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214 'AROUND CAPITAL INVESTED IN ft An investment of $175,394,985 seems almost beyond the proportions of any one closely connected line of commerce, but such are the figures representing the capital involved on Jul}" 1st, 1892, in mining and transporting by lake and rail the output of the lake mining country. These figures as to capital were compiled by the late Mr. Geo. H. Ely of Cleveland after months of inquiry and research among the numerous companies involved in the business. The can be comprehended only by considering that 79,297,822 gross tons is the output of the mines since 1855 when this immense industry was begun. Iron ore forms the largest single item in the lake trade, and the discovery of new properties in Minnesota during the year of 1893 would seem to indicate another era of enormous increases in shipments when these properties are fully developed in 1895. This country consumed in 1890, 17,500,000 gross tons of iron ore. Of this amount, 1,246,830 tons were imported and 16,253,170 tons were of home production. Lake Superior mines produced in the same year 9,003,701 gross tons, or more than one-half the raw material for a nation that leads the world in the output of pig iron, Bessemer steel and steel rails. The average value of iron ore mined in the United States in 1889 on cars and carts at the mines is given by the census bureau at $2.30 per ton. The value of such ore at Lake Superior mines averaged $2.66 I LAKES." NING AND DISTRIBUTION. per ton, while the ores of Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia averaged only $1.20 per ton in value at the mines. The figures referred to above, as prepared by Mr. Ely, make up a most forcible statement in evidence of the magnitude of this industry: Capital in mines in the four Lake Superior districts in 1889, as per United States Census.-$54,825,122 Increase to July 1, 1892________________________ 15,000,000 $69,825,122 Capital in docks and their equipments at Lake Superior and Lake Michigan ports, built and used exclusively for shipping ore (official)______________________________________ 9,885,665 Capital employed exclusively in railroad transportation of ore from mines to shipping ports on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan (official)______________________________________ 27,014,594 Floating capital on the lakes, employed exclusively in ore transportation, from upper lake to lower lake ports (estimated) -----------------------------------......---------------------------- 29,933,107 Capital in docks, and in their equipments, for receiving and forwarding ore exclusively, at Lake Erie ports between Toledo and Buffalo, inclusive of botli (official)___________ 12,392,880 Capital employed exclusively in railroad transportation of ore, inland to mills and furnaces from Lake Erie ports (official) 26,343,617 Total--------------------------------......--------------------------$175,394^5 The engravings on following pages are from numerous views of the various docks at upper and lower lake ports.