304 ANNUAL EEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



been supplied the writer. They summarize market conditions and 

 ocean freights as they have prevailed in recent years : 



Ocean freight from Cuba is 95 cents a ton; from Wabana, New- 

 foundland, 70 cents; from Brazil, $2.12i (i. e., 8s. 6d.) ; from Sweden, 

 $1.50; from Spain, $1.37|; from North Africa, $1.25; from Chile, $3. 

 When the ore reaches American ports, it brings as a general rule Y 

 cents a unit, although specially rich and pure varieties may com- 

 mand 8 cents. From these data, in a general way, one can see the 

 market conditions which must be met by an exporter of ore from any 

 one of the countries which are the chief contributors to American 

 furnaces. Ocean freights, for some time to come, certainly will not 

 be less than in recent years, even when seagoing bottoms can be 

 secured. 



THE SUPPLY OP COKE. 



So long as iron ore is turned into pig iron as the first step toward 

 steel, as in our present-day practice, coke will be no less vital to the 

 industry than ore itself. The relatively great height of a modern 

 stack and the heavy burden of charge which rests upon the still 

 burning fuel demand strong and resistant coke. Not every coke will 

 answer. From an address by Mr. J. E. Johnson before the Mining 

 and Metallurgical Society of America, January 12, 1915, the fol- 

 lowing figures are taken : From 52 per cent iron ore a ton of pig iron 

 may be made with 1 ton of coke. These conditions are approxi- 

 mately those of Lake Superior ores to-day. From a 38 per cent ore, 

 a ton of pig requires If tons of coke, conditions approximately those 

 of Alabama. Should we ever use 25 per cent ore, 2f tons of coke 

 will be necessary to the ton of pig. Whatever may be said, therefore, 

 regarding the coke supply to-day will apply with increasing force 

 as the years pass and the yield of ores declines. Anthracite coal has 

 been, to a certain extent, used in the iron furnaces, but its desirability 

 and increasing price for household fuel and for steam purposes in our 

 Eastern cities make it a factor in future iron metallurgy of diminish- 

 ing importance. Open-burning bituminous coal has been used raw 

 to some extent, but is not now a serious factor. 



The following table summarizes the bituminous coal reserves as 

 calculated by M. R. Campbell, of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey, and as given in the Mineral Resources of the United States for 

 1910, page 28. Only eastern coke-producing States are selected be- 

 cause the present effect of Rocky Mountain States upon the total 

 result is not great. The influence which they can exercise upon the 

 future is small or remote. The same is true of the Pacific coast 

 and its possible future industry in iron and steel. In the table the 



