402 



IRON AND STEEL. 



Of the total production, in 1876, of 2,093,236 

 net tons of pig-iron, 990,009 tons were smelted 

 with bituminous coal and coke ; 794,578 tons 

 with anthracite coal ; and 308,649 tons with 

 charcoal. The production of bituminous coal 

 and coke first exceeded that of anthracite in 

 1875, and then by only 39,499 tons ; but in 

 1876 anthracite fell 195,431 tons below its rival, 

 and 113,468 below its own production in 1875. 



The production of bituminous pig-iron was 

 greater in 1876 than in 1872, and 42,464 tons 

 greater in 1876 than in 1875. The production 

 of charcoal pig-iron declined almost 50 per cent, 

 from 1874 to 1876. In the latter year the pro- 

 duction was 308,649 tons, against 576,557 tons 

 in 1874, and 410,090 in 1875. 



The most important producing districts in 

 the United States are as follows : 



The whole number of completed furnaces 

 in the country at the close of 1876, which were 

 either active, or capable of being made so on 

 short notice, was 714, against a similar total 

 of 713 at the close of 1875. Of the total num- 

 ber of furnaces at the close of 1876, 236 were 

 in blast, and 478 were out of blast. Of 713 

 furnaces at the close x>f-4875, 293 were in 

 blast, and 420 were out of blast. The pro- 

 ductive capacity of the furnaces of the country 

 is at least twice the actual yield of either of 

 the last two years. The greatest activity in 



the erection of new furnaces has been shown 

 in the Hocking Valley, in Ohio, where several 

 bituminous furnaces have been built since the 

 beginning of 1876, while others are now in 

 course of erection or definitely projected. The 

 production of pig-iron in the United States 

 was 54,000 gross tons in 1810, 20,000 in 1820, 

 165,000 in 1830, 315,000 in 1840, and about 

 565,000 in 1850. The growth of the vari- 

 ous branches of the pig-iron trade of the 

 United States from 1854 to 1876 has been as 

 follows : 



