io6 F. W. TAUSSIG 



of the changed relation to other countries, and which must 

 be followed before the latter can be understood. 



The first great impulse to the production of crude iron 

 on a large scale came in the United States with the successful 

 use of anthracite coal as fuel. During the twenty years pre- 

 ceding the civil war (1840-60) the site of the industiy and 

 its growth were governed by this fuel. Hence eastern Penn- 

 sylvania was the main producing district. For some time 

 after the close of the civil war this dominant position was 

 maintained. In 1872, when the systematic collection of 

 detailed statistics began, out of a total production of 2,500,- 

 000 tons, one half was smelted with anthracite coal, a third 

 with bituminous coal or coke, the remainder with wood (char- 

 coal). The use of soft coal, which had begun before 1860, 

 became rapidly greater. In 1875 for the first time its output 

 exceeded that of the rival eastern fuel, and since that date 

 the huge advance in the iron product of the United States 

 has been dependent on the use of coke. 



This change is easy of explanation. It is the inevitable 

 result of the greater plenty and effectiveness of coke; and it 

 has been powerfully promoted by the rapid development 

 of the United States west of the Appalachian chain, and the 

 nearness of the coke region to this growing market. 



Pittsburg, long ago seen to be destined to become a 

 great iron center, is situated in the heart of the region where 

 coking coal is plentiful. To this point the iron industry has 

 converged, attracted first by cheap fuel, and soon by other 

 geographical advantages of the region — its easy access to 

 the growing western country, and the added opportunities 

 of securing superabundant quantities of the best ore. Penn- 

 sylvania has remained the greatest iron producing state in 

 the union ; but since 1880 it has been western Pennsylvania, 

 and no longer eastern, which has secured to the state its lead- 

 ing position. 



The westward movement has been no less affected by 

 the distribution of the ore supply; and the effect of this in 

 turn has rested on the revolution wrought in the iron trade 

 by the Bessemer process. 



