year indicates that a larger percentage of charcoal and anthracite furnaces were in blast in 1877 than in 1876; while with bituminous furnaces there has been no change. THE COMPARATIVE PRODUCT OF PIG-IRON BY STATES, For a series of years, is shown in the accompanying table, based upon the statistics collected by the association from manufacturers, viz.: Total..... 657 693 713 714 236 478 2,868,278 2,689,413 2,266,581 2,093,236 RECAPITULATION. KINDS OF Anthracite... and coke. Total....... 171 181 207 206 78 128 977,904 910,712 947,545 990,009 657 693 713 714 236 478 2,868,278 2,689,413 2,266,581 2,093,236| PRODUCTION OF ROLLED IRON IN 1876. The association statistics place the total production of all kinds of rolled iron in the United States in 1876 at 1,921,730 net tons, as compared with 1,890,379 tons in 1875, 1,839,560 tons in 1874, and 1,966,445 tons in 1873. The production in this branch of our iron manufacture, it will be observed, has maintained a remarkable uniformity for several years, indicating that the rolling-mills of the country have been actively employed. RAIL PRODUCTION IN 1876. There were rolled in 1876 879,629 net tons of iron and steel rails of all sizes, against 792,512 tons rolled in 1875— showing an increase of 87,117 tons, or 11 per cent., upon the make of 1875. Of this total production for 1876 there were 412,461 tons of Bessemer rails and 467,168 tons of iron rails, against 290,863 tons Bessemer and 501,649 tons iron rails in 1875. These figures show not only that the Bessemer industry is rapidly expanding, but that the Bessemer rail production has practically overtaken that of iron. Distributed throughout twenty-five states and Wyoming Territory, there were, at the close of 1876, 338 rolling-mills, with 4488 puddling-furnaces. Of this number of mills 260 were in operation during the whole or part of the year. The capacity of the mills of the country is at least double the production of 1876. THE BESSEMER-STEEL INDUSTRY. In 1876 there were 11 Bessemer steel establishments in operation in the United States. These were located as follows: 5 in Pennsylvania, 3 in Illinois, and one each in New York, Ohio, and Missouri. The number of converters in use in 1876 was 22. The details of production appear from the following table, viz.: The Bessemer-steel industry consumed during 1876 one fourth of the pig-iron product of that year; and the proportions to which it has attained entitle it to rank as a leading branch of the iron industry of the country. The use of Bessemer metal as a substitute for wrought iron and other kinds of steel is steadily increasing. The accompanying table, showing the production of Bessemer rails for a series of years, completes our annual review of this industry as far as January, 1877, viz.: Showing a total production since 1867 of 1,163,028 net tons. STEEL PRODUCTION OTHER THAN BESSEMER. From the elaborate statistics of Mr. Swank we are enabled to glean that during the year 1876 the production of crucible, puddled, blister, and open-hearth steel, in the forty-seven establishments at work in the country, was 71,178 net tons, against 61,058 tons in 1875 and 49,681 tons in 1874. Of the product of 1876, 39,382 tons were crucible steel, 21,490 were open-hearth, and 10,309 puddled and blister steel. The following table shows the production by states and districts: PRODUCTION OF IRON AND STEEL BY THE OPEN-HEARTH PROCESS (on the authority of Messrs. Richmond and Potts). Steel or homogeneous iron made by the Siemens open-hearth furnaces during the year 1876 (net tons) 24,069 Total number of Siemens's furnaces in the iron and steel works of the 141 For heating iron or steel, capacity of each furnace from 20 to 60 tons per 24 hours... For melting steel on the open hearth.... For melting steel in crucibles (each furnace of 24 or 30 pots capacity). ... The total capacity of the Siemens crucible steel-melting furnaces is 828 pots per heat, representing an annual productive capacity of 33,000 tons in 250 working days. The following are new furnaces erected during the year 1877: Besides the above, the furnace, during the year 1877, has been introduced with excellent results for the manufacture of glass and the smelting of zinc ores. We add to the above the following estimate of production for the year 1877 (furnished by Messrs. Richmond and Potts): By Siemens's crucible steel-melting furnaces (net tons).... 31,920 42,168 THE PRODUCT OF THE FORGES AND BLOOMERIES For the year 1876 is placed at 44,628 net tons, as compared with 49,243 tons during 1875. GENERAL ANALYSIS OF TOTAL IRON AND STEEL PRO DUCTION. The following table carries the figures presented in our last Annual Record to January 1, 1877. It is an analytical statement of production, in net tons, of the several branches of iron and steel industries, and affords a comprehensive view of the condition of the several branches of the iron trade for a series of years, as derived from the statistical reports of the American Iron and Steel Association, and which may therefore be regarded as approximating as nearly to the truth as it is possible to attain in a review of allied industries of such magnitude. The most noticeable feature of this table, it will be observed, is the enormous increase of the figures referring to the Bessemer steel industry, and the considerable increase, though on a scale of lesser magnitude, of the figures of production of open-hearth steel. As before remarked, the corresponding figures for 1877 must be omitted, as the very rough approximation that might be ventured would have but little value. THE IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1877. From the most recent statements that have appeared in the Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Association, it appears that while the year 1877 has proved to be the most disastrous of any since the panic, the demand for our iron and steel products was greater than during the year 1876. The secretary estimates that the production of pig-iron during 1877 exceeded that of 1876 by about ten per cent., and thinks that it will approximate to that of 1875, which was 2,266,581 tons. The production of Bessemer steel during 1877, he affirms, will fully equal the product of 1876 (525,996 net tons ingots, and 412,461 tons rails). The production of steel rails in 1877, he believes, will not vary greatly from 450,000 net tons. In iron rails, however, he anticipates that the year 1877 will show some falling-off. The secretary notices that the imports and exports of iron and steel in 1877 |