IOWA. 



IRON AND STEEL. 



401 



railroads of the State. The decision affirmed 

 the right and authority of the State to regulate 

 these charges unless prevented by the terms 

 of charters. It is claimed by those opposed to 

 what is known as the "Grange Legislation," 

 that the result has been to keep capital from 

 seeking investment in the State, that it has 

 prevented Iowa roads generally from making 

 dividends, and that it has increased the burden 

 of the people for transportation expenses be- 

 yond the limits of the State, by compelling the 

 companies to secure heavy charges over con- 

 necting lines, in which they have an interest. 



In a case brought in the Des Moines Circuit 

 Court, and tried in March, for the recovery of 

 property stolen in a sleeping-car, a verdict for 

 the plaintiff was rendered. The court in laying 

 down the law said: " If a person purchases a 

 first-class railroad ticket and a ticket for a 

 sleeping-car berth, the owner of the sleeping- 

 car is under obligations to furnish suitable fa- 

 cilities and means to him for sleeping, and to 

 take charge of and secure the safety of his 

 personal effects to the extent that is reasona- 

 ble and prudent for a man to take with him 

 while traveling while he is asleep." 



An accident on the Chicago, Rock Island 

 & Pacific Railroad, on the 28th of August, 

 occasioned by the giving way of a bridge over 

 Little Four Mile Creek, nine miles west of 

 Des Moines, resulted in the death of 20 per- 



sons and the injury of 35 others. It was the 

 severest disaster of the kind ever known in 

 the State. 



An interesting colony of German socialists, 

 with peculiar religious views, is located at 

 "Homestead," on the Chicago, Rock Island 

 & Pacific Railroad, a short distance west of 

 Iowa City. It is known as the Am-a-na So- 

 ciety's settlement. The number of inhabitants, 

 when the State census was taken in 1875, was 

 1,624, of whom 827 were males and 797 fe- 

 males. There are seven small villages about 

 three miles apart, consisting of about 250 

 houses in all, occupied by some 800 families. 

 All property belongs to the Society, though 

 each family has an exclusive right to the use 

 of its house. Meals are taken at boarding- 

 houses. All receipts and expenses are an 

 affair of the Society, and not of individual 

 members. The community is represented as 

 being sober, industrious, and flourishing. Their 

 religion is a modified form of Christianity, 

 somewhat similar to that of the Quakers. 



IRON AND STEEL. According to the 

 latest annual report of the American Iron and 

 Steel Association, which contains the most 

 comprehensive and trustworthy statistics, pre- 

 pared by Mr. James M. Swank, the secretary of 

 the association, the total iron and steel produc- 

 tion of the United States during the past five 

 years, in net tons of 2,000 Ibs., was as follows : 



The decrease in the production of pig-iron 

 from 1878, the year of greatest production in 

 the United States, to 1876, has been 775,042, 

 or 27 per cent. This great shrinkage indicates, 

 with concurrent low prices, a marked depres- 

 sion in the pig-iron industry of the country. 

 The decrease was 6 per cent, in 1874, 15 per 

 cent, in 1875, and 8 per cent, in 1876. The 

 figures for 1876, as compared with those of the 

 preceding year, indicate that the industry has 

 begun to rally from the effects of the panic of 

 1873. This view is strengthened hy the fact 

 that there has been a gradual decrease in the 

 unsold stock on hand at the end of the year. 

 At the close of 1874, this stock amounted to 

 795,784 net tons ; at the close of 1875, 760,908 

 tons ; and at the close of 1876, 674,798 tons. 

 Twenty-three States, and the Territory of 

 Utah, made pig-iron in 1876. Pennsylvania 

 made almost one-half of the entire product, 

 viz., 1,009,613 net tons, or 48.2 per cent., 

 slightly increasing its production over that of 

 1875, and largely increasing its percentage, 

 VOL. xvn. 26 A 



which was 42.4 in that year. Ohio came next 

 to Pennsylvania in 1876, making 403,277 tons, 

 or 19.2 per cent., showing a slight decrease 

 upon its production in 1875, but also a slight in- 

 crease in its percentage, which was 18.3 in 1875. 



At the close of 1876 there were, in 25 States 

 and the Territory of Wyoming, 838 rolling- 

 mills, containing 4, 488 single puddling-furnaoes, 

 each double furnace being counted as two sin- 

 gle furnaces. Of the whole number of mills, 

 260 were in operation during the whole or part 

 of the year. Of the whole number 98 were bnilt 

 to make rails, and of these 56 made rails in 

 1876. The rolling-mill capacity of the country, 

 like its blast-furnace capacity, is at least double 

 the production of 1876. Sixty-four rolling- 

 mills in 13 States made cut nails and spikes in 

 1876. The number of machines contained in 

 these mills was over 8,800, but all were not 

 employed. The American keg of nails weighs 

 100 Ibs. 



The production of pig-iron by States in re- 

 cent years has been as follows: 



