194 REPORT — 1855. 



1854, of the 118 furnaces for the smelting of iron ore, then in full blast in Scotland, 

 and producing 796,640 tons of pig iron, 102 were situated in the two western coun- 

 ties of Lanark and Ayr, 72 being in the former and 30 in the latter, and the produce 

 of these amounted to 7l7,6no tons. Taking the average price, during that twelve- 

 month, as 79s. 8d. per ton, the gross value of this industry is shown to have been 

 ^2,858,440. Of this very large quantity of pig iron produced in the West of Scot- 

 land, 122,684 tons were shipped direct to foreign countries, and 294,194 tons were 

 sent coastwise from the Clyde, Port Dundas, and the western ports of the Clyde 

 estuary, while 22,865 were sent away by railways; and 171,360 were converted 

 into malleable iron ; leaving the remaining 106,497 tons for foundry and other pur- 

 poses of the district. The number of men employed in iron mining in the district, 

 during 1854, were 3645 in Lanarkshire, and 1943 in Ayrshire, making in all 5588, 

 whose wages, at 22s. per week, show an annual expenditure on wages of J:^319,633 12s., 

 while the number of men employed in managing and working the furnaces amounted 

 to 1344, who were paid on an average 4s. 6d. per day, or an annual aggregate sum 

 of =£110,376. 



But if the manufacture of pig iron be a modern industry in the West of Scotland, 

 assuredly that of malleable iron is still more recent ; for, with the exception of a 

 small work at Wilsontown, which was unsuccessfully attempted there at a some- 

 what remote period, almost nothing was done in this manufacture till 1839 ; and 

 even so late as in 1842, the production did not exceed 35,000 tons. During the 

 year 1854, however, the manufacture of malleable iron reached 122,400 tons ; and, 

 taking the average price of all sorts, including plates for shipbuilding, to have then 

 been ^10 per ton, the gross amount of this industry was igl,224,000. The number 

 of men employed in this branch were about 4000, and the rate of wages paid was 

 28s. per week, showing an annual aggregate amount paid in wages to have been 

 ^291,200. 



Assuming, then, all these statements to be as correct as perhaps they can possibly 

 be made, let us now see what was the real value, to the West of Scotland, of the 

 whole of these industries in 1854. 



Value of coal ^2,418,000 



Value of pig iron ^2,858,440 



Deduct value of coal used in smelting, say "1 



3 tons of coal for each ton of pig, or i- 807,300 



2,152,000 tons at 7s. 6d J 



2,051,140 



Value of malleable iron .^1, 224,000 



Deduct value of pig iron used, "1 jpcoo kba 

 say 171,360 tons at 79s. 8d. J ^o^^'^s* 

 Deduct value of coals used inT 

 conversion from pig into I , _ _ 

 malleable, say 367,200 tons [ ^-^i''^^ 

 at 7s. 6d. J 



820,284 



403,716 



Net value of coal and iron ^4,872,856 



We find also from the foregoing statements that the number of persons employed 

 in these industries, and the wages paid, were as follows : — 



Employed in collieries 22,980 at 21s. per week = ^gl, 254,708 



„ iron mining 5,588 22s. „ = 319,633 



„ attending furnaces 1,344 4s. 6<Z. per day = 110,376 



„ malleable iron works.. 4,000 28s. per week = 291,200 



33,912 ^1,975,917 



In short, the foregoing tables show that the coal and iron works of the West of 

 Scotland, of which Glasgow is the great central mart, produced no less a sum to 

 those connected with these establishments than .£4,872,856, and gave employ- 



