Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 115

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192

USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania > Part 115

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

From 1811 to 1835 there were constructed in Pittsburg and vicinity 226 steamboats. From 1836 to 1857 inclusive there were built in round numbers 1, 100 steamboats. From 1858 to 1875, inclusive, there were built 649 steam- boats, and from 1876 to 1898, inclusive, there were built in round numbers 310 steamboats or a grand total of about 2,300 steamboats. The cost could not have been less than $60,000,000. It is probable that the sailing vessels, barges, flats, coalboats, etc., would increase the total cost to $75,000,000. It is estimated that the tonnage of the steamboats was in round numbers 1,000,000; adding the tonnage of all the other vessels would about double that figure.

In 1845 the Monongahela Navigation Company sent out 4,605,185 bushels of coal. In 1850 the amount reached 12,297,967 bushels; in 1855 the amount was 22,234,009 bushels; in 1860 the amount was 37,947,732 bushels; in 1845 the toll amounted to over $28,000, and in 1860 it was about $100,000. For the year ending August 31, 1861, there were shipped to Philadelphia from Pittsburg

(a) Mercury, December 3, 1819.

942

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

34,146,349 pounds of cotton, as follows (b): September, 1860, 755,500 pounds; October, 3,096,555 pounds; November, 5,603,085 pounds; December, 1,623,990 pounds; January, 1861, 2,686,455 pounds; February, 7,234, 795 pounds; March, 8,393,439 pounds; April, 3,640,250 pounds; May, 808,030 pounds; June, 304,- 250 pounds; July and August, none; total, 34,146,349 pounds. The war crushed the cotton industry in this vicinity.

Natural gas was known to exist in and around Pittsburg from the time of the first settlement. From time to time evidences of its existence at Pittsburg and in Western Pennsylvania generally were revealed. The most remarkable fact is that no value was set upon it until comparatively recent years. Even after the wells which had been bored for oil had produced large quantities of gas, which had been wantonly burned, the value of that article still remained unheeded. During the decade of the thirties sufficient gas was obtained from a well bored on the South Side to light a large hotel, it was estimated. Similar instances continued to arise from time to time in all parts of Western Penn- sylvania. Scarcely a well was dug that did not exhibit evidences of gas. Nearly all springs were accompanied with its accumulations. Finally the gas began to be utilized on a small scale for the lighting and heating of various private residences. The first efforts to raise capital to utilize the gas on a large scale met with failure. In 1874 the Fuel Gas Company, of Pittsburg, was organized, and, strange as it may seem, the first object of the company was to manufacture cheap gas from bituminous coal and not to pipe natural gas to the manu- factories of the city. In 1875 the Natural Gas Company, Limited, was organized for the purpose of conveying the gas of certain wells in Butler County to Pittsburg. The scheme was considered extremely visionary. Spang, Chalfant & Co. and Graff, Bennett & Co. began that year to bring it here from outside sources. The efforts were successful, although six or eight years elapsed before the enterprise was considered satisfactory from a monetary standpoint. In July, 1884, Mr. Westinghouse became interested in natural gas. Other com- panies were organized, new pipe-lines were laid, and soon they radiated from Pittsburg like the spokes of a wheel. People wondered why such a source of wealth and convenience, supplied so abundantly by nature, had been permitted to lie dormant for so many years. Instead of having shown commendable enterprise in investigating its value at the outset, they had resisted and com- bated its usefulness and importance until absolutely forced to acknowledge its value. It is difficult to account for the hesitancy with which the people viewed the plan of utilizing the gas in heating and lighting homes and in running the great factories. After the enterprise was fully inaugurated and its suc- cess assured there was found no lack of supporters. Large sums were invested, and soon the cities were mainly lighted and heated by the natural product. Within two years sixteen companies were formed, with an aggregate capital of $20,000,000, and in the vicinity of Pittsburg about $9,000,000 was so invested by other companies. At present there are but four natural gas companies located in Pittsburg. They embrace many of the smaller companies previ- ously in existence, and now have a capital of about $10,000,000. The four companies are the Equitable, People's, Philadelphia and Manufacturers'. At the present time gas is brought to Pittsburg from a distance of over one hundred miles. In many instances pumps are employed to force the gas to consumers. The present amount of gas furnished per day aggregates about 120 millions. of cubic feet.

Owing to the immense number of manufacturing enterprises which have sprung into existence since the Rebellion, it will be out of the question to give

(b) Gazette, September 12, 1861.

943

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

in this volume more than a summary of what they have accomplished. Exact figures cannot be furnished, owing principally to the refusal of owners to give details concerning their private business enterprises. The census returns, though falling short of the whole truth, furnish the most satisfactory conclusions con- cerning the wonderful development of industrial pursuits in this vicinity. The following table shows the comparative growth for the last three census epochs, · and is for Allegheny County:

1870.

1880.

1890.

Number of establishments.

1,844

1,895

2,483

Male hands over 16 years. .

29,139

42,815

89,300

Female hands over 15 years

1,723

2,361

5,302

Youths of both sexes.

3,366

3,995

3,058

· Capital employed.

$54,303,474

$70,641,426

$93,500,914

Wages paid. .

18,493,124

22,371,95I 57,335,917

Materials used.

52,165,657

Products.

88,789,414

105,272,739

61,739,293 146,651,915 244,525,875

This table exhibits in a general way the growth of industries in this vicinity. The capital employed in 1890, as shown above, was $93,500,914, but this was the active capital only, and does not include the value of the plant nor borrowed capital. These sums added would increase the total capital to about $220,000,- 000. The following table shows the comparative growth of the two cities, Pittsburg and Allegheny, from 1870 to 1890. The census report of 1870 does not show these figures.

Estab- lish- ments.

Capital.

Males Females over

Value of Materials.

Value of Products.

Allegheny, 1880 424 $ 8,451,059

5,549

308 $ 2,652,774 $ 8,818,153

$ 13,731,792

Allegheny, 1890 675

22,253,243

11,32I 32,0II 50,710

15 Yrs. 614 1,374 368 3,238 2,132 1,68I 3,596 over Youths. Wages.

7,081,529 17,168,989 33,898,152

14,231,758 26,878,979

Pittsburg, 1880 I,II2 52,645,010 108,368,838

42,109,777 75,915,033

Pittsburg, 1890 1,420

69,892,195 126,859,657

16 Yrs.

Previous to 1880, strange as it may seem, the production of rails was the only branch of the iron industry seriously affected by the manufacture of steel. Bessemer steel was first produced in this country in commercial quantities in 1867, but for many years was used only in the manufacture of rails. During 1880 and a few succeeding years crude steel from abroad and from domestic mills, used otherwise than for rails, was converted into billets and slabs, but as the demand for steel increased, the rolling mills generally erected departments for the manufacture of the steel which they required. In 1880 over 75 per cent. of the ingots produced were converted into rails, while in 1890 only 51 per cent. · were so converted. This showed the increasing demand for steel for miscellaneous purposes-nails, bars, plates, rods, wire, forgings, etc. But the two processes of making steel by the Bessemer converters and the puddling furnaces are much alike in principle, as both effect, in about the same degree, the oxidation of the objectionable constituents of the pig-iron. But the Bes- 'semer process is quicker and less expensive. The Clapp-Griffith process, intro- duced from England in 1884, and the Robert-Bessemer process, introduced from France in 1888, presented some important modifications of the converters in the methods of decarbonization and desiliconization of the molten nietal by the use of air. On March 25, 1884, the first steel produced in this country by the Clapp-Griffith method was turned out in Pittsburg. The Robert-Bessemer method was first introduced at Springfield, Ohio, in September, 1888. The former process seems to have proved more popular here, owing to the greater capacity of its converters-two to three tons as against one to two tons by the latter.

944

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

The open-hearth process of making steel (Siemens-Martin) was introduced into the United States in 1867. The furnace is shallow, dish-shaped, and contains from eight to thirty tons, and is specially adapted for the production of large masses of steel, such. as heavy shafting, armor plate, gun forgings and parts of marine engines and war vessels.

The first basic steel made in the United States was produced at Steelton, Pennsylvania, in 1884, in a Bessemer converter. Its manufacture as a com- · inercial product was begun at Homestead, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1888. Basic open-hearth steel has since been continuously produced at those works. The duplex process is a combination of the Bessemer and basic open-hearth . methods. Crucible, blister, puddled and other varieties of steel are produced here in small quantities.

As a market for pig-iron Pittsburg leads the world, the sales for 1895 of all grades of pig-iron in this market having amounted to the enormous total of 3,597,323 tons, or very nearly thirty-eight per cent. of the entire output of the United States. Of these sales 1,915,545 tons were Bessemer pig. In 1894 the sales in this market were: Bessemer, 944,825 tons; all kinds, 2,277,979 tons. The increase in 1895, therefore, amounted to 970,720 tons Bessemer and 1,319,344 tons of all grades of pig in excess of the sales for 1894, a strong showing of recovery from the depression of the previous year. Allegheny is noted as leading in the production of Bessemer pig, and one of its furnaces is the largest in the world. In Pittsburg, also, the production of tool steel has reached its high- est development.

The rolling-mill industry is more largely represented in Pittsburg than in any other city. The products include everything in plate and sheet-iron for all the various purposes to which products of this kind are put. Most note- worthy of all these products is that of armor plate. This industry has been brought to such a state of perfection that large quantities are furnished the new navy, and orders from the Russian Government have been filled. Another important product is the immense amount of boiler and tank iron. The foundry interests are largely represented. To-day there are about forty estab- lishments in this line, turning out every description of cast-iron products. Stoves, ranges, cast-iron pipes and general castings are largely produced, and Allegheny County leads the world in the production of wrought-iron pipe, having two of the largest individual pipe mills in the world, as well as five others of considerable size. The manufacture of structural iron and steel work has in this city and its environs reached both its most perfect development and largest proportions. The famous sky-scrapers in all parts of the country are built of iron and steel furnished by the Pittsburg mills. Large numbers of engines for high and low duty, used in all parts of the country, are . made in the shops of this city; and many are shipped to South America and other foreign countries. An important industry, also, is the manufacture of light locomotives. The armor plate of the Carnegie Steel Company, the cold-rolled shafting of Jones & McLaughlins, and the air-brake of the Westinghouse Com- pany are three noted products. Others are malleable iron castings, spikes, bolts and nuts, shovels, plows, agricultural implements, many articles of hardware, wirework, springs, chains, bells, mining and oil-well machinery, contractors' and quarrymen's supplies, axles, etc. There are turned out, also, large quantities of galvanized products, as well as those of brass, zincs, copper and aluminum, this city leading in the latter product. Smelting the refractory ores of gold, silver, copper and lead of the far West has distinguished the skill or Pittsburg. Large quantities of electrical machinery and appliances, such as dynamos, motors, engines, electric wires and cables, insulating materials, railway and traction supplies, lighting and power products, etc. Many of the articles pro-

J.L. D. W. English

945

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

duced are of Pittsburg origin and development. In the aggregate of its iron and steel industries Pittsburg is the largest producer in the world, and keeps pace with the steady progress of this industry in the United States, holding its relative and foremost position with ease.

The Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, manufacture steel rails, billets, structural shapes or forms, armor plate, boiler, ship and tank plate, and in their numerous furnaces produce Bessemer, pig-iron, spiegeleissen, ferro-manga- nese, iron and brass castings, ingots, beams, booms, bridge steel, steel castings, steel bars, car forgings, angles, axles, links, pins, bar-steel, ctc. The annual capacity of the furnaces is nearly 2,000,000 gross tons, and of the steel works over 2,300,000 gross tons of ingots, bars, plates and sundries-all of steel, and about 650,000 gross tons of steel rails, billets and castings.

The highest tonnage ever turned out front a blast furnace was 610 tons per day, made at the Duquesne furnace several times. This output astonished blast furnace men and excited the admiration of the whole iron world, especially as the record for a whole month averaged higher for the day than did the single day's highest record previously. The Duquesne furnaccs are now equipped with ten sets of tuyeres to admit hot blast, which has the reducing effect, to the interior of the furnace. It is the intention, however, to replace the ten tuyeres with twenty, which it is estimated will increase the capacity of each stack to 1,000 tons of iron per day, with little more coke proportionately than is used at the present time. All four of the furnaces will be equipped in that manner, and if the expectations of Superintendent James Gayley and the officials of the company are realized, the four Duquesne stacks will be turning out 4,000 tons of Bessemer iron in twenty-four hours soon.

Jones & Laughlins, Limited, proprietors of the American Steel Works, manufacture bars, rods, plates, sheets, strips and all other varieties of iron and steel, under their special patent process of cold rolling and polishing. Their shaft- ing manufactured by this process is not excelled in the world. The Eliza Furnaces are operated by this company under the style of Laughlins & Co., Limited. The general offices and warehouse are located at Third Avenue and Try Street, and the works at Twenty-seventh and Carson streets, on the South Side, covering an area of about forty acres. They employ 5,000 men.

Spang, Chalfant & Co. operate the Etna Iron Works. They manufacture flat bar, round and square iron, horseshoe iron, heavy and light bands, hoop- iron, oval, half oval, half round, angle-iron, plates, tank-iron, sheet-iron, etc. They make special features of wrought-iron, welded tubes for boilers, gas, steam, water and well tubing and casing of all sizes.

The production of an article of steel in the United States that would com- pete with the English article is a success due to the enterprise of Pittsburg. Edge-tool steel as good as the English product began to be made here early in the sixties, but nowhere else in tlie country until about 1865, and even then by only a few small concerns. When Pittsburg once commenced all grades were produced-from the lowest blister to the finest tool, cutlery and saber steel. Hussey, Wells &.Co., Park Bros. & Co., Jones, Boyd & Co., Singer, Nimnick & Co. were among the first to succeed. They soon duplicated the best cutlery and edge tools of the English brand. During the year 1863 there were exported from Pittsburg 7,924,873 pounds of the best bar and sheet steel, and the following year IT,877,901 pounds were exported. At that time the total steel of all grades produced here varied from 12,000 to 18,000 tons per annum, and the total iron consumed ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 tons.

In November, 1867, the first locomotive built in Allegheny was turned ont. In 1867 the largest piece of iron ever rolled in the world was produced in Pitts- burg -- 12 feet 6 inches long, 4 feet 6 inches wide and 12 inches thick.

946

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

In 1864 there were in this vicinity nineteen rolling-mills, having 176 pud- dling furnaces and 253 nail machines, consuming annually 98,850 tons of metal. In 1886 there were thirty-five rolling-mills, producing about 550,000 tons, exclu- sive of the steel and rail products. All consumed about 700,000 of metal annually. In 1888 there were twenty-three steelworks, which produced 215,700 tons of steel, exclusive of the products of the Bessemer plants, railmills and steel- casting works. In 1875 there were produced here 22,942 net tons of crucible steel ingots, and in 1885, 42,139 tons, though in 1880 there had been produced 52,136 tons. The total steel produced by Pittsburg in 1882 was 212,417 tons, of which 139,073 tons were steel rails. The capacity of the blast furnaces in 1860 was about 75,000 tons annually. By 1886 it had increased to 835,000 tons. The manufacture of steel castings from crucible steel was begun in 1871 by the Pittsburg Steel Casting Company. They used 17,000 pounds of Bessemer steel in a high-power steel rifle. In 1876, for the first time, Pittsburg was enabled to furnish and equip a complete steel plant. Barbed wire began to be made early in the eighties. The Westinghouse air-brake succeeded in 1869-70, against great obstacles.

In 1892, according to Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia, Pittsburg and vicinity had 26 blast furnaces and 62 rolling-mills, which produced 1,775,257 tons of pig-iron; 55,722 tons of crucible steel ingots; 1,550,252 tons of all other kinds of stcel; 1, 188,727 tons of bars, bolts, rails, rods, skelp-iron, etc., and 248,- 369 tons of sheets and plates; the total product of steel and iron being 4,818,320 tons.

The report of General Manager James M. Swank, of the American Iron and Steel Association, shows the wonderful record of blast furnaces, rolling- mills and steel works, and the production in gross tons of pig-iron and crude steel and of iron and steel rolled into finished forms in Allegheny County in 1894, 1895 and 1896.

Details.

Blast furnaces, number

1894. 27

1895. 27

1896. 28

Production of pig-iron, tons.

1,782,079

2,054,585

2,061,269

Rolling-mills and steel works, number 63

64 64

Production of Bessemer steel, tons .. . 1, 509,389

1,886,811

1,608,32I

Production of open-hearth steel, tons. 352,806

481,030 569,680

Production of crucible and other steel, tons

.31,47I

39,123 33,596

Total production of steel, tons.

,893,666

2,406,964

2,211,597

Production of rails, bars, bolts, rods, shapes,

hoops, skelps, etc., tons.

1,095,295

1,462,623

1,350,886

Production of plates and sheets, tons. 255,313

350,593 324,296

Total production of rolled iron and steel, tons. . 1,350,608

1,813,216

1,675,182

Allegheny County produced in 1896 over 23 per cent. of the total produc- tion of pig-iron in the United States, over 41 per cent. of the total production of Bessemer steel ingots and castings; over 43 per cent. of the total production of open-hearth steel ingots and castings; over 55 per cent. of the total produc- tion of crucible steel; over 27 per cent. of the total production of Bessemer steel rails; over 61 per cent. of the production of structural shapes; over 33 per cent. of the total production of plates and sheets, and almost 26 per cent. of the production of miscellaneous rolled products not enumerated above. Of the total production of all kinds of rolled iron and steel, including rails, it made, in 1896, over 30 per cent. It produced almost as much pig-iron in 1896 as was made by the two States of Ohio and Illinois, and it also produced more rolled iron and steel in the same year than Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

947

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

One of the latest advancements is the construction of steel cars by the Schoen Pressed Steel Company. This is one of the most wonderful of the recent industrial events in this great workshop. The Carnegie Company began the manufacture of armor plate in October, 1891, and by August, 1896, had made a total of 11,039 tons. "The Carnegie Company alone produces nearly 2,000,000 tons of pig-iron per annum, which is almost as much as the total joint output of Germany, France and Belgium thirty years ago, and more than the total iron output of the United States up to the year 1872. The same works pro- due annually about 1,000,000 tons of Bessemer steel ingots and 650,000 tons of rails-figures which exceed the annual output of all the works in Great Britain up to 1880-and the same firm has lately made arrangements to produce at Homestead about 1,000,000 tons of open-hearth steel annually, which is more than the total open-hearth steel output of France, Belgium and Germany com- bined, and considerably more than the total output of this description of steel in the United States, as a whole, up to 1894" (c).

An idea of the richness of some of the copper mines of Michigan may be gained from the fact that they have thus far paid their owners dividends of fully $70,000,000. The dividend of $25 a share declared by the Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Company, owned by Hussey & Co., of Pittsburg, for the year 1896, is especially noteworthy, because of the greatest dividend ever paid by this remarkable property. There are 100,000 shares, so that the total sum distributed among shareholders was $2,500,000. When it is considered that the original value of all these shares was just the last amount mentioned, the tremendous earning powers of the property will be appreciated. The selling value of the stock is about thirteen times its par value.

The transfer of the Monongahela Navigation Company's locks and other property to the Government in 1897 was an important event. The amount awarded the company was $3,761,615.46. In accordance with an act of Congress and in response to a petition, the following board of viewers was appointed by Judge M. W. Acheson, of the United States Circuit Court, in November, 1896, to appraise the property of the company: Stephen C. McCandless, George W. Dilworth, Charles E. Andrews, Jasper V. Thompson, William Metcalf, Samuel M. Jackson and William McConway. There were seven dams and eleven locks in the system. In 1896, 35,000 vessels passed through Lock No. I. In 1850 the tolls collected amouted to $64,313.81; in 1860 to $99,901.61; in 1866 to $170,- 188.30, and in 1896 to $345,115.34. Of this sum $247,414.14 was collected on coal and slack, and $91,444.47 on steamboats, other freight, etc. In July, 1897, the river was thrown open to free navigation, amid the screeching of whistles and the ringing of bells. It was a joyful occasion to the old freighters, who had so long paid toll. At the time of the transfer to the Government, W. P. Wood, of the company, reported that the following business had been done:

Local coal trade by flats from all ports to points in and about Pittsburg:

18,90

29,979,700 bushels 1894 36,615,913 bushels

I891

· 13,422,400 bushels

1895 · 39,968,400 bushels

1892

31,970,055 bushels

1896 49,240,700 bushels 1893

26,327,200 bushels

The total receipts of the company during the same period were:

1890

.$31,698.71

1894 $45,124.10

1891

40,723.48

1895

53,122.27

1892

43,723.48

1896 64,967.14

1893

34,384.88

948

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

Coke shipments by the river were as follows:

1890

1,758,500 bushels

1894

305,000 bushels

1891

805,500 bushels

1895

296,000 bushels

1892

601,500 bushels

1896

228,500 bushels

The following are the coal shipments by the Ohio River for fifteen years:

Year.

Cincinnati, Bushels.

Louisville,

Bushels.

Total, Bushels.

1882

34,462,000

36,679,000

71,141,000

1883

31,533,000

56,462,000

87,995,000

1884

24,631,000

30,801,000

55,432,000

1885

32,590,000

42,334,000

74,924,000

1886

33,229,000

38,435,000

71,664,000

1887

20,770,000

35,973,000

56,743,000

1888

51,389,000

58,513,000

109,902,000

1889

30,360,000

37,895,000

68,255,000

1890

32,616,000

51,054,000

83,670,000

1891

28,125,000

48,290,000

76,415,000

1892

24,339,000

38,749,000

63,688,000

1893

21,999,000

40,446,000

62,445,000

1894

28,498,000

34,582,000

63,080,000

1895

24,610,000

34,602,000

59,212,000

1896

49,994,000

60,811,000

I 10,805,000

In 1865 twenty-two firms were engaged in the glass business, working fifty-five factories, which contained 528 pots. By 1876 the number had increased to thirty-eight firms, working seventy-three factories, with 690 pots. In 1886 there were forty-two firms, ninety-thrce factories and 984 pots. In 1893 there were produced herc 1,414,000 boxes of glass of all kinds, or about twenty-five per cent. of the total product of the United States.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 115

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192