COMMERCE (INTERNAL) OF THE UNITED STATES. 



127 



In 1877, for the first time, the production of 

 steel rails exceeded that of iron rails. The 

 decrease in the production of the latter was 

 134,628 tons, while tnere was an increase of 

 19,708 tons in the production of Bessemer steel 

 rails. The total production of rails in 1877 

 was 114,920 tons, or 13 per cent, less than in 

 1876. The manufacture of rails was carried 

 on in nineteen States and one Territory, Wyo- 

 ming, in 1877, Pennsylvania furnishing 45|-per 

 cent, of the total product. In 1878 a plant 

 was established in. a new State, Colorado. 



The decrease in the imports of iron and steel 

 products in the six years from 1873 to 1878 

 amounted to $50,250,819 ; the total imports 

 in the former year having been $59,308,452, 

 those of the latter $9,057,633. During this 

 period the imports of railroad bars, which 

 amounted to $19,750,000 in 1873, had ceased 

 altogether ; that of pig iron had declined from 

 $13,847,281 to $1,250,057; that of bar, rod, 

 sheet, and hoop iron from $7,477,556, to $1,- 

 630,707 ; that of raw steel from $4,155,234 to 

 $1,220,037; that of steel manufactures from 

 $10,492,779 to $4,035,512. Between the same 

 dates there was an increase in the iron and 

 steel exports, amounting to $1,943, 198, or nearly 

 22 per cent. ; the exports of 1878 amounted to 

 $12,084,048. The price of iron had declined 

 about one half in this period ; the average ex- 

 port price of pig iron per cwt. was $2.49 in 

 1873, $2.14 in 1874, $1.55 in 1875, $1.31 in 

 1876, $1.24 in 1877, and $1.21 in 1878. The 

 change in the national balance in this class of 

 commodities was from $49,000,000 net im- 

 ports in 1873 to $3,000,000 net exports in 1878, 

 or over $52,000,000. The exports of all iron 

 and steel products during the calendar year 

 1877 amounted to $16,659,675, an increase of 

 about $5,000,000 over the exports of the pre- 

 ceding, half of which increase was made up of 

 firearms alone. 



The total product of pig iron in the calendar 

 year 1877 was 2,314,585 tons, against 2,093,- 

 236 tons in 1876, 2,266,581 in 1875, 2,689,413 

 in 1874, 2,868,278 in 1873, and 2,854,558 in 

 1872; there has therefore been a decrease in 

 the production of raw iron of about 540,000 

 tons, or not quite 19 per cent., since 1872. The 

 total production of rails during the same pe- 

 riod decreased over 235,000 tons ; while that 

 of every other class of products shows a con- 

 siderable increase. The number of furnaces 

 in working order in the United States at the 

 close of the year 187Y was 716, against 712 

 at the close of 1876. The numbei; of furnaces 

 in blast at the end of December, 1877, was 

 270, about three eighths of the total num- 



ber of completed furnaces, against 236 in De- 

 cember, 1876, or less than one third of the 

 number then existing ; there was thus an in- 

 crease during the year of 34 in the number of 

 active furnaces. The consumption of pig iron 

 was very much greater than in 1876, and the 

 production also considerably greater ; the esti- 

 mated consumption was 2,418,216 tons, against 

 2,172,503 tons in 1876 ; the stock remaining in 

 makers' hands was 642,351 tons on the 1st of 

 January, 1878, against 686,798 the year before. 

 The imports of pig iron in 1877 amounted to 

 66,871 tons, and the exports to 7,687 tons. 

 The increase in the consumption of iron in 

 1877 is explained by the decline in prices which 

 continued in that year, and reached a level 

 below which, it was thought, they could not 

 further descend. The Philadelphia price of 

 anthracite pig iron went down steadily from 

 $20.75 per gross ton in January to $18 in No- 

 vember and December, the average for the year 

 being $18.92 ; that of best iron rails from $38 

 to $33, average $35.25 ; the price of refined bar 

 iron fell from $48.72 in January to $44.80 in 

 April, and remained steady at that figure for 

 the rest qf the year. 



The total pr eduction of rolled iron, with that 

 of iron rails and other varieties of rolled iron 

 given separately, is shown in the table below : 



The production of iron rails was about the 

 same as that thirteen years before, while that 

 of all other iron products taken together had 

 more than doubled. The decrease in the total 

 iron since 1872, the year of greatest production, 

 was 371,000 tons ; but that of iron rails during 

 the same period was 573,000 tons, so that there 

 has been an increase of 202,000 tons, or nearly 

 21|- per cent., in other iron products. The pro- 

 duction of cut nails and spikes was 4,828,918 

 kegs in 1877, against 4,065,322 kegs in 1872. 



The production of the different classes of 

 steel and the total steel product for the past 

 six calendar years were as follows : 



