cxx GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



The following table is a copy from the official report of 

 the Secretary of the American Iron and Steel Association, 

 and is a summary in net tons of the ascertained and estimated 

 production of iron and steel in the United States in 1872 and 

 1873, to wit: 



1S72. 18T3. 



Iron and Steel rails 941,992 850,000 



Other rolled and hammered iron... 1,000,000 980,000 



Forges and bloomeries 58,000 50,000 



Cast steel 32,000 228,000 



Bessemer steel 110,500 140,000 



Siemens-Martin steel 3,000 3,500 



rig-iron 2,830,070 2,095,434 



In the department of railway construction the most sen- 

 sitive test of the prosperity of the iron-producing interests 

 of the country a corresponding decrease is observable. The 

 culmination of railroad construction in this country was at- 

 tained in 1871, when 7779 miles of road were constructed. 

 In 1872 a decline w^as inaugurated, the figures falling to 

 6427 miles ; while in the year 1873 a decrease of 50 per cent, 

 on the figures of the preceding year fully indicates the prime 

 cause of the present prostration of the iron industry of the 

 country. 



Aside from the extension of the lines of railroad in the 

 country, the statistics of which are noted elsewhere, the in- 

 terest of the engineering public has been centred upon the 

 progress of a number of tunnel and bridge constructions 

 which have been, in the main, steadily pushed toward com- 

 pletion. 



Of these, perhaps the most prominently before the public 

 is the Hoosac Tunnel, which is now practically finished the 

 actual tunneling work having been finished November 27, 

 1873. It is, however, not anticipated that the tunnel will 

 be ready for the passage of trains until about the month of 

 July, 1874. Aside from the magnitude of the work, the 

 probabilities are that no engineering task ever prosecuted 

 to a successful conclusion can point to so many vicissitudes 

 in its career. It was undertaken some twenty years ago, 

 and repeatedly abandoned, until contracted for by the 

 Messrs. Shanly in the year 1869. These gentlemen have, in 

 the face of many natural obstacles, carried the work to its 

 successful termination. The total length of tunnel is 25,031 



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