2o6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ical Association and the American Bnr 

 Association. Professor John Dewey, of 

 Columbia University, who had been 

 chairman of the committee on organi- 

 zation, presided at the meeting and 

 after the association had been formed 

 was elected its first president. Pro- 

 fessor Arthur O Lovejoy, of the Johns 

 Hopkins University, who had been sec- 

 retary of the committee on organiza- 

 tion, presented plans which had been 

 drawn up by the committee. An open- 

 ing address by the chairman outlined 

 the needs and purposes of such an or- 

 ganization, and this was followed by a 

 number of general addresses, after 

 which most of the time during the 

 three sessions was devoted to discussion 

 of the plans and objects of the associa- 

 tion, as embodied in the constitution, 

 which was ultimately adopted in a 

 provisional form. 



TEE PBODUCTION OF IBON OBE 

 IN lOU 



The mining of iron ore and the man- 

 ufacture of iron are regarded as a 

 valuable index of commercial prosper- 

 ity and interest attaches to the report 

 of Mr. Ernest F. Burchard, of the 

 U. S. Geological Survey, according to 

 which the quantity of iron ore mined in 

 the United States in 1914 is estimated 

 to have been between 41,000,000 and 

 42,500,000 long tons, and the quantity 

 shipped from the mines to receiving 

 ports and iron-manufacturing centers 

 between 39,500,000 and 41,000,000 

 long tons. These estimates are based 

 on preliminary reports from 52 of the 

 important iron-mining companies which 

 represent the principal iron-producing 

 districts and whose combined output in 

 1913 was more than 90 per cent, of 

 the total tonnage of iron ore mined in 

 that year. 



The average decrease in quantity 

 mined by these 52 companies was 33 

 per cent, compared witli their output 

 in 1913, and if this average decrease 

 should hold for all the iron-mining 

 companies in the United States the 

 total output of iron ore in 1914 should 

 approximate 41,440,000 long tons, com- 



pared with 61.980,437 long tons mined 

 in 1913. A curve of iron-ore prodxic- 

 tion would therefore show the output of 

 1914 to be about on a par with that of 

 the years 1905 and 1911. Coincident 

 with the decrease of 33 per cent, in ore 

 mined the iron ore shipped from the 

 mines by the same producers decreased 

 also 33 per cent., and if the shipments 

 for the whole country are figured on 

 this basis the quantiy of ore shipped 

 should approximate 39,810,000 long 

 tons, compared with 59,643,098 long 

 tons shipped in 1913. 



In the Lake Superior district, where 

 about 85 per cent, of the domestic iron 

 ore is mined, the average decrease in 

 production was about 37 per cent., thus 

 indicating a total production for that 

 district of about 32,915,000 long tons 

 in 1914, compared with 52,518,158 long 

 tons mined in 1913. The shipments of 

 ore from this district apparently de- 

 creased about 34 per cent., and accord- 

 ingly the shipments should approximate 

 32,790,000 long tons in 1914, compared 

 with 50,168,134 long tons in 1913. 



According the preliminary reports 

 the stocks of iron ore at the mines ap- 

 parently increased more than 500,000 

 long tons during 1914, so that the total 

 stocks at the close of 1914 should range 

 between 13,400,000 and 13,500,000 long 

 tons, compared with 12,918,633 long 

 tons on hand at the close of 1913. 

 These figures are, however, subject to 

 greater uncertainty than the other esti- 

 mates, because tlie returns to the sur- 

 vey are based largely on estimated 

 data. 



Officials of the iron-mining compan- 

 ies are almost unanimous in reporting 

 great depression of trade during 1914. 

 Prices generally were 50 to 75 cents a 

 ton lower than in 1913 — as low as or 

 lower than those of 1912 and 1905. 

 The depression in the iron industry af- 

 fected seriously the lake carrying 

 trade, which depends largely on the 

 transportation of ore from the Lake 

 Superior district to ports at the head 

 of Lake Michigan and at the foot of 

 Lake Erie. During the later part of the 

 autumn probably as many iron mines 



