USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Three > Part 26
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378
Natural Resources
The Pittsburg rolling mills were largely supplied from the first with blooms from the Juniata valley and with pig iron from nearer localities, but large quantities of blooms were also brought to Pittsburg from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
The preeminence of Pennsylvania as an iron and steel pro- ducer is very largely due to the extraordinary activity of the iron and steel industries of Allegheny county since about 1825. After this year the towns and cities in the Ohio valley were mainly supplied by Pittsburg manufacturers with bar iron, nails, and all the iron and steel wares of the day. The following table gives the number of blast furnaces, rolling mills, and steel works and the production of pig iron and crude steel and of iron and steel rails and structural shapes in Allegheny county in 1898 and 1901 :
Details.
1898.
190I.
Furnaces built and building
No.
3I
37
Production of pig iron.
Gross tons.
3,022,90I
3,690,01 I
Rolling mills and steel works
No.
60
63
Production of Bessemer steel.
. Gross tons.
2,338,087
2,883,595
Production of open hearth steel.
. Gross tons.
1,042,350
2,199,19I
Production of crucible and other steel. . Gross tons.
52,352
56,053
Total production of steel.
Gross tons.
3,432,789
5,138,839
Production of all kinds of rails
Gross tons.
564,085
711,031
Production of structural shapes
Gross tons.
451,323
617,308
Allegheny county produced in 1901 over 23 per cent. of the total production of pig iron in the United States; over 33 per cent. of the total production of Bessemer steel ingots and cast- ings ; over 47 per cent. of the total production of open-hearth steel ingots and castings ; almost 57 per cent. of the total production of crucible steel ; over 38 per cent. of the total production of all kinds of steel ; over 24 per cent. of the total production of all kinds of rails; over 60 per cent. of the total production of structural shapes ; and over 32 per cent. of all rolled iron and steel products.
The details which have been given in preceding pages of the early iron history of Pennsylvania relate almost entirely to the
379
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
manufacture of iron with charcoal as fuel, no other fuel having been used in American blast furnaces until about 1840, and but little use of any other fuel having been made before that time in any other branches of the American iron industry. The period of the iron history of Pennsylvania and of every other part of the United States prior to 1840 may therefore very properly be styled the charcoal era.
Entrance to Fort Washington, Cumberland County, opposite Harrisburg
From photograph in possession of Historical Society of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Negative by LaRue Lemer
After many unsuccessful experiments with anthracite coal in the blast furnace, and a few moderately successful experiments, the use of this fuel in the manufacture of pig iron was made entirely successful in 1840 by David Thomas, who, on the 3d day of July of that year, blew in the first of the furnaces of the Lehigh Crane Iron Company, at Catasauqua, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania, with the new fuel. From the start this furnace produced 50 tons a week of good foundry iron, water power from the Lehigh . river being used. Other furnaces to use anthracite coal soon fol- lowed, and in a few years the manufacture of anthracite pig iron became an important branch of the iron industry of Pennsylvania
380
Natural Resources
and of adjoining States. In 1855 the country made more pig iron with anthracite coal than with charcoal. About 1840 the use of anthracite coal in rolling mills in Eastern Pennsylvania and in some other States became general. It had previously been used in the generation of steam. David Thomas is justly styled the Father of the American anthracite iron industry. To-day com- paratively little anthracite coal is used in the blast furnace in this country, and the most of what is used is mixed with coke. In 1901 the whole quantity of pig iron made with anthracite coal alone amounted to only 43.719 tons.
Successful experiments in the use of coke in the blast furnace in this country date from 1835, when William Firmstone suc- ceeded in making good forge pig iron for about one month at the end of a blast at Mary Ann furnace, in Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania, with coke made from Broad Top coal. This pig iron was taken to a forge three miles distant and made into blooms. Coke had previously been used in a small way in forges in Penn- sylvania and as a mixture with charcoal in a few blast furnaces. About 1837 F. H. Oliphant made at Fairchance furnace, near Uniontown, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, a quantity of coke pig iron exceeding twenty tons, and probably exceeding 100 tons. He did not, however, long continue the use of coke, and resumed the manufacture of iron with charcoal.
The first continuous use of coke in the blast furnace in this country was achieved at Lonaconing furnace, at Lonaconing, in Western Maryland, in 1838 or 1839. In June, 1839, this furnace, which was built by the George's Creek Company, was making about 70 tons per week of good foundry iron. Other furnaces soon afterwards used coke, particularly in Western Pennsylvania, but its use as a furnace fuel did not come rapidly into favor, and many experiments with it were attended with loss. Anthracite coal was the favorite blast-furnace fuel next to charcoal. It was not until after 1850 that the use of coke began to exert an appre- ciable influence upon the manufacture of pig iron. In 1849 there
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Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
was not one coke furnace in blast in Pennsylvania. In 1856 there were twenty-one furnaces in Pennsylvania and three in Maryland which were using coke or were adapted to its use, and their total production in that year was 44,481 gross tons of pig iron. After 1856 the use of this fuel in the blast furnace increased in Pennsyl- vania and was extended to other States, but it was not until 1869
S-ITCH
DEFENSIVE WORKS AND APPROACHES
%
Map of Forts Washington and Henry Clay, Cumberland County
From original in the War Department at Wash- ington, a photo of which is in possession of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, Penn- sylvania
that the country made more pig iron with coke than with char- coal, and not until 1875 that it made more than with anthracite. In 1901 fully fifteen-sixteenths of the country's total production of pig iron was made with coke, either by itself or in combination with anthracite coal, raw bituminous coal, or charcoal. Pennsyl- vania produces more coke than all the other States. Its Connells- ville coke has a world-wide reputation.
The use of raw bituminous coal, or uncoked coal, in the blast furnace, which has never been an important factor in the manu-
382
Natural Resources
facture of pig iron in this country, and which is now virtually abandoned, has been chiefly confined to the Shenango and Mahon- ing valleys in Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively, in which a particularly hard bituminous coal, known as splint coal, or block coal, is found, and which is not a good coking coal. The use of this coal in its raw state in the blast furnace dates from 1845, when Clay furnace, in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, was success- fully operated with it for some time. In the same year Mahoning furnace, in Mahoning county, Ohio, was built expressly to use this fuel. Other furnaces in the two valleys mentioned were soon built to use this fuel and some charcoal furnaces were altered to use it. In 1856 six furnaces in Pennsylvania and thirteen in Ohio were using it, their total production in that year being 25.073 gross tons. Some progress was afterwards made in the use of the same quality of coal in the Hocking valley in Ohio, and also in Clay county and neighboring counties in Indiana, but since 1880 its use has gradually declined, until to-day very little pig iron is made with this fuel, and when used it is mixed with coke.
The charcoal iron industry of Pennsylvania is now virtually dead. Most of its charcoal furnaces and forges and all of its primitive charcoal bloomaries have been abandoned. In 1901 only four charcoal furnaces were left in the whole State and not one of these was in Western Pennsylvania. Their total produc- tion of pig iron in that year was only 4,761 tons.
The manufacture of steel by the old-time method of cementa- tion had an existence in Pennsylvania, as in some other States, before the Revolution, but it never attained a position of much prominence, while the manufacture of crucible steel, although often experimented with, and sometimes very successfully, made but slow progress down to about 1860. Up to this time the coun- try's main reliance for steel was upon English manufacturers, who were favored in our markets by low duties. The manufac- ture in this country of crucible steel of the best grades may be said to have been established on a firm basis after Hussey, Wells & Co.
383
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
and Park, Brother & Co., of Pittsburg, and Gregory & Co., of Jersey City, New Jersey, in the years 1860, 1862, and 1863, re- spectively, succeeded in making it of uniform quality as a regular product. The event was one of great importance, as it marked the establishment in this country of a new industry. Dr. Curtis G. Hussey of Pittsburg is entitled to the honor of having estab- lished this industry in our country, the firm of which he was the head having successfully made crucible steel of the best quality as a regular product in 1860 for the first time in our history. Of the country's total production of crucible steel in 1901 Pennsyl- vania made about three-fourths, and nearly all of this large pro- portion was made in Allegheny county.
The manufacture of Bessemer steel, the invention of Sir Henry Bessemer, to which we owe the cheap rails for our rail- roads, was commenced in this country in 1864 and 1865, in an experimental way, at Wyandotte, Michigan, and Troy, New York, but it was not until several years afterwards that Bessemer steel was produced in commercial quantities. In 1867 we pro- duced 2,679 tons of Bessemer steel ingots and 2,277 tons of Bes- semer steel rails. In June, 1867, the Pennsylvania Steel Com- pany, at its works at Steelton, near Harrisburg, made the first Bessemer steel that was made in Pennsylvania. From this time on the industry steadily grew, although slowly at first. until in 1901 we produced 8.713.302 tons of Bessemer ingots and castings and 2,870,816 tons of Bessemer rails. From the first Pennsyl- vania has been by far the most active of all the States in the devel- opment of the Bessemer steel industry. Of the country's total production of Bessemer steel ingots and castings in 1901 Pennsyl- vania made exactly 49.2 per cent., and of the total production of Bessemer steel rails in the same year Pennsylvania's share was 48.9 per cent. The first steel rails ever rolled in the United States upon order, in the way of regular business, were rolled by the Cambria Iron Company, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in August, 1867, from ingots made by the Pennsylvania Steel Company.
384
中学。
BAYARD TAYLOR Etched for this work by Max Rosenthal From the photograph by Gutekunst
mi Photo by Gutekunst.
Etched by Many Reasons
Natural Resources
The manufacture of steel by the Siemens-Martin, or open- hearth, process was introduced into this country in 1868 by Cooper, Hewitt & Co., at the works of the New Jersey Steel and Iron Company, at Trenton, New Jersey. For many years this method of making steel made slow progress in the United States. In August, 1875, there were thirteen establishments in this coun- try which were then making open-hearth steel or were prepared to make it, and of these five were located in Pennsylvania, of which three were in Pittsburg. The total production of open- hearth steel in 1875 was, however, only 8,080 tons, and ten years afterwards it was only 133,376 tons, but in 1895 it was 1, 137, 182 tons, and in 1901 it was 4,656,309 tons. Of the total production in 1901 Pennsylvania's share was 3.594,763 tons, or 77.2 per cent.
The iron age having been succeeded many years ago by the steel age, which may be said to have been ushered in by the Besse- mer steel-making process, that gave us the steel rail, it became nec- essary for Pennsylvania to seek for ores of purer quality than those which, as a rule, are found inside its own boundaries. These better ores it has found mainly in the Lake Superior region, and they have for many years formed the basis of its vast iron and steel industries. Other ores adapted to the manufacture of steel have been imported from Europe, Africa, and Cuba. The first use of Lake Superior iron ore in any blast furnace in this country occurred in 1853, at Sharpsville furnace, in Mercer coun- ty, Pennsylvania, then owned by David and John P. Agnew, and in the same year it was used at Clay furnace, in the same county, at both furnaces successfully. After 1856 other furnaces in Pennsylvania and in other States began the regular use of Lake Superior ore. Cuban iron ore was first used in 1884 at furnaces in Eastern Pennsylvania owned by the Bethlehem Iron Company and the Pennsylvania Steel Company.
At the Siberian rolling mill of Rogers & Burchfield, at Leech- burg, in Armstrong county, natural gas. taken from a well 1,200
2
3-25
385
-
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
feet deep, was first used as a fuel in the puddling furnace. In the fall of 1874 it was announced that during the preceding six months this gas had furnished all the fuel required for puddling, heating, and making steam at these works, not one bushel of coal having been used. Soon afterwards the firm of Spang, Chalfant & Co., owners of the Etna Iron Works, at Etna, Allegheny coun- ty, introduced the use of natural gas in all their departments. They were the first manufacturers in the United States to use the new fuel exclusively. In 1901 there were 45 iron and steel works in Allegheny county which used natural gas and 28 works in other parts of Western Pennsylvania which used this fuel. In other parts of the country there were 44 works using natural gas in this year.
In the census year 1810 there were in Pennsylvania 44 blast furnaces, 78 forges, 4 bloomaries, 18 rolling and slitting mills, 6 air furnaces, 50 trip-hammers, 5 steel furnaces, and 175 naileries. The furnaces produced 26,878 gross tons of "cast iron," the prod- uct of the whole country, with 153 blast and air furnaces, being 53,908 tons. Of the 5 steel furnaces in Pennsylvania one was in Philadelphia city and one each was in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Dauphin, and Fayette counties, and their product was 531 tons of steel valued at $81, 147, the whole country making 917 tons.
In the census year 1820 the value of all manufactures of pig iron and castings in the United States was $2,230,275, of which Pennsylvania produced $563,810 worth. In the same year the country produced "manufactures of wrought iron" valued at $4,640,669, of which Pennsylvania's share was $1, 156,266. Quantities were not ascertained.
In the census year 1830 the value of pig iron and castings manufactured in the United States was $4,757,403, of which the share of Pennsylvania was $1,643,702. In the same year the country's production of "manufactures of wrought iron" was valued at $16,737,251, of which Pennsylvania's share was $3,762,- 847. Quantities were not ascertained.
386
Natural Resources
In the census year 1840 there were in the United States 804 furnaces, which produced in that year 286,903 tons of "cast iron." Pennsylvania had 213 furnaces and made 98,395 tons of "cast iron." In the same year there were 795 bloomaries, forges, and rolling mills in the country, of which Pennsylvania had 169. The number of tons of bar iron produced in that year was 197,233, of which Pennsylvania's share was 87,244.
In 1842 there were 151,885 tons of pig iron produced in Pennsylvania. Its production of pig iron in 1843 was 190,000 tons, and in 1844 it was 246,000 tons. In 1846 there were 317 blast furnaces, producing 368,056 tons of pig iron, and in 1847 there were the same number, producing 389,350 tons of pig iron. The production of the furnaces in 1849 was 253,035 tons; of the bloomaries, 335 tons; of the forges, 28,495 tons; and of the roll- ing mills, 108,358 tons.
In the census year 1850 there were produced in the United States 563.755 tons of pig iron, of which Pennsylvania produced 285,702 tons. In the same year the country produced "wrought- iron manufactures" to the amount of $22,629,271, of which Pennsylvania's share was $9,224,256.
In the census year 1860 the United States produced 51,290 tons of blooms, worth $2,623,178, of which Pennsylvania made 24,700 tons, worth $1,467,450. In the same year the United States produced 987,559 tons of pig iron, worth $20,870, 120, of which Pennsylvania produced 580,049 tons, worth $11,262,974. In the same year the United States produced 513,213 tons of rolled iron, worth $31,888,705, of which Pennsylvania produced 266,253 tons, worth $15, 122,842. In the same year the United States produced 11,838 tons of steel, worth $1,778,240, of which Pennsylvania produced 9,890 tons, worth $1,338,200.
In the census year 1870 the United States produced 110,808 tons of blooms, worth $7,647,054, of which Pennsylvania made 68,238 tons, worth $4,881,431. In the same year the United States produced 2,052,821 tons of pig iron, worth $69,640,498,
387
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
of which Pennsylvania produced 1,033,272 tons, worth $32,- 636,410. In the same year the United States produced 1,468,312 tons of rolled iron, worth $120,311,158, of which Pennsylvania made 713,331 tons, worth $56,811,975. In two establishments
John White Geary
Superintendent Allegheny Portage railroad; soldier in Mexican war; first postmaster and first mayor of San Francisco, California; ter- ritorial governor of Kansas, 1856; brigadier general United States volunteers, 1862; brevet major-general, 1865; governor of Pennsylvania, 1867-1873
the United States in the same year produced 19,403 tons of Bes- semer steel, worth $1,818,220, of which Pennsylvania, in one establishment, produced 13,500 tons, worth $1,405,000. In the same year, not including Bessemer steel, the United States pro- duced 30,354 tons of steel, worth $7,791,766, of which Pennsyl- vania produced 21,806 tons, worth $5,560,238.
388
Natural Resources
In the calendar year 1880 Pennsylvania made 48.5 per cent. of the country's total production of pig iron in that year; 46.8 per cent. of all the rolled iron produced ; and 46 per cent. of the total production of iron and steel rails.
Since about the middle of the eighteenth century Penn- sylvania has been noted as the leading iron and steel making State in the Union. For many years it has produced one-half of all the pig-iron, one-half of all the rolled iron, and more than one- half of all the steel made in the United States. In 1890 it made 48 per cent. of the large production of pig iron in that year ; 61 per cent. of the Bessemer steel ingots produced ; 70. per cent. of the Bessemer steel rails; 81 per cent. of the open-hearth steel; 75 per cent. of the crucible steel; 52 per cent. of the rolled iron; and 54 per cent. of the rolled steel other than steel rails.
In 1901 Pennsylvania made 46.2 per cent. of the country's total production of pig iron in that year ; 49.2 per cent. of the Bessemer steel; 77.2 per cent. of the open-hearth steel; 71.9 per cent. of the crucible steel ; 48.9 per cent. of the Bessmer steel rails ; 91.4 per cent. of the structural shapes ; 69.7 per cent. of the plates and sheets; 28.3 per cent. of the wire rods ; and 56.4 per cent. of all rolled iron and steel products.
The following table, compiled by the American Iron and Steel Association, gives the production of iron ore, pig iron, steel, etc., in Pennsylvania in 1901, compared with the production of the whole country. The preeminence of Pennsylvania as an iron and steel producer is really marvelous. The small percentage of iron ore it produces is also remarkable. It is accounted for by the superior quality of the ores of Lake Superior, which are now chiefly used in all the Northern States, and to a less extent in a few other localities, in the production of pig iron for steel- making purposes, as well as for the manufacture of general roll- ing mill and foundry products. Large quantities of steel-making ore are also imported into Pennsylvania from Cuba and other countries.
389
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
Production of iron ore, pig iron, steel, etc., in the United States and Pennsylvania in the calendar year 1901.
United States. Gross tons.
Pennsyl- vania. Gross tons.
Percentage of Penn- sylvania.
Total production of iron ore.
28,887,479
1,040,684
3.6
Total production of pig iron.
15,878,354
7,343,257
46.2
Production of Bessemer steel ingots and castings
8,713,302
4,293,439
49.2
Production of open hearth steel
ingots
and castings.
4,656,309
3,594,763
77.2
Production of crucible and other steel ingots and castings
103,984
74,800
71.9
Total production of steel ingots and castings,
13,473,595
7,963,002
59.I
Production of Bessemer steel rails.
2,870,816
1,406,008
48.9
Production of structural shapes
1,013,150
925,940
91.4
Production of plates and sheets.
2,254,425
1,572,500
69.7
Production of wire rods.
1,365,934
386,037
28.3
Production of all other rolled products, in-
cluding bars, skelp, cut nails, open-hearth steel rails, iron rails, etc.
4,845,002
2,672,183
55.2
Total of all rolled products.
12,349,327
6,962,668
56.4
Production of wire nails ... . kegs of 100 lbs.
9,803,822
3,118,508
31.8
Production of cut nails. .
.kegs of 100 1bs.
1,542,240
833,469
54.0
ANTHRACITE COAL
Geologists agree in a general way as to the composition of coal. They say that it is for the most part the remains of vegetable matter which has become decomposed and mineralized. Anthra- cite varies in color from glistening black to lead gray, is hard and clean, ignites with difficulty, burns almost without smoke and produces intense heat.
The production of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania gives direct employment to nearly 150,000 persons ; and, incidentally, it may be mentioned that females are not allowed to work in the col- lieries. (In England, Scotland and France, within the last few years, women and children have been employed in carrying coal from the interior of the mines to the surface.)
390
Natural Resources
It is estimated that the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania now contain about 14,453,397,600 cubic yards of coal ; each cubic yard weighs 2,240 pounds, hence the weight of the entire coal deposit may be fairly estimated at 32.375.710,624,000 pounds. Mining engineers assert, on the basis of these computations, that the sup- ply of anthracite yet to be mined will last from eighty to one hun- dred years.
The geological survey of the State, 1885, separates the anthra- cite region1 into the following divisions :
I. The Southern or Pottsville Field extends from Lehigh river at Mauch Chunk southwest to within a few miles of the Susquehanna river, and thence nearly north to Harrisburg, com- prising the territory of Carbon, Schuylkill and Dauphin counties. The eastern end of this field, known as the Lower Lehigh or Pan- ther creek basin, between Tamaqua, on the Little Schuylkill, and Mauch Chunk, has generally been included by the coal trade in the Lehigh field, from the fact that its coal more closely resembles that obtained in the Upper Lehigh region than that in the Potts- ville field west of Tamaqua, and also from the fact that shipments from it to market have been made largely through the Lehigh valley.
2. The Il'estern Middle or Mahanoy and Shamokin Field lies between the easternmost headwaters of Little Schuylkill river and the Susquehanna, and within Schuylkill, Columbia and North- umberland counties. These two coal fields ( 1 and 2) are fre- quently designated in a general way as the Schuylkill region, although parts of them are better known by the trade names defin- ing the districts from which coals of special characteristics are mined.
1In the American Cyclopedia (1873), S. H. Daddow gives the total area of the anthracite fields in Pennsylvania as 472 square miles, and divides the region as follows: Wyoming field, 198 square miles; Schuylkill field, 146 square miles; Lehigh field, 37 square miles ; Middle Field, 91
square miles. The statement regarding the extent of the anthracite fields was based upon previous geological surveys and was presumably correct at the time, but in fact the area of the fields as shown by more recent investigations is four times greater than they were understood to be in 1873.
391
Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
3. The Eastern Middle or Upper Lehigh Field lies between Lehigh river and Catawissa creek, and principally in Luzerne county, with limited areas extending into Carbon, Schuylkill and Columbia counties.
4. The Northern or Wyoming and Lackawanna Field, in the two valleys from which it derives its name, is embraced almost
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