USES TO WHICH IRON IS PUT 135 



outside of nails, the United States last year exported 118,581 

 gross tons, Ijut as far back as 1899 the exports amounted to 

 116,317 gross tons. 



Of wire springs the consumption is enormous. The 

 leading manufacturer issues a catalogue of nearly a hundred 

 pages, devoted exclusively to springs, in which nearly a hun- 

 dred different types are regarded as of sufficient general 

 interest to the trade to be illustrated by engravings. 



The production of wire has been steadily increasing at 

 a rate slightly greater than that of total steel production, 

 while the production of rails has increased much less rapidly 

 than total steel production. It is confidently asserted that 

 within a very few years the production of wire will actually 

 exceed that of rails. 



Structural shapes are now being rolled at the rate of 

 about 1,500,000 tons annually. Together with plates and 

 small quantities of other forms of iron and steel they are 

 used for steel framed buildings, bridges, viaducts, etc. \Vliile 

 such erection is spectacular it will be observed that it does not 

 involve any very great relative consumption of iron. A 

 considerable tonnage of structural shapes now goes into the 

 manufacture of steel freight cars, which were at first made 

 wholly from pressed steel plates. Structural shapes include 

 I beams, channels, angles, zees, tees, etc. 



Skelp is simply narrow, fiat steel intended for the manu- 

 facture of wrought pipe by either the lap or butt weld pro- 

 cess, the latter being used with the smaller sizes. About 

 1,000,000 tons annually are now being made. The pipe ranges 

 in outside diameter from two fifths to 30 inches. 



Of miscellaneous forms of steel there are now being 

 rolled about 5,000,000 gross tons annually, including mer- 

 chant bars, bands, hoops, cotton ties, nail plate for cut nails 

 and spikes, fish plates, car axles, armor plate, etc. Merchant 

 bars include rounds, flats, squares, hexagons, etc., and vari- 

 ous special shapes, including those resembling ordinary struc- 

 tural shapes, but of less than three inches depth. 



Outside of the easily recognized uses of hoops and bands 

 a large tonnage is consumed for the production of articles 

 which the layman would assume was made from plates. 



