The following table shows the average value per short ton at the ovens of the coke made in the United States in the years from 1883 to 1897, inclusive, by States and Territories:

$2.10 $2.07 $2.14 +2.76 +2.88 +2.92 1.17 1.28 1.28 2.00 2.00 1.87 1.94 1.99 1.99 3.41 3.50 3.45 2.14 1.81 1.50 1.46 1.55 1.41 1.20 1.65 1.50

1383. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897.
2.75 $2.50 $2.50 $2.65 $2.39 $2.34 $2.30 $2.41 $2.33 $2.31 $2.27 $2.025
4.36 3.45 3.88 3.99 4.00 4.00 3.43 3.90 3.24 3.31 +3.13 +2.85
2.20 2.13 2.04 2.17 2.20 2.12 1.57 1.48 2.25 2.00 1.50 1.25
2.10 1.96 2.68 2.65 2.13 2.84 2.57 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.00 2.00
2.93 2.81 2.68 3.12 3.28 2.00 2.02 1.58 2.00
3.00 3.00 3.60 3.50 3.33 2.90 2.70 3.25 3.22 3.47 3.51 3.50
1.96 2.02 1.65 1.54 1.91 1.96 1.91 2.37 2.35 2.18 2.18 1.855
2.87 3,94 3.14 2.23 2.18 2.04 2.28 1.80 2.02 2.01 200 1.73
3.50 3 50 1.10 1.51 1.46 1.50 1.65 1.58
12.00 11.72
10.00 8.00 8.69 8.71 8.91 9.00 8.00 11.00
5.50 5.00 5.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 5.32 4.89 4.75 0 3.18 4.32
2.80

2.57 2.49 2.78 2.69 2.65 2.48 2.50 2.92 1.99 2.18 1.95 2.78
1.22 1.25 1.25 1.42 1.84 1.26 1.40 1.91 1.82 1.80 1.52 1.086
2.25 1.95 1.31 1.87 2.19 1.27 2.03 1.96 1.93 2.05 1.85 1.64
4.00 4.36 4.50 0
1.75 1.75 1.75 2.50 2.50 1.74 2.2 1.68 1.58 2.18 2.26 1.64
4.75 4.75 500 7.00
2.19 1.19 1.86 1.94 2.22

0 8.00 8.00 7.00 7.03 5.08 3.48
1.70 1.76 1.83 1.83 1.76 1.62 1.373
3.00 5.75 5.75 5.61 5.50 6.41 4.58
3.00

....

....

0 3.50 +3.50

7.49 7.08 6.89 2.01 2.00 2.25

2.40 2.58 2.48 1.266 b1.79 b1.53 1.90 1.84 1.81

1.32 1.51 1.40

4.27 4.04 4.42

1.34 1.37 1.31 5.25 3.94 4.36 3.50 3.00 3.00

1.49 1.49 1.49 1.63 2.01 1.46 1.62 2.02 1.97 1.96 1.74 1.337 1.44 1.84 1.66

a $1.2929 per troy ounce.

b $20.6718 per troy ounce.

e Including copper made from imported pyrites.

d The product from domestic ores only.

e Of 76% avoirdupois pounds net.

$621,969,943

f Including nickel in copper-nickel alloy, and in exported ore and matte.

g Including brown coal and lignite, and anthracite inined elsewhere than in Pennsylvania. h Of 42 gallons.

iOf 300 pounds for natural cement, and 400 pounds for artificial Portland.

j Of 280 pounds net.

Including metallic paints, ocher, umber, Venetian red, sienna, ground soapstone, ground slate, and mineral black.

Includes antimony smelted from imported ores. The product of antimony ores in the United States was 86 short tons, valued at $2,845. This would yield about 50 tons of metallic antimony. m Not reported.

100

350

100

350

$334,187,373

$329,113,845

286,782,570

302,198,502

1,000,000

1,000,000

$632,312,347

THE COMMERCIAL YEAR BOOK.

IRON AND STEEL MANUFACTURES.

Comparative Summary, Iron and Steel, 1870, 1880, and 1890.

Iron and Steel Industry, by Geographical Divisions, 1880 and 1890. (For the above information, consult "Commercial Year Book," Volume III, pages 458 and 459.)

Iron and Steel Works in the United States, 1898.

(From the Report of United States Geological Survey, by James M. Swank.)

In 1897, the iron and steel works in the United States were classified as follows: Blast furnaces. 420; rolling mills and steel works, 504; Bessemer steel works, 45; open-hearth steel works, 99; cruciblesteel works, 45; tin-plate works, 69.

Of the 420 furnaces that are mentioned, all but 79 use bituminous coal and coke and anthracite coal, the remainder using charcoal. The annual capacity of the whole number of furnaces, after making due allowance for those that are not likely to run again, was about 18,000,000 long tons in April, 1898. To the whole number of furnaces may be added 4 large new furnaces that are now in a forward state of construction, and these furnaces will add about 500,000 tons to the total annual capacity we have mentioned.

Omitting all forged products, the annual capacity in finished products of the rolling mills in April, 1898, was 17,929,850 long tons, against 14,763,920 tons in January, 1896. The number of puddling furnaces in April, 1898, each double furnace counting as two single furnaces, was 3,889, against 4,408 in January, 1896, a decrease of 519.

Of the whole number of rolling mills mentioned, 51 were prepared to roll standard, girder, light T, and other rails; 66 were equipped to manufacture all kinds of structural material, including bridge rods, building rods, plates for bridge work, structural tubing, etc.; 230 were equipped to manufacture plate, sheet, and skelp iron and steel; 46 were devoted in whole or in part to the manufacture of cut nails and spikes, 9 other works buying their nail plate; 24 made wire rods, and 79 made wire nails.

The total number of completed Bessemer steel works in April, 1898, including 2 Clapp-Griffiths plants and 1 Robert-Bessemer plant, was 45, containing exactly 100 converters. The annual converting capacity of the whole number of Bessemer steel plants in April, 1898, was 10,633,000 tons. No new Bessenier steel plants have been built since 1896.

In April, 1898, there were 99 completed open-hearth still plants, with 283 furnaces built and building, the whole number having an annual capacity of 3,522,250 tons of ingots and direct castings. At the same time there were 45 completed crucible-steel plants, with an annual capacity of 95,000 tons. The number of pig and scrap iron bloomeries not connected with rolling mills or machine shops in April, 1898, was reduced to 10, of which several were then idle, while in the whole country there were only 2 forges that made blooms directly from the ore. Of all the Southern forges that once made bar iron directly from the ore, only one is left-Helton forge, in North Carolina, and it was not in operation in 1897.

Manufactures of Iron and Steel by Specified Industries.

For statistics of capital, number of establishments, number of employés, total wages, cost of materials, and value of products, including receipts from custom work and repairing, see under heading "Manufactures of the United States," page 261, this volume.

Iron Ores.

IRON ORE PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH LAKE SUPERIOR DISTRICT COMPARED.

Red

Brown

Year.

1880..

1890.

Hematite. Hematite. Magnetite, bonate.
Car-
2,243,993 1,919,622
10,527,650 2,559,938

2,134,276

823,471

7,120,362

493,408

7,613,770

1,677,814

2,570,838

377,617

16,036,043

1,246,830

17,282,873

8,944,031

1891..

9,327,398 2,757,564

2,317,108

189,108

14,591,178

912,864

15,504,042

7,621,465

1892..

11,646,619

2,485,101

1,971,965

192,981

16,296,666

806,585

17,103,251

9,069,556

1893..

8,272,637

1,849,272

1,330,886

134,834

11,587,629

526,951

12,114,580

6,594,620

1894..

9,347,434

1,472,748

972,219

87,278

11,879,679

168,541

12,048,220

1895.

12,513,995 2,102,358

1,268,222

7,682,548

73,039

15,957,614

524,153

16,481,767

10,268,978

1896.

12,576,288

2,126,212

1,211,526

91,423

16,005,449

682,806

16,688,255

1897....... 14,413,318

10,566,359

1,961,954

1,059,479

83,295

17,518,046

489,970 18,008,016

12,205,522

PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE BY STATES, WITH TOTAL VALUATION AND AVERAGE VALUE PER TON

LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE SHIPMENTS, BY RANGES, 1892 TO 1897.

The following statement, compiled from the Cleveland "Iron Trade Review," shows the Lake shipments of iron ore in gross tons:

Number of Furnaces in Blast.

The following table shows the number of furnaces in blast at the close of each year since 1873 :

1873

410 1878

265 1883

The following table shows the number of furnaces in blast at the close of each year since 1892, classified according to fuel:

PRODUCTION OF PIG IRON, IN LONG TONS, CLASSIFIED BY FUEL.

The following table shows the production of pig iron, by States, in the order of their prominence (Compiled from the reports of the American Iron and Steel Association.)