the White law, in use by United States vessels on the great lakes. In writing to Mr. Harvey D. Goulder, counsel of the association, upon the subject, he thinks that the Canadian government would effect a change, but is of the opinion that it would be necessary to have someone visit Ottawa on behalf of the Lake Carriers. Capt. George P. McKay, chairman of the com- mittee on aids to navigation, will visit Ottawa in a couple of weeks and will arrange to have Mr. Thomas Donnelly, chief inspector ‘of the Cana- dian Inland Lloyds, meet him there to take up the subject with the Cana- dian officials. They will receive the assistance of Mr. W. J. White of Mon- treal, who has devoted much study to Canadian maritime interests. Mr. Thomas Donnelly directed attention to this matter at the annual meeting of the Lake Carriers’ Association in Detroit early in the present month. ~-Vessels of ‘Canada, alike to all vessels of British register, some time ago adopted the rules of the road formulated by tHe International Marine Conference. As‘all vessels of the United States are navigated in accord- ance with the White law, a special act of congress for the great lakes, the rules for vessels of Canada.and vessels. of the United States on the great lakes are at variance in many ways. : UNITED STATES TUBE CO.°S NEW PLANT. ‘Promoters of the United States Tube Co., a West Virginia corpora- ~ tion capitalized at $1,000,000, announce that ten acres of land in the Ken- sington district, Buffalo, have been purchased by the company at a cost of $25,000. A large steel tube plant is to be erected upon the land for the employment of 500 men. According to Mr. Harvey K. Flagler, who is president of the company, ground for the plant will be broken in ten days and the plant will be in operation within six months. The company will manufacture lap-welded steel and iron boiler tubes for locomotives, marine, tubular and stationary boilers; lap-welded steam, gas and water pipe, oil well tubing, casing, pipe lines and structural steel tubing. Pres- ent plans call for a daily output of 100 tons of tubes, but the company ex- pects to increase the capacity of the plant constantly until its daily output — is 500 tons and the working force is from 4,000 to 5,000 men. Mr. Flagler says that this estimate 1s in accord with the growth of the industry as shown by steel industries throughout the country. ‘THE INDUSTRIAL STOCKS. With the rapid: formation: of big industrial organizations in the past two years, it is probably unfortunate Wall street has more influence than in the past on the industries associated with iron and steel. Bradstreet’s says of the stock market in this regard: “While extreme declines in the iron and_steel industrial stocks have ceased, the position of that part of the share list continues to be uncertain. and exercises a more or less unsettling influence upon the securities mar- ket generally. The intimations that some exceedingly large combination of interests was at hand now seem to be without tangible foundation, but, on the other hand, Wall street is led to believe that the danger of any extreme competition between important manufacturing concerns in such lines may be averted, or that the effects may be modified by mutual agree- ments and understandings. It is also claimed in speculative circles that any unfavorable symptoms in the iron trade situation have been exagger- ated for speculative effect, and that the manipulators who were alleged to have made use of such arguments to favor bearish operations are now acting on the bull side of the market. At the same time, the reduction of the dividend rate upon one of the prominent industrial stocks has had a rather unfavorable influence, as the concern in question was understood to have enjoyed a prosperous year in 1900, and it would, indeed, seem that the expansion of its business has been the chief reason for a reduction of its dividend payments.”