Chicago City (part 32 of 57)

After the building of the second Fort Dearborn, it was found necessarv permanently to employ a blacksmith for the performance of similar duties, and David McKee, who came here from Fort Wayne, in 1823, whose shop stood at the foot of Wolcott (now State) street near the Agency House, received the appointment of government blacksmith. He lived to a ripe old age, and died at Aurora in 1881. The increasing needs of the growing settlement soon rendered necessary the establishment of another similar shop, and William See took up his home and opened a modest place of business within the limits of the inchoate city. Mr. See was not only mighty in the use of the blacksmith hammer, but was also distinguished as a powerful Methodist exhorter. One of his daughters, Leah, became the wife of James Kinzie. Towards the close of 1833 came another " knight of the anvil " named Matthias Mason, and about the same time a shop

The latter was an uncle of D.G. Brown, of Kenwood, and continued to reside in Chicago until December 29, 1883, when, having attained the great age of 99 years lie died at the residence of his nephew. He came to this city at the direct instance of the government, in order to take charge of the arms of the Fort Dearborn garrison. He arrived in Chicago in 1833, and enjoyed the rare privilege of witnessing not only the growth of the first Chicago, but also its phoenix-like resurrection from the ashes of 1871. His skill as a temperor of steel was remarkable, and his fondness for his trade induced him to continue to work at the forge until he had passed four score years.

The first foundry in Chicago was erected in 1835. In 1834, William Jones and Byron King formed a partnership to deal in hardware. In 1835, W. B. Clarke became a partner, and the firm name was changed to Jones, King & Co. This firm employed William Stow & Co. to erect a foundry, which was built on Polk street, west of the south Branch. David Bradley, of Syracuse, New York, came to Chicago as an employee of William Stow to assist in its construction. The first castings were made in December^ 1835. In March, 1837, the old firm of Jones, King & Co., having dissolved a new co-partnership was formed between Stow & Co., William King, J. H. Walker and E. Peck. The title of the new firm was William H. Stow & Co., and it operated the Chicago Furnace until some time in 1842.

Prior to the dissolution of the firm of Wm. H. Stow & Co., there had been formed a firm of metal workers, under the name of William & John Rankin. The formation of the latter-named partnership occurred in 1839, and the business which they undertook was a brass foundry, situated at 55 North Clark street, at the corner of Illinois. At the time of the dissolution of the firm of William H. Stow & Co. (1842) Hiram P.

Moses succeeded Mr. Stow. The first successors of Stow & Co. were B. P. Andrews & Co.; later the firm became Moses & Ayers, and finally the business was carried on under the name of Hiram P. Moses. Mr. Moses conducted a brass foundry as well as an establishment for the manufacture of steam boilers and engines. Mr. Moses has been regarded as, to a certain extent, the pioneer in the Chicago manufacture of steam engines. So successful was he in this line that his establishment was known, in latter days, as the " Chicago Steam-Engine Works," of which he was the recognized proprietor.

Another foundry was started in 1839, by Elihu Granger, on North Water street. The land selected by Granger for a site for his factory was a portion of the canal lands, and litigation between the State and the claimant was an inevitable result. The claim of the pre-emptor was decided adversely to him, and in consequence thereof, in 1840, he found it necessary to alter the location of his factory to the corner of Franklin and Indiana streets. In 1853 the sons of Mr. Granger succeeded to the business, and until the panic of 1857 the enterprise proved satisfactory. In the latter year they found themselves compelled to make an assignment, Elihu Granger and George Dole being the trustees.

In order to a correct comprehension of the Chicago foundries it is necessary to allude to the dissolution of the partnership of Messrs. Gates & Scoville, which occurred in 1846. After the dissolution, Mr. Scoville and his sons formed a partnership and entered into the operation of a foundry at the corner of Canal and Adams streets in 1848. The original firm enjoys the distinction of having been a pioneer house in assisting the establishment of the great railroad systems which to-day centre in Chicago. The firm aided the Galena & Chicago Union in laying its first track, furnishing the iron strap rails over which the first trip was made. The line also contracted with the firm for the construction of a number of freight and passenger cars. The first locomotive built in Chicago - the Enterprise - was also constructed at their shops. It is a hackneyed saying that "great oaks from little acorns grow," and an illustration of this proverb is to be found in the fact that the firm of Messrs. Scoville & Sons furnished the nucleus from which has grown the house known as the Scoville Iron "Works, which was subsequently recognized as one of the principal concerns engaged in iron manufactures in the West.

In 1846, the iron industries of the infant city received a new impetus through the energy of Messrs. C. E. Vandercook & Co., who, in that year, started a factory for the construction of hot-air and cooking stoves.

For several years his partner was Mr. Joshua R. Shedd, and in 1852 the ownership of the factory passed into the hands of Howard Sherman, Joshua E. Shedd and Dr. John II. Foster, the style of the co-partnership being Sherman, Shedd & Foster.

The early efforts of Messrs. Rankin in the direction of establishing a brass foundry were soon followed by those of numerous other firms, and by the year 1848 Chicago could boast of a number of establishments of this description. Perhaps the oldest of these, after that of the Eankins, was the foundry of Thomas George & Co., on Lake street. At the time of its erection it was considered very extensive. The works of Nugent & Owens were opened on Market street, about the same time (1848). In 1854 the shop was burned and the business was afterwards conducted by Mr. Nugent alone. The first bell foundry in the city was that of II. W. Eincker, on Canal street, near Adams. There in 1848 was cast the bell for St. Peter's church, which at that time was probably the largest in the city. In 1854 another bell was cast at this foundry for the court house, which was utilized for purposes of public fire alarm.

About this period (perhaps in 1850), the Chicago Iron Works were established by F. Letz, on Wells street. In 1857 the proprietor decided to move the foundry to Franklin street, between Washington and Madison, where he purchased land and erected a building of cut stone and brick, three stories in height. Probably the next brass foundry to that of Letz, in order of time, was the establishment of James Hannah & Co., in the Wabansia addition on the west side of the city.

The Chicago Steam Boiler Works were established on Jackson street, west of the river in 1851, by Charles Reissig, and at this foundry were constructed some of the apparatus for the mains for the city water works, in 1854.

One year later (1852) Mason & McArthur opened a small shop on Eandolph street, where, under contract with the gas company of those early days, they became the manufacturers of various wrought work and purifiers, needed in the gas works. The business prospered, and in 1855 a new building with greatly improved facilities was put up at the corner of Canal and Carroll streets. Two years later, the establishment was known as the "Excelsior Iron Works," and was among the leading manufactories of the city.

The fact that Chicago was destined to become a great railroad centre was perceived by its citizens as early as 1852. In consequence, the building of cars and locomotives began to assume prominence as a special industry. As has been said, this business was inaugurated in the city by Scoville & Sons in 1848. In November, 1852, however, it received a new impetus through the establishment of the "Union Car Works," on South Clark street, by Stone & Boomer. This firm, in February preceding, had been brought into close connection with the railroad companies of that time as contractors for the construction of bridges on the Howe principle. The first car was turned out from their works in February, 1853, and before the close of 1854

400 cars had been built there. The firm obtained the contract for the equipment of the western division of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific road, and for supplying the needs of the Ohio & Mississippi company. Meanwhile they had not abandoned the building of bridges, and by September, 1855, when their works were burned, their gross annual earnings amounted to $800,000 and they had entered into contracts with twenty-four diferent lines, in the States of Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin. After the fire the firm looked about for a new location, and negotiated for the purchase of the "American Car Works," on the lake shore, in the south division of the city. The "American Car Works" had been founded by N. S. Bouton, who had purchased the establishment of G. W. Sizer & Company. The factory was completed in the fall of 1852, but business was not commenced until March following. Mr. Bouton and Messrs. Stone and Boomer formed a partnership, and at the time the new firm assumed charge of the works, in 1855, the establishment was, probably the largest in the West, the building and yards covering thirteen acres. The new concern operated a foundry, blacksmith shop, engine house, machine shop, paint shop, and two passenger car shops, and called their establishment the "Union Car and Bridge Works." It had a contract with the Illinois Central for the construction of its passenger cars, and in December, 1856, the car works were bought by that corporation. This purchase brought about the dissolution of the co-partnership. Mr. Stone went into business as a contractor, Mr. Boomer as a bridge builder, and Mr. Bouton started a new foundry on Clark street. The latter enterprise, however, he abandoned a few years later, to accept the position of superintendent of public works.

The question of establishing a locomotive works in Chicago was first agitated in November, 1853, but the first factory was established the following year, by a company of which William H. Brown was president, and which purchased the works of Scoville & Sons, at the corner of Adams and Canal streets. In this connection it is worthy oi remark that the locomotive known as the "Enterprise" which, as has been said, was the first locomotive built in Chicago - was not completed until after the works had passed into the possession of the new concern. The company continued in existence for only twelve months, when, after having turned out some ten locomotives, the plant was sold to the Galena & Chicago Union railroad company.

Railroad companies were not slow to perceive the desirability of establishing their own locomotive and car shops. The Galena & Chicago Union, besides purchasing the locomotive works above-mentioned, built a machine and repair shop of its own on West Kinzie street during 1854. Locomotives were also built there, among them being the famous " Black Hawk." Previous to the purchase, in 1856, of the "American Car Works" by the Illinois Central, the latter company (in 1853) had established shops on the lake shore, south of Twelfth street. Machine and repair works were also established in 1855, on Buffalo street, by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, while similar shops were built on West Kinzie street, by the Chicago Building and Equipment company. Others were also put up on the north branch by the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac. In consequence of this action on the part of the railroad companies, from whom emanated the principal demand, there was little encouragement for private enterprises to venture in this direction.

Between 1852 and 1857 a number of new iron manufactories were started. In 1853, another stove foundry was located on the south branch by Vincent Himrod & Co. The "Chicago Iron Railing Manufacturing Works," of which the proprietor was A. F. Stoddard, were opened on Randolph street. John Beattie started a steam engine works during the same year on North Water street, and in 1854, similar establishments were put up by Stephens and Bro., and by J. W. Cobb. The latter manufactory, situated at the corner of Kinzie and Desplaines streets, was destroyed by fire during the same year. Collins and Blatchford embarked in business during this year at the corner of Clinton and Fulton streets, under the name of the "Chicago Lead Pipe and Sheet Iron Works." The principal business of the firm was the manufacture of pig-lead. In 1855 a foundry was started by M. C. Barrel, at the corner of Adams and Canal streets, and about the same time Sherman, Bay and Co. embarked in the same business on Canal street, as did also Russell and Angel at the corner of Kinzie and Halsted streets. Another manufactory of steam engines was erected in April of this year at the corner of Canal and Washington streets, by Perkins and Krause, who also turned out machinery for the use of flour and saw mills.

In July, 1857, Captain E. B. Ward opened the first rail-mill in Chicago. At first only the re-rolling of iron rails was undertaken. This establishment was regarded as very extensive at that period, covering about fifteen acres on the north branch, three miles from Lake street bridge.

Some idea of the extent to which the manufacture of iron had been carried in Chicago may be gathered from the fact that the estimated capital invested in this branch of industry in 1857 exceeded $1,700,000, while the value of the manufactured articles was more than double that amount. Eight thousand tons of wrought, and 14.000 tons of cast, iron were consumed and employment was given to some 2,800 workmen. In the stove business alone the capital invested was about $185,000 and the value of the product turned out was estimated at $238,000.

The first type foundry established in Chicago (or west of Cincinnati) was that of C. G. Sheffield, who is said to have been an agent of the then well known firm of John T. White & Co., of New York. Mr. Sheffield carried on business at 43 Franklin street, conducting not only a type foundry, but also an establishment for the sale of printers' material; his capital was $5,000 and his employes numbered fifteen.

It is difficult to obtain accurate data on which to base any assertion in reference to the amount of manufacturing carried on in Chicago in these comparatively early days. The following table is a copy from the annual review of the Democratic Press, a prominent journal of that time, and is an approximate summary of the manufacture of iron on January 1, 1857:

Capital Value Of

As may be seen from an examination of the foregoing table, the iron manufactures of the city had made a splendid commencement prior to 1857, but the development of these industries had been impeded by the difficulty of obtaining iron ore at a reasonable cost. The improvement of the natural water-ways, bringing as it did cheaper freight rates, thereby rendering the crude material more accessible, had a marked and surprising effect. Chicago at once sprang into a greater prominence as a manufacturing center.

The geographical position of the city was a potent factor in bringing about these results. To the north lay the immense orebeds of Michigan, while toward the south and east were the coal fields of Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. With the multiplication and extension of railroads came wealth and power, so that to-day the possibilities of the manufacture of iron at Chicago are limited only by the consumptive capacity of the great Northwest. The manufacturers were quick to comprehend the importance of availing themselves of the facilities for procuring the raw material, and the rest has been merely a question of money and commercial enterprise.

Between 1850 and 1858 there was no furnace worthy of mention in operation in the entire State of Illinois, but the erection of the Chicago rolling-mills, on the north branch of the Chicago river, by Capt. Eber B. Ward, in 1857, marked the commencement of a new era. This mill, as has been said, was erected for the purpose of re-rolling rails. The gigantic works of the North Chicago Boiling Mill company are the outgrowth of this enterprise.

In 1860, in seven western States - Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois - there were seventy-six furnaces engaged in turning out pig-iron. The aggregate capital was $6,223,000, of which amount $5,174,000 was invested in Ohio and Kentucky, and only $25,000 in the single furnace of which Illinois could boast. Of the 456,127 tons of crude ore utilized in these furnaces, the single one in Illinois used only 4,000 tons, or about eight-tenths of one per cent. The number of hands employed was thirty, who received $10,800 wages. Only 1,500 tons of pig-iron were produced, of the aggregate value of $37,500.

No iron blooms were made in Illinois in 1860, eighty-one of the entire ninety-seven establishments in the United States, engaged in their manufacture being located in Pennsylvania and New York. The census report of the same year shows that mills for the manufacture of bar, railroad and sheet-iron were in operation in six western States, only one, however, being located in Illinois. The following table shows, at a glance, how trivial was the manufacture in this State:

Output

It is worthy of remark that the first steel rail ever rolled in America was rolled at the North Chicago mills, on May 24, 1865, from steel blooms made from Lake Superior ore by Capt. Ward, at his works at Wyandotte, Michigan. In 1870, a Bessemer steel plant was added to the company's works at a cost of $350,000.

Product

The remarkable growth of the iron industry in Chicago from 1860 to 1870 will appear from a comparison of the preceding table with the following, which has been

*The figures if i ven are for Cook county, but it may be fairly assumed that then, as now, Chicago contained almost all the iron manufactories of the county. Small as these figures appear, when contrasted with the immense amount of similar manufacturing now carried on in this city, it must be borne in mind that they represent an increase in the output over 1850 of ninety per cent., while the amount of wages was double.

The Ubww

compiled from the census report of the Litter year. Not only had eight new branches of manufactures sprung up, but the number of establishments had increased 183 percent.; the capital invested represented $6,293,000, as against $1,10(5,000 in 1860; while more than four times as many hands were employed.

Of Man

The panic of 1873, which prostrated, for a time, so many branches of trade, exerted a depressing influence upon the iron industries of the country, from which Chicago did not escape. The cheapening of pig iron - which declined ten dollars per ton - was in favor of manufacturers, but the shrinkage in the volume of sales - which reached nearly or quite $1,000,000 in 1874 - was against them. Inflated values had resulted in over-production and a glutted market, and a depreciation in values was inevitable. The antecedent years had witnessed a veritable mania for railroad building. Hard times checked the investment of capital in this direction, and one principal avenue of consumption was thus suddenly and effectually blocked. Naturally, manufacturers of rails and carwheels were among the chief sufferers, although the former found some offset to their loss in the fact that many of the railroad companies were still in the market as purchasers of steel rails, with which to replace, those of iron already laid. Prior to this date Chicago capitalists had obtained virtual control of the rolling mills at Joliet, and the value of the output of these, with that of the North Chicago works, was estimated at $14,000,000 for 1874. During the latter part of 1874 there was an improvement in the demand for mill machinery, stationary engines and stoves, and the value of the output of these descriptions of manufactured iron slightly increased during 1874. Generally speaking, however, there may be said to have occurred a falling off of about eight per cent, in the city's output of manufactured iron. Many of the pig iron furnaces of the country went out of blast, and the output was reduced by fully fifty per cent, between 1873 and 1875. Yet, with 1875 came a reaction in the trade of manufacturers, notably as regarded carwheels and rails, the consumptive demand became more active, and prices recovered from three to six per cent.

Not until the latter part of 1878 did the market for pig iron exhibit renewed strength. From $53 per ton in 1872, this commodity fell $10 in 1873 and $11 in 1874, while another drop of $2.50 marked the year 1876. Nor was 1877 a prosperous -one for iron manufacturers, the average diminution of sales being about seven and one-half per cent. Eastern lines (notably those crossing Pennsylvania) discriminated against Chicago in the matter of freights, so that the rolling mills were virtually excluded from Eastern markets. Toward the close of 1878, however, railroad and other construction work was resumed, to the great benefit of both branches of the iron trade. Chicago founders made many new and profitable contracts, rolling mills increased their sales of rails some five or six per cent. , and minor iron industries generally prospered. Better freight rates were granted, and there were considerable exportations to Great Britain and the continent of Europe.

The following year (1879) was even more prosperous. The demand for manufactured iron was sufficiently brisk to absorb the surplus stocks of pig iron, which (with only 360 of the 700 blast furnaces of the country in operation) recovered to $35 per ton. This appreciation in the cost of crude material was not without its effect in curtailing manufacturers' profits, yet this diminution was measurably retrieved by an increase in sales. The Chicago rolling mills increased their output of steel rails by about five per cent.; the foundries held their own, and minor manufactures, such as boiler making, galvanized iron work, etc., were reasonably active. Machinists' tools (the demand for which affords a tolerably correct index to the prosperity of the trade at large) advanced more than forty per cent, during the year. Some of the heaviest sales were for deferred delivery, and in effecting these Chicago manufacturers exhibited no little sagacity, inasmuch as the year 1880 was characterized by an influx of pig iron from England, which demoralized values and disturbed the market.

The extraordinary progress of the manufacture of iron and steel in this city during the decade between 1870 and 1880 will appear from a comparison of the following table (compiled from the United States census report for 1880) with that last given above .

While the number of industries appears to be less, the seeming diminution is due to the adoption, by the census bureau, of a different system of classification. It will be seen, however, that the number of establishments had increased from 146 to 376, while the capital invested had been augmented in a yet larger ratio.

Of Product

The decline in pig iron in 1880, however, produced one good effect; the speculative element was eliminated from the market and a more healthful (because more conservative) tone prevailed, the output for 1881 being reduced to about the quantity needed for consumption.

In this connection the subjoined tabular statement, exhibiting the percentage of increase in the iron ore mining industry in this country during 1880, as compared with 1870, is of interest. The total quantity mined in the former year (1880) was 7,971,976 tons, nearly one third of the entire yield being Lake Superior ore:

Percentage

Notwithstanding this increase in activity, prices ruled so low that the mine owners found their receipts reduced by nearly twenty-five per cent. Manufacturers did not share in this depression, their business increasing from ten to twenty per cent, in 1881, while market values for the manufactured output ruled exceedingly firm. The year following (1882) some 755,000 tons of pig iron were sold in Chicago, American pig being largely in the ascendant. In June of this year occurred a concerted strike of ironworkers, which greatly retarded manufacture until September, when operations were resumed. Despite this hindrance, there appeared to be enough margin in the business to attract new capital, and the number of manufacturing establishments increased.

In 1883, stocks of pig iron - both in this country and abroad - increased, and some accumulation of stocks resulted. This circumstance, in itself, was favorable to manufacturers, inasmuch as it tended to lower prices for crude iron. But the inquiry declined simultaneously. The extension of existing railroad lines was stopped and few new ones were projected. Owing, however, to the fact that the decline in prices was gradual rather than abrupt, the loss was diminished. One feature of this year's business which deserves special mention is the falling off in receipts of Lake Superior ore, as compared with that coming from the South. The sales of pig iron also declined more than 33J per cent., scarcely reaching 500,000 tons. Neither did the demand for manufactured iron equal expectations and 1883, considered as a whole, proved an unsatisfactory year.

By this time Chicago could boast of five rolling mills, reckoning the North and the South Chicago mills as one establishment, they being under the same management. Early in the year, however - in 1'ebruary - one concern (the Union Iron and Steel Works) went into liquidation, and the North Chicago mills shut down in November.

The shrinkage of values in 1884 was even more pronounced, pig iron and steel rails suffering in about an equal ratio. At the same time the consumptive inquiry was even lighter than in 1883. Some of the rolling mills were closed for half the year, others for sixty days, while some of the foundries found it impossible to weather the storm induced by a depreciation alike in prices and in the volume of trade. Nor was the year following (1885) any more prosperous. Crops were poor, money was scarce, and the industries of the country at large suffered a severe set back. Railroad building, in particular, received a check, and the rolling mills suffered correspondingly. At the same time pig iron was turned out in abundance. The inevitable consequence ensued, and in August a conference of rolling-mill proprietors was held, at which it was determined to curtail the output with a view to self-preservation. Fortunately for some of the Chicago mill owners, the employes selected this juncture as a propitious period for a strike, thereby extricating the proprietors from a more or less unpleasant position. The aggregate tonnage produced, however, was larger than was justified by consumptive requirements, and values ruled extremely low, not only for rails but also for nearly all descriptions of manufactured iron.*

A further description of the iron and steel industries of this city, being a resume of their development and present condition (November, 1893) has been carefully prepared and kindly furnished for this chapter by Mr. George W. Cope, editor of the Iron Age, as follows:

The iron and steel interests of Chicago, unlike those of the East, can lay no claim to antiquity. Their history is merely a record of the achievements of the present generation. The greatest establishments, surpassing in their extent and output those of any other part of the world, have been built here within the past quarter of a century. Very few Chicago factories of any kind can trace their beginning to so remote a period as fifty years back. The most ancient portion of the

-Authorities consulted in the preparation of the foregoing sketch of the iron trade: Bross' "History of Chicago," annual review of the Chicago daily papers ' Andreas' History of Chicago," and 0, S, census reports.

works of the great Illinois Steel company was built so recently as 1857, while a very great deal of the plant dates back only into the last decade. The glory of the iron and steel interests of Chicago therefore lies in recent achievements, and in this busy age more credit is claimed and given for accomplishments of such a character than for mere weight of years.

Among American cities, Pittsburgh alone surpasses Chicago in the production of iron and steel. The vast agricultural territory for which Chicago is the entrepot has caused huge implement works to be built up in the city. The great railroad interests centering here have given support to immense steelrail mills, car-building establishments, machine shops, and factories for the production of all kinds of railroad supplies. It is a noticeable fact in this connection that the first steel rail ever made in this country was rolled in Chicago. This occurred on May 24, 1865, at the mill of the North Chicago Rolling Mill company, which is now known as the North Works of the Illinois Steel company.

The Chicago steel-rail mills are now capable of turning out over one-third of the entire steel-rail production of the country. The consumption of pig iron in Chicago, apart from that converted into steel, amounts to about 600,000 tons annually. A large part of it consists of charcoal pig iron, which is used by car wheel foundries in making castiron car wheels, and by malleable foundries in making malleable castings. The charcoal pig iron is manufactured in Michigan and Wisconsin. The other foundries of Chicago form a very important part of its industrial interests. They produce architectural castings, stoves, mining machinery, and general machine castings, and their manufactures not only go to all parts of this country, but are exported to a considerable extent. A large export trade is also conducted in agricultural implements and general farm machinery.

character are those of the United States census of 1890. The following table, expressly furnished by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, acting superintendent of the census, gives the principal items for the manufacturing interests of Chicago, commonly recognized as identified with the iron and steel interests.

Chicago, Illinois

(t) Is a general average for all classes of wage-earners, including officers and firm members engaged in the business or in supervision ; also clerks.

Large as these figures are, if a later census could have been taken in the intervening years they would have been greatly exceeded. Since 1890 there has been constant and rapid growth in all the manufacturing interests of the city. Proceeding to an enumeration of the special features of the more important manufacturing establishments of Chicago, the first to be considered will be those which work up crude material into merchantable forms of iron and steel. In Chicago and its immediate vicinity there are nineteen coke blast furnaces. Of these, seventeen are owned by the Illinois Steel company, one by the Calumet Iron and Steel company, and one by the Iroqnois Furnace company. Engaged in the manufacture -of steel, or the rolling of iron and steel into shapes of various forms, there aro eighteen separate plants, of which five belong to the Illinois Steel company. Included among these are five Bessemer steel works, one Robert-Bessemer works,three open-hearth steel works, and one crucible steel works. The products of these steel works and rolling mills consist of steel rails, steel wire rods, merchant bar iron, steel railroad tires, steel beams, splice bars, cut nails, railroad spikes, car axles, steel car-wheels, horse shoes, special shapes for agricultural implements, and steel castings. The most important iron and steel works are those of the Illinois Steel company.

The Illinois Steel company is a corporation formed by the consolidation of the The Illinois steel North Chicago Rolling Mill company. company, the Joliet Steel company, and the Union Steel company. The consolidation was effected May 1, 1889, and brought under one control and management five plants as follows: North Chicago Works, South Chicago Works, and Milwaukee Works, of the North Chicago Rolling Mill company; Joliet Steel Company's Works, at Joliet; Union Steel Company's Works, at Chicago. Other property, such as coal lands and coke ovens, etc., belonging to the separate companies was also included, the whole comprising a property which is capitalized at

$50,000,000, of which, however, but $18,650,- 635 has been issued. The five plants of the company occupy over 500 acres of ground, and tho coal lands consist of 4,500 acres, on which there are 1,150 coke ovens.

The company own over 1,500 cars used in the coke trade, and the internal transportation at the different plants requires the use of 500 cars and forty-two locomotives of standard gauge, besides seventeen narrow gauge locomotives hauling special trucks. There are sixty miles of standard gauge and seven miles of narrow gauge railroad in the yards.

About 10,000 men are employed in the mills of the company, and the .pay-rolls for the year ending December 31, 1892, amounted to about $6,500,000.

By far the greater part of the product of the Illinois Steel company is in the form of rails, and in fact, until within a few years, it might be said that the only product of the several works now owned by the company took that form. All the works were originally built to make rails, and for many years the activity in that trade was such that no other product was thought of, but the increase in the demand for other forms of steel has made it necessary to diversify the product, and the company now makes billets, rods, and beams, as well as miscellaneous bar iron and steel. A very large openhearth steel works and plate mill are under way and a more extensive mill for rolling al] classes of structural steel than that now in use will be built in the near future.

Annual Capacity

located within the corporate limits of the city of Chicago - the North Works, the South Works and the Union Works. One is at Milwaukee, Wis., ninety miles north of Chicago, and one is at Joliet, 111., forty miles southwest of Chicago. All the works are connected by telegraph and telephone service with the central office in Chicago and with each other. The following description of each of the plants is necessarily brief.

North Works. - This is the oldest of the plants of the company, having been started in 1857 as a mill for re-rolling iron rails. The manufacture of iron has long been discontinued, and the product at present is steel rails, beams and slabs. The plant is situated on the north branch of the Chicago river, in the northwestern part of the city of Chicago, and consists of two blast furnaces, 16 feet by 65 feet, one of which is making spiegel; a Bessemer plant, with two 6-ton vessels; a 30-inch 3-high blooming mill, and a 23-inch 3-high mill, which is used for rolling rails and beams. The furnaces were built in 1869, and were originally equipped with pipe stoves, which have been replaced by fire-brick stoves of the Gordon and Massick & Crookes type. Ore for these furnaces is brought by vessel and by rail from the Lake Superior mines, and delivered close to the furnaces. The product is chiefly Bessemer iron, but a good deal of spiegel is made from native and foreign ores. All the iron is run into pigs, as the Bessemer plant is not fitted to use direct metal.

The Bessemer plant was built in 1872, on the designs of A. L. Holley. At the time of its construction this was the most completely equipped Bessemer works in America, and, for a plant of its relatively small size, has done remarkably good work. The steel ingots are cast in sizes large enough for three rails, and are heated in coal-fired furnaces, bloomed and cut to single-rail lengths, as the mill arrangements will not permit the rolling of longer lengths. The blooms are re-heated in coal furnaces. The rail mill rolls the usual patterns of rails and beams up to 15 inches depth. Pieces are handled at the rail train with hooks and tongs in the old fashioned way, and it may be noted that this is the only mill of the company where this is now done.

Some historical interest attaches to this works from the fact that in the old rail mill the first steel rails made in America were rolled May 24, 1865, from blooms made at the experimental Bessemer works, at Wyandotte, Michigan.

South Works. - This, the largest of the company's works, is situated on the shore of Lake Michigan, twelve miles south from the center of the city of Chicago. The facilities for receipt and shipment of material, both by vessel and rail, are excellent. The largest steamers plying on the lakes bring ore to the docks, and three railroad lines come into the yard, furnishing connection with the entire railroad system of Chicago. The site of this plant was in 1880 a sand beach, barely above the level of the lake. In that year the erection of four blast furnaces was begun, and in 1881 ground was broken for the Bessemer and rail mills. The plant now consists of eight blast furnaces, four of which are 21 by 80 feet and the other four are 20 by 75 feet; a Bessemer plant with three 10-ton vessels; a 40-inch 3-high blooming mill ; a 27-inch 3-high rail train, and all facilities for handling a large output of rails, which at present is the only product. An open-hearth steel plant and plate mill are under way. A harbor 200 feet wide by 2,500 feet long, has been built for the accommodation of vessels bringing ore to the docks.

The blast furnaces have an excellent equipment in every respect, unsurpassed by that of any other establishment in the world. An enormous output is attained with remarkably low fuel consumption. The metal from them is used direct in the Bessemer works, to which it is conveyed in ladles up an inclined track. Ore for these furnaces is received almost entirely by water, and vessels are unloaded into an ore-yard back of the furnaces, covering 300 by 1,200 feet. The machinery for discharging vessels is exceptionally rapid in its operation, and vessels can be unloaded at the rate of 250 to 300 tons per hour.

The Bessemer works began operations in June, 1882. There are three 10-ton vessels working to one casting pit. The spiegel cupolas and iron cupolas for re-melting pig occupy separate houses on opposite sides of the converting building. A large building in the rear of the vessels is devoted to making bottoms, lining ladles, etc. The vessels are made with removable shells on Holley's plan, with a powerful hydraulic lift under each for handling the shells and changing bottoms.

The steel is cast into ingots sixteen inches square and making six rails each. The ingots are taken from the pit and conveyed in an upright position to holes or soaking pits containing eight or ten ingots, fired with gas passing through regenerators, and after heating are taken to the blooming train. Here an ingot is reduced in nine passes to a bloom eight inches square, which is cut into two blooms, each making three rails. Ordinarily these blooms are rolled direct to rails, but a furnace is provided for re-heating any that are too cold to roll. The rail train is in two parts (each driven by a separate engine), placed parallel to each other and 80 feet apart. The bloom after roughing (five passes) in the first train goes to the second, in which it makes four passes and then returns to the first train, where it is finished to a rail in four passes. This train was built in 1890 to replace a 26-inch 2-high reversing mill, put down in 1882, and the arrangement of the train in two parts was' made necessary by the limitation of the size of the building in which the ojd train stood. The rail then passes to the saws and hot bed, and to a very complete finishing house where it is straightened, drilled, inspected, and loaded on cars.

Nearly all the ore for the supply of fifteen furnaces is unloaded at the docks of this plant, and a large part of it sent by rail to the Joliet and Union works. To provide for this immense business, which must be done in seven months of the year, the harbor and ore-handling machinery have been put in, and 5,000 tons of ore are handled per day on the dock.

An interesting detail of this plant is the use of crude petroleum for firing boilers. The oil is delivered to the works by a pipe connecting with the main pipe line from Lima, 0., 208 miles distant.

Milwaukee Works. - This plant is situated on the shore of Lake Michigan at Bay View, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wis., and occupies a very fine site, with ample room for extension. It is the only works of the Illinois Steel Company where manufactured iron is produced, the other plants being devoted to steel. It was built for a rail mill in 1868, and enlarged and adapted to merchant iron work in 1874 and 1884. The product is now miscellaneous bar iron and steel, fish-plates, light rails and nails. There are two blast furnaces, 16 by 66 feet, built in 1870, but recently remodeled and equipped with firebrick stoves. The product is mostly forge and foundry iron, and some Bessemer iron. Ores are brought from the Lake Superior mines and from an interesting deposit at Iron Ridge in Wisconsin. This latter ore is a red oolite, with 55 per cent, iron, and over 1 per cent phosphorus, is cheaply mined, and makes a pig very suitable for the basic Bessemer process. The mills are provided with eight trains of rolls, from 8-inch up to 22-inch in size, puddling and heating furnaces, both coal and gas fired, producers, etc., and machinery well adapted to the class of work turned out. This plant will probably continue to produce manufactured iron, but the increase in the demand for steel products, now rolled from steel made

Union Works. - This plant is located in the southwestern part of the city of Chicago, on the south branch of the river. Originally built as an iron rail mill in 1863, a Bessemer plant was afterward added, in which, on July 26, 1871, the first Bessemer steel produced in Chicago was made. Blast furnaces were later erected, as also plate and bar mills, a rod mill and a wire-drawing plant. In 1884 the property came into the hands of the Union Steel Company, and was thoroughly remodeled, a large part of the machinery and buildings being removed and replaced by modern appliances. The product is now rails and billets. There are four blast furnaces, two 14 by 72 feet, and two 15 by 75 feet, supplied with an excellent equipment and doing very good work. The metal is run into pigs, as the Bessemer works are not arranged to use direct metal.

In the Bessemer plant there are two 10- ton vessels. This plant made its first blow May 31, 1886, and enjoys the distinction of having made the largest product with two vessels of any plant in America. Ingots 15 inches square are cast, making four rails each, and are heated in soaking pits fired with gas, and rolled in a 36-inch 3-high blooming mill to blooms 7-£ inches square and cut to 2-rail lengths. These are then rolled without re-heating in a 25-inch 3-high train, provided with tables for handling the rails at the rolls. This train is driven by one engine. A separate finishing-house provides ample facilities for handling and shipping a large product.

The steam fuel used at this plant is crude petroleum, which is delivered in tank cars and pumped to the several departments. The railroad connections to the Union works are ample, but the yards are somewhat crowded, owing to the situation in a thickly built part of the city. Ore was formerly received by vessels, but now comes by rail from the South works, where it can be more cheaply and quickly handled.

Joliet Works. - This plant was started as an iron rail mill in 1870, and a Bessemer works and steel-rail mill on Holley's designs were added in 1873. Two blast furnaces were built in 1873, the Bessemer and rail mill were remodeled in 1885, a Garrett rod mill was put down in 1888, and a third blast furnace was completed in 1890. The product is now rails, billets and rods. There are two 10-ton converters in the steel works. The blast furnaces are 20x80 feet, and are furnished with fire-brick stoves of the Gordon, Cowper, and Massick & Crookes type. Their product is Bessemer metal exclusively, which is used direct in the Bessemer works, to which it is conveyed in ladles, up an incline, crossing two main lines of railroad by an overhead bridge.

The Calumet, Iron and Steel company, whose works are at Cummings, near South other iron and Chicago, have a blast furnace steelworks. an(j rolling mill. The blast furnace is 17£xSO feet; it is equipped with one Massick & Orookes and three Siemens- Cowper-Cochrane stoves, and two blowing engines. The rolling mill has thirty-eight puddling furnaces, six scrap and six heating furnaces, and three trains of rolls - 9, 14, and 22-inch. In the puddling department the waste heat is utilized from the furnaces to raise steam in upright Hazleton boilers. A nail factory with 132 nail machines and steel works with four 4-ton open-hearth furnaces are at present in disuse. These works have about five miles of railroad track with rolling stock for carrying raw materials; also have a good slip, with facilities for loading and unloading vessels on the Calumet river emptying into Lake Michigan. They employ, outside of the nail factory, about 1,200 men. The annual consumption of raw material is 100,000 gross tons of ore and cinder, 65,000 net tons of coke, 23,000 net tons of limestone, 40,000 net tons of scrap iron, 26,000 net tons of pig iron, 37,000 net tons of muck and scrap bar, 80,000 net tons of coal, 10,000 net tons of sand, 50,000 barrels of fuel oil. They produce 51,000 gross tons of foundry and Bessemer pig iron, 45,000 net tons of muck

The East Chicago Iron and Steel Company's works consist of a rolling mill and a forge, located at East Chicago, Indiana, 23 miles from the business center of Chicago. The rolling mill contains four trains of rolls - 8 and 10-inch guide mills, 18-inch bar mill, and 18-inch muck mill. The forge contains two vertical steam hammers - an 8,000-lb. hammer for car axles, and a 1,500-lb. hammer for shape work. The daily product, double turn, is 100 tons of finished bar iron, 95 car axles, and 12,000 Ibs. of shape work. The daily oonsa tuition of scrap iron is 135 tons. The numbei of men usually employed is 600.

The Chicago Horse-Shoe Company's works, at East Chicago, Indiana, contain two heating furnaces and one 12-inch train of Tolls> and manufacture horse-shoe bars and horseshoes.

The Lakeside Nail Company, at Hammond, Indiana, manufacture steel cut nails exclusively. Their plant consists of two 3-ton Bessemer converters, four Smith gasheating furnaces, two trains of 22-inch rolls, and 202 nail machines.

The Pullman Iron and Steel Company's works are at Pullman, within the city limits of Chicago. They have two forge fires, three Swindell gas-heating furnaces, two coal-heating furnaces, and three trains of rolls - an 8, a 10 and an 18-inch train. The annual consumption of crude iron is about 30,000 tons, and the finished product shipped is 24,000 tons, consisting of merchant bar (car specifications mainly) and special shapes in iron and steel.

The Sargent Company, successors to the Congdon Brake Shoe Company, own and operate a large steel and iron foundry at Fifty-ninth street on the Chicago and Western Indiana railroad. They manufacture the Ross Meehan railroad brake shoes and general iron and steel castings. In addition to a well-equipped iron foundry, the plant comprises a fifteen ton open-hearth steel furnace and a crucible steel department running twenty-four pots. This is regarded as one of the model works of the city.

The officers of the company are George M. Sargent, president; Wm. D. Sargent, vicepresident and manager; and James C. Davis, secretary and treasurer. Its capital is $200,- 000, the value of material used about $150,- 000, and the number of hands employed is about 200.

The Fowler Boiling Mill Company's works are at Fifty-ninth street, on the Chicago and Western Indiana railroad. They manufacture railroad spikes exclusively, and contain one forge fire, two heating furnaces, and one nine-inch train of rolls. The annual capacity of these works is 80,000 kegs of 150 pounds each. The fuel used is crude petroleum.

The Fowler Steel Car-Wheel Company's works are located at Stony Island avenue and Ninety-fifth street. They make their own steel by the Robert-Bessemer process, using a two-ton converter. The steel is first cast in the form of a blank car-wheel, but with a diameter about an inch greater than that of the finished wheel; this wheel-blank is then heated and afterward placed in a rollingmachine of peculiar construction, which operates exclusively on the rim of the wheel by means of a cluster of driven rolls, which, being slowly advanced toward a common center by enormous pressure, reduce the diameter of the blank, condense and solidify the steel, and produce a finished wheel. This rolling-machine is of great power, and weighs about 230 tons.

The Chicago Rolling Mill Company's rolling mill is located at Fortieth street and Stewart avenue. It contains six heating furnaces, one 10-inch train of rolls, and one 18-inch train. It manufactures small steel angles, channels and other steel shapes in small sizes.

The Chicago Splice Bar Mill, of which Morris, Sellers & Co. are the proprietors, is located at Chicago avenue and the north branch of the Chicago river. The products of this rolling mill are the Samson splice bars and spikes for railroad use. The plant is composed of three heating furnaces, two trains of 3-high rolls, three boilers, one forge, and a full set of four s:eam punches, two of which are capable of punching one and one-eighth inches in diameter through 1-inch thick steel or iron at one movement. The capacity of the mill is 12,000 tons of finished product per annum, which requires about 14,000 gross tons of old iron rails, and 5,200 tonsof bituminous coal, with the labor on an average of 175 men to produce this amount. These works have been in operation producing the Samson splice bars since 1878, and always double turn while running.

The Chicago Steel Works, Chicago Heights, have nine heating furnaces, three forge fires, and two trains of 14-inch rolls. Old steel rails and steel-rail crop ends are used as raw material, being slit and rolled into tires, harrow-teeth, and special shapes for agricultural implements.

The Chicago Tire and Spring Company's works are at Melrose, on the Galena division of the Chicago & North-Western railroad. They manufacture locomotive and car-wheel tires, steel bauds for various purposes, and car springs. The equipment consists of an 8-ton Siemens open-hearth steel furnace, used in the production of steel for tire ingots, a furnace for heating tire ingots, or blooms, a tire rolling-mill, and eight heating furnaces in the car-spring department, with the usual machinery for manufacturing springs. The tire ingots are cast large enough for three small tires or one large tire, and are made hollow, with a collapsible steel core. They are slit by a slitting roll in the tire mill, and finished into tires, without the use of a hammer at any stage of the process. The heating furnace used in the tire mill has a Rouey automatic stoker for feeding coal, and the waste heat from the furnace is used for raising steam in a H&zleton upright boiler. The engine operating the tire mill is a double cylinder engine of 1,01.0-horsepower, built on the reversing principle to enable it to stop and start quickly. Hydraulic power is used in operating the crane and setting the rolls. The fuel used in the heating furnaces of the spring department is petroleum converted into gas by the Gogin process,

Norton Brothers' Works are at Maywood, on the Galena Division of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad. These works manufacture tin cans for packing fruit, vegetables, etc. Automatic machinery, the invention of Edwin Norton, shapes thetinplate forcan bodies, overseams and solders them, attaches tops and bottoms, tests them for leakages, counts them, and afterward delivers them in the warehouse, or in cars for shipping. The devices here used are of a most ingenious character, and almost entirely dispense with hand labor. A machine, also invented by Edwin Norton, is in use in this establishment for rolling molten solder directly into sheets. The Norton Fluid Metal Boiling Company has been sufficiently successful in adapting this process to the production of sheet steel to warrant them to build a plant for regular work. It is fitted with an eight-ton openhearth steel furnace and the necessary rolls and is intended to produce sheet steel for the manufacture of tinplate, of which Norton Brothers are the largest consumers in the world. A tinplate works has recently been erected by this firm and is now in regular operation, the sheets for the present being purchased from other parties. The tinning process used here is the invention of Edwin Norton and is largely automatic. The firm is interested in can factories, working under their automatic system, at New York, San Francisco, and Hamilton, Canada, the combined capacity of which is a daily production of 800,000 cans for fruits, vegetables, oysters, etc. As showing the capacity of this firm to handle vast quantities of cans and to supply other sections in case of a dearth of cans, it may be stated that they have loaded into cars and shipped during one week in the canning season over 2,500,000 cans.

turers of galvanized and corrugated sheetiron, whose works are at Muncie, Ind., but who maintain a jobbing department, office and warehouse at 21 to 25 Michigan street, thus identifying them closely with Chicago, where the greater part of their product is marketed.

Foundries. jn Chicago and its immediate vicinity, manufacturing car wheels, machinery castings, car castings, stoves, architectural iron work, plumbers' supplies, pipe fittings, ice-making machines, hardware, etc. It would be an unnecessary task to enumerate all of these; hence a few representative establishments only will be described.

Prominent among the large consumers of pig iron are the works of the Griffin Wheel and Foundry Company, located on California avenue, between the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Chicago and Northwestern railroad tracks. The main foundry building, which is a brick structure, is 200 by 378 feet and has a capacity for the production of between 700 and 800 car wheels daily. Adjoining this building is the machine shop, 75 by 150 feet, containing all the latest machinery and tools for fitting car wheels for locomotives, cars, electric motors, etc.; also the company's special appliances for grinding and balancing car wheels. They have ample ground, a complete system of narrow-gauge tracks, elevators, etc., for the economical handling of material, and ample switching facilities, enabling them to reach all roads entering Chicago. They employ between 200 and 300 men, and consume yearly between 60,000 and 70,000 tons of iron, 10,000 to 15,000 tons of coke, and several thousand tons of sand for molding purposes. The output is confined wholly to car wheels, making chilled iron wheels of every kind and variety.

John H. Bass has an extensive car- wheel foundry at Clark and Forty-seventh streets, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad. The main foundry building is 100 by

474 feet, and its daily capacity is 192 carwheels and ninety tons of other castings, which make an aggregate capacity of 150 tons. These works employ 400 men. The Chicago works form only a small part of Mr. Bass' iron manufacturing enterprises. His Fort Wayne works, at Fort Wayne, Ind., of which a foundry is a conspicuous part, cover between twenty-five and thirty acres. The daily wheel capacity of the foundry is 700 car-wheels. The total daily capacity of the foundry is 300 tons of car-wheels and other castings. Other departments embraced in this plant are machine, boiler, forge and mill-wright shops. The Fort Wayne Iron Works, under the same ownership, comprise large foundry and machine shops. The total force of hands employed by him in Fort Wayne numbers about 1,500. At St. Louis, Mo., is still another plant, consisting of one foundry, 80 by 475 feet, and a second, 60 by 250 feet, having a daily capacity of 200 car-wheels. The foundry capacity besides car-wheels is 100 tons daily of general castings, or 175 tons in the aggregate. A machine shop is operated in connection with these foundries. The St. Louis works employ from 400 to 500 men. Mr. Bass also owns an iron property consisting of 18,000 acres in Alabama, on which he operates a charcoal blastfurnace, manufacturing a large portion of his wheel iron.

Other local manufacturers of cast-iron car wheels are the Union Foundry and Pullman Car Wheel Works, the Chicago Car Wheel Company, the Barnum-Richardson Manufacturing Company, the C. A. Treat Manufacturing Company, the Wells & French Company and the United States Car Company.

Chicago is the largest stove market in the world, most of the prominent stove foundries stove Mann- in tlie country having branch facturing. hcusesor agencies here, carrying immense stocks in their warehouses. The local production of stoves, although constituting but a part of the trade, is worthy of special mention. The leading stove found- ries located in the city limits are those of Cribben, Sexton & Co., the Chicago Stove Works, the Mason & Davis Company, and the Home Stove Works. The old stove foundry of the Collins & Burgie Company, long a Chicago landmark, has been sold and diverted to other uses and their manufacturing operations are now conducted at Marengo, 111.

The following is a description of Cribben, Sexton & Go's works, which occupy a street frontage of about two and one-half blocks, extending from numbers 54 to 100 inclusive on Erie street and numbers 57 to 67 inclusive on Ontario street. The Erie street front is partly covered with a seven-story brick building, 175 feet front by 110 feet deep, used as mounting and finishing rooms, nickel-plating works and warehouse. The remainder of the Erie street frontage is occupied by the foundry, which is 500 feet long by 110 feet deep. The Ontario street front is occupied by a two-story brick building, used for enameling works. The total number of hands employed is about 600. The raw materials annually used comprise 8,000 tons of pig iron, 1,300 tons of coul and coke, besides large quantities of sheet iron, sheet steel, and iron rods. The product consists of cook stoves, ranges, 'heating stoves, hollow-ware, and phimbers' supplies, such as sinks, closet-hoppers, soil pipe, etc. The number of stoves annually produced is about 50,000, and of enameled ware about 180,000 pieces.

The plant of the Chicago Stove Works is situated at Blue Island avenue and Twentysecond street, adjoining the west side water works, and covers two and one-half acres. They employ 300 hands, melt about 2,500 tons of pig iron annually, and produce about 40,000 heating and cooking stoves, ranges, etc. The corporation was organized in 1871, before the great fire of that year, and has a capital of $200,000.

Mining 's ^Ia'1 °^ Fraser & Chalmers, who Machinery. jiaye a tru]y worid_wide reputation. They have not only supplied machinery for mining plants and smelting and reduction works in every State and territory of this country where mining is followed, but have built plants in Alaska, Canada, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Mexico, Central and South America, China, Japan, Australia, Norway, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, India, Italy, and the Philippine Islands. They have branch offices in London, South Africa, Japan, Peru, and Mexico. Their works are located partly in the neighborhood surrounding the intersection of Fulton and Union streets (having a frontage of 690 feet on Fulton street, 280 feet on Lake street, 730 feet on Lydia street, and 450 feet on Union street), and partly at Rockwell and Twelfth streets, where much progress has been made toWard the erection of new works to be more extensive than the old plant. They employ over 1,000 hands when running full time. Their annual consumption of pig iron, sheet iron and steel, merchant bar iron, etc., is about 13,000 tons, and their product comprises steam engines, boilers, and machinery for the systematic milling, smelting, and concentration of ores.

The M. C. Bullock Manufacturing Company have a well-equipped establishment at 1170 West Lake street for the manufacture of mining machinery and specialties. Their products consist of diamond-pointed rock drills for prospecting and developing mineral lands, Lane's patent band friction hoisting machinery, rope haulage machinery, Corliss and slide-valve engines, Sweet's high speed straight line engines, Murphy Champion ventilators for mines and buildings, Cornish pumping plants, air compressors, ice and refrigerator machinery, etc. They have a large and growing foreign trade.

Born Feby 8, 1819

The Crane Company, the L. Wolff Manufacturing Company, the John Davis Company and the Illinois Malleable Iron Company have extensive establishments devoted to the manufacture of plumbers' and gas and steam fitters' supplies.

The Crane Company's works fronton Jefferson, Desplaines, Judd, and Fulton streets. The Jefferson street building, four stories high, is 154 feet long by 150 feet deep. The Desplaines street building, also four stories high, has a front of 130 feet and a depth of 168 feet. These buildings are occupied by the general office and salesroom, gray iron and brass foundry department, tool manufacturing department, brass and iron valve department. One Judd street building, four stories high, 205 feet front by 220 feet deep is occupied by the malleable and gray iron foundries, and the iron fitting and radiator departments. Another Judd street building, six stories high, 219 feet front by 111 feet deep, is occupied by a gray iron foundry for the manufacture of steam fittings for i wrought iron pipe, iron valve department, wrought iron pipe warehouse, etc. A building at the corner of Desplaines and Fulton streets, 180 feet front by 170 feet deep, is used as a butt- weld pipe mill and galvanizing works. The number of hands employed is 1,850. The annual consumption of pig iron and scrap is 15,000 tons; of copper, tin and brass, 1,200 tons; of skelp iron, 9,000 tons; of steel, 100 tons. The products are wrought iron pipe, cast and malleable iron fittings, and brass goods (for steam, gas and water), pipe tools, gate valves and radiators and coils.

The L. Wolff Manufacturing Company have a large plant at Lake and Jefferson streets, and also have an iron foundry at Hoyne and Carroll avenues. The foundry is of peculiar construction, having the molding room in the second story.

The Illinois Malleable Iron Company's works are situated at Nos. 581 to 601 Diversey avenue. They employ 225 hands, manufacture specialties for plumbers and gasfitters and melt about fifteen tons of pig iron daily.

The manufacturers of architectural iron work constitute a very important section of Arch.tecturai the foundry trade. Among the ironworks. leading establishments of this character are the Bouton Foundry Company, the Dearborn Foundry Company, Vierling, McDowell & Co., the Union Foundry Works, the Chicago Foundry Company, the Globe Iron Works, Clark, Raff en & Co., and the South Halsted Street Iron Works. As an indication of the general character of these works the following description of Vierling, McDowell & Co.'s establishment is of interest. The plant is located at Twenty-third street and Stewart avenue, on the lines of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago and the Chicago & Western Indiana railroads. About two acres are occupied by a foundry building, pattern shop, and erecting shop. The number of hands employed is 220. The quantity of material handled annually is over 20,000 tons of pig iron, rolled beams, etc.

Charles Kaestner & Co., 241-261 South Jefferson street, are general machinists, founders and mill furnishers. They have one of the most complete plants in the city. Their building covers a ground space of 32,500 square feet, and is six stories and basement high. They have boilers and engines of 500-horse power, operate their own electrical plant, and are equipped to build any kind of special machinery, dividing their business for convenience into three departments, as follows: A. Brewery, malthonse and distilling machinery; B. Paint, grinding, mixing, and color-makers' machinery; C. Pulverizing and crushing plants. They employ 200 men, and have a trade all over the United States and in foreign countries. They further handle, as dealer

Among general foundries the most conspicuous works are those of John Featherstone's Sons, the Barnuni-Richardson Manufacturing Company, the National Malleable Casting Company, the East Chicago Foundry Company, the Lake Shore Foundry Company, the K. M. Eddy Foundry Company, Francis E. Roberts, and James McGreevy (McGreevy and Haggerty), one of the oldest and most experienced machinists in the city.

A chapter on the foundries of Chicago would not be complete without a reference pig iron and to the firms handling pig iron and coke. Some of these houses rank among the largest in their line in the United States. Pickands, Brown & Comp any whose offices are in the Rookery, stand at the head, being sales agents for the pig iron manufactured by the Illinois Steel Company as well as other brands. Forster, Hawes & Company, also in the Rookery, are sales agents for the Iroquois Furnace Company and also handle southern coke pig iron. Rogers, Brown & Merwin, whose offices are in the Monadnock, do a large business in Southern pig iron, being connected with the firm of Rogers, Brown & Company, of Cincinnati. Matthew Addy & Company, of Cincinnati, maintain a branch office in the Rookery.

car Builders. Ously referred to, the United States Car Company, the Wells and French Company and the Harvey Steel Car Company. The United States Car company's plant is situated in the suburb of Hegewisch, at the forks of the Calumet river, and covers 100 acres of ground; about 1,000 hands are employed; the annual consumption of the principal materials is about 7,000 tons of wrought iron, 16,000 tons of pig iron, 5,000 tons of coal and coke, 3,000 tons of car axles, and 20,000,000 feet of lumber of various kinds; the annual product is about 4,000 railroad cars of every description.

The Wells and French Company was organized for the purpose of building bridges some thirty-five years ago. Subsequently a department was added for building cars. The plant occupied various locations in the heart of the present city until of recent years, when it was removed to its present location on Twenty-second street and Blue Island avenue. It is organized as a close corporation, the stock being owned by a few parties, and is managed by the larger stockholders. The present capacity of the works is twenty-five box and coal cars per day, and an indefinite quantity of Howe truss bridgework. The works comprise large planing mills, saw mills, machine shops, blacksmith shops, and the largest car-erecting shops in the country; a brass foundry, with capacity to make brasses for thirty cars per day and such other brass castings as are essential to refrigerator work, including galvanizing iron work for refrigerator purposes; a large wheel foundry, which turns out 250 to 260 wheels per day, inclusive of Barr's contracting chillwheels; also a gray-casting foundry, which makes fifty tons of gray castings per day. The grounds include a large lumber yard, repair shops, stables, etc., and occupy in the neighborhood of twenty-six acres. The works are located on the Burlington railroad lumber-district tracks, and are well supplied with tiacks of every description. They are also situated on the Chicago river, enabling them to receive deliveries of lumber direct from the lakes. The company owns its own rolling-stock, consisting of a number of cars suitable for delivery of material, and an engine, enabling them to switch for themselves. The present output of the works is largely refrigerator work, box, coal and flat cars. The company also make special work, such as grain elevator cars, derrick cars, piledriving cars and cabooses. The number of employes reaches 1,600 in busy times.

The Harvey Steel Car Company have a large plant at Harvey engaged in the manufacture of steel cars. Everything but the floors and sides of these cars is made of metal. Their shops are equipped with the

The Ajax Forge Company manufactures frogs, switches, rail-braces, etc. It is cap- Raiir.Td italized at $150,000, and has its Specialties, works at the corner of Hoyne and Blue Island avenues, occupying about five acres of ground. They employ about 300 hands, run double turn, and annually consume 5,000 tons of steel rails and 2,000 tons of bar iron. Their products are specialties of their own, on most of which they hold patents.

Pettibone, Mulliken & Co. are manufacturers of steel-rail frogs and crossings, splitswitches, combination slip-switches, switchstands, head-chairs, tie-bars, Alkins forged steel rail-braces. Jenne track-jacks, Union track-drills, Perfection track-drills, Holler rail-benders, and Union counterbalance hoists for ore docks. They have a capital of $300,000, and their works are situated on four acres of ground, occupying the block bounded by Hawthorne avenue, Eastman, Dayton, and Reese streets, having 450 feet front on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. The buildings are of substantial character, of brick, and cover nearly twothirds of the property. All frogs, crossings, and split-switches are worked cold. All parts of the various appliances turned out are made to templet, are interchangeable, and are manufactured by special machinery. This hoist has been placed on three large docks this year. The specialties manufactured, such as the Jenue track-jack, the Roller rail-bender, the Union and Perfection track-drills, and the Alkins forged steel railbrace, are used on nearly every railroad in the United States and many foreign roads. The Jenne track-jack was the first friction trackjack put on the market.

The Grant Locomotive Works, situated at West Twelfth street and Robinson avenue, are at present the only works of the kind west of Pittsburgh. Their shops were first opened for actual business in August, 1892, since which time many locomotives have been built and many rebuilt. The plant is located in the center of a tract of land one mile square, costing $1,000,000, located between Twelfth and Twenty-second streets, six and one-half miles west from the postoffice in Chicago. The buildings are all of brick, with heavy walls and stone foundations, and are arranged for increasing to large size with ease. They are completely equipped with-all modern machinery, including electric traveling cranes from 10 tons capacity up to 40 tons. The riveting of boilers is performed by hydraulic machinery of the latest patterns, capable of using rivets one inch thick and three to four inches long. These works have a capacity of five locomotives per week, and also for rebuilding an equal number per week. The cost of the plant, not including the tract of land, was $1,300,000, representing a total investment of upwards of $2,300,000. The stockholders are nearly all citizens of Chicago.

The names of directors are as follows: R. Snydam Grant, Gen. J. Fred Pierson, of New York; Gen. James H. Wilson, of Wilmington, Del.; Williard T. Block, Henry A. Gardner, C. L. Strobel, G. M. Bogue, W. K. Ackerman and D. J. Kennedy, of Chicago. Williard T. Block is secretary and treasurer.

The Morden Frog and Crossing Works was incorporated in August, 1882, with an authorized capital stock of $500,000. They are manufacturers of frogs, crossings, split- switches, switch-stands and fixtures, springrail frogs of improved patterns, stub-switch tie-bars, patent guard rail-clamps, combination-slips and three-throw split-switches worked from one stand, Morden's patents, including the Childes and Latimer safety railroad bridge guard, and railroad track supplies in general. Their works are situated at South Chicago and occupy five and one-eighth acres of ground, having 550 feet of track frontage on the Belt railroad. The Morden track material is in use on 190 railroads in the United States. It is manufactured by special machinery, and the steel rail is not heated, thus preserving its original quality.

The Hewitt Manufacturing Company are brass founders, manufacturers of self-fitting lead-lined journal bearings for railroad cars and locomotives, rolling-mill bearings, bells, and heavy castings of all kinds of brass and special bronzes. Their works are located at 21 Ontario street. The daily capacity of the works is 15,000 pounds; the annual output is about 3,000,000 pounds; and the annual sales aggregate about $450,000. W. J. Watson is president, H. H. Hewitt is secretary and general manager, and W. F. Bates treasurer.

The Buda Foundry and Manufacturing Company, of Harvey, manufactures hand and push cars and switch and track materials> employing 125 men and turning out an annual product of about $300,000. The same owners are interested in the Fore Madison Iron Works Company, of Fo-^t Madison, Iowa, manufacturers of carwhee s and railroad castings, with a daily capacity of 200 wheels and 10 tons of castings, and a yearly product valued at $500,000; also in the Middleton Car Spring Company, of Harvey, manufacturers of car springs.

There are numerous other manufacturers of railroad specialties - among the most prominent being the Willard, Sons and Bell company; the Atkinson Car Spring Works; the Sargent Company; and the McGuire Manufacturing Company.

Intimately connected with railroad interests are dealers in old railroad material, of whom the Chicago houses rank among the largest of their kind in the country. The three enterprises, of the Block-Pollak Iron company, 67, 68 and 69 Commerce Building, Chicago; Block and Pollak, 17 and 18 Sinton Building, Cincinnati; and the Cincinnati Forge and Iron Company, of Cincinnati, are owned and managed by Joseph Block, Emil Pollak, Emil Benjamin, Louis Benjamin, and Isaac Block. The two houses of Block and Pollak and the Block-Pollak Iron Company deal solely in old railroad material, especially rails and car wheels. Isaac Block and Louis Benjamin conduct the management of the Chicago firm. Other prominent dealers in this line are August Pollak, Western Union Building; Swarts Iron and Metal Company, 557 State street; Northwestern Iron and Metal Company, Kookery; and A. Liebermann.

-Buiiding ciPal bridge builders of the city are the Lassig Bridge and Iron Works, the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, the American Bridge Works and the Kenwood Bridge Company. The following is a description of the works of the Lassig Bridge and Iron Works, which is a representative bridge building establishment. The plant is located in the northern part of the city, at Clybourn and Wrightwood avenues, and consists of two long buildings, divided into departments for machine shop, blacksmith shop, rivet shop, templet shop, and engine and boiler house, comprising in all an area of 77,560 square feet. They employ an average of 250 men, annually consume 1G,000 tons of iron and steel, and manufacture bridges, viaducts, piers, turn-tables, plate-girders, etc.

The principal manufacturers of boilers and tanks are John Mohr & Son, The Nanoiier and tional B°ner Works, William Tank works. Graver Tank Works, Kroeschell, Bros., William McGregor and William Bar- agwanath & Son. There are numerous other manufacturers of boilers in connection with steam engines and general machinery. The largest of these consume from 4,000 to 5,000 tons of plate iron and steel annually. The establishment of John Mohr & Son, at 32 Illinois street, is one of the best equipped boiler works in the country, having an hydraulic riveter capable of doing the heaviest work, and being well supplied with flangeing and other machinery. The firm also operates another plant at Ninety-sixth street and the Calumet river, South Chicago. The other boiler shops are making creditable progress in the introduction of labor-saving machinery.

Prior to 1890 no iron or steel vessels had been built in Chicago. In that year the steel shipbuiid- Chicago Shipbuilding Coming works. pany, composed of experienced steel shipbuilders, erected a plant for this work on the Calumet river, at South Chicago, about a mile above its entrance into Lake Michigan. With a river frontage of 1,400 feet and an average depth of over 600 feet, the works cover over twenty acres, affording ample room for the shops necessary for all the various trades and occupations concerned in the building of the complete ship, with large storage ground for material besides. At the south end of the property three slips, each 400 feet long by 100 feet wide, have been excavated to a depth of 12 feet of water, at a right angle to the river, whose sides give berths for building six ships of the largest class at one time, which are launched sideways into the slips. Across the heads of the slips, equally convenient and accessible to all the berths, stretches a building 540 feet long by seventy-five feet wide, containing the boilers and shop engine, heating furnaces for plates and angles, blacksmith shop, plate and angle shops, small machine shop, pattern shop, and in the second story a mould loft with a clear floor 200 feet by fifty feet. Here the lines of the ships are laid down full size from the models and dimensions furnished from the drafting office, and the wooden moulds made by which the steel angles and the plates are shaped. The shops below are filled with machinery of the latest and most modern types, shears, punches, planers, countersinkers, rolls, etc.

The steel comes into the yard from the mills over a side-track from the Calumet River railroad, a branch of the Pennsylvania system. It is unloaded from the cars and delivered to the shops by a traveling crane of sixty-two feet span. A system of overhead tracks in the shop carries it to the various tools from whence a narrow-gauge railway takes it to the building berth. Here a steam cantilever crane of 120 feet span, running on trestle-work fifty feet above the ground, picks it up and delivers each plate, beam or angle to its appointed place. The engines are also put in by this crane before launching. The boilers are hoisted in place by a steel derrick on the river front after launching.

The company have built several of the largest and finest steel vessels now afloat on the lakes, their latest achievement being the passenger steamship, the Manitou, running between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior ports, in the service of the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior Transit Co.

The Link-Belt Machinery Company manufactures approved appliances for handling any material in bulk or package, also special transmission machinery. Their works are located at Thirty-ninth street and Stewart avenue, the junction of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago railroad and the Stock Yards tracks. The main factory is 410 feet long by 125 feet wide, three stories in height, and is equipped with all the latest improved machinery. The foundry is 288 feet long by 88 feet wide, and has a cupola capacity of 40 to 50 tons per day. Employment is given to about 350 hands. The company has furnished some of the largest anthracite coal roads in the East with appliances for speedily handling coal at terminal points, furnished warehouses with specially designed elevators for handling barrels and other packages, and introduced rope transmission of power to cover long distances and to meet all kinds of special requirements.

The Chicago Drop Forge and Foundry Company's plant is located at Kensington, in Pullman, on the Illinois Central railroad. Their property consists of about four acres of land, on which are large buildings, equipped with fifteen upright and six Bradley hammers, twelve presses, two bolt machines, fourteen drill presses, and shaping and desinging machines, milling machines, lathes* planers, etc., for special and general work- The products of the company are drop forgings of all descriptions, both in steel and iron. They make a partial line of carriage hardware, and forge pieces for the use of manufacturers of sewing machines, agricultural implements, bicycles, etc.

The Western Electric Company's factory is located at Nos. 227 to 257 South Clinton street, having a frontage of 312 feet on Clinton street and 150 feet on Congress street. The main building is six stories and basement in height and the aggregate floor space is about five acres. The number of hands employed is about 1,100, the average weekly pay-roll reaches $11,100, and the value of the products annually turned out is $2,500,- 000, consisting of all kinds of electrical apparatus, including arc and incandescent dynamos, arc lamps, motors, telegraph, telephone and electric light cables, insulated wires, multiple switch -boards and magnetic bells.

The Vulcan Iron Works, 86 North Clinton street, manufacture dredges and other excavating machinery. Their plant consists of a four-story brick building, used as a machine shop, and a one-story frame building used as a blacksmith shop, together occupying 150 feet frontage on Clinton street. They employ 175 men and annually consume 1,500

The Adams and Westlake Company are manufacturers of railroad car-trimmings, lamps, lanterns, and sheet metal specialties. The business was started in 1860 as a branch of Crerar, Adams & Company, J. McGregor Adams and the late John Crerar being the principal owners. They employ from 900 to 1,000 men, and occupy the block bounded by Ontario, Franklin, Ohio, and Market streets. The buildings in the block range from one story to seven stories in height, and have an aggregate floor space of 250,000 square feet. Included in their plant is one of the largest brass foundries in the country, having more furnaces, though using smaller pots, than any other concern. Their products are sent to every State in the Union and exported all over the world.

G. A. Crosby & Company, 176 and 178 South Clinton street, manufacture presses and dies for a variety of purposes, but make a specialty of sheet-metal machinery. They have a well equipped factory, employ 75 to 100 hands, and have a large export trade in can-making machinery.

The Harrington and King Perforating Company, 224 and 226 North Union street, manufactures perforated metal sheets of standard and special designs, for use in connection with mining machinery and for a variety of purposes. Their products are shipped to many foreign countries.

Charles P. Willard & Company are manufacturers of portable, stationary and marine steam engines and boilers, steam launches, steam yachts and tug-boats. Their plant is located at Nos. 1 to 7 Dominick street, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, with dock frontage on the north branch of the Chicago river. They occupy about two acres of ground for buildings and yard purposes, employ 100 hands, and have a yearly capacity for the production of 600 engines and boilers.

Spooner is president, M. 0. Niles, vice-president, G. S. Niles, secretary, and Robt. T. Fuller, treasurer, are makers of a large line of builders' hardware. Their specialty is locks, in which they have won marked success, not only for the excellence of the goods, but also for the manner in which they have accomplished the highest artistic effects. The capital of the company is about $350,- 000 and business is steadily growing.

Several large establishments are engaged in the manufacture of bicycles. Chicago is, perhaps, the greatest bicycle market in the country, owing, first, to the numerous boulevards and macadamized streets in the suburbs, and, second, to the level character of the territory whose trade is handled by Chicago merchants, which is specially favorable to the widespread use of bicycles. Prominent, among the local manufacturers are the Monarch Cycle Company, the Gormully and Jeffery Manufacturing Company, and the Stokes Manufacturing Company.

The Monarch Cycle Company first engaged in the manufacture of bicycles in 1891, building and marketing about 1,000 machines in 1 892, and over 4,000 in the season of 1893. They expect to turn out 7,000 to 10,000 in 1894. The factory is located at 42 to 52 North Halsted street, near Lake street, occupying a block of seven stories, which is fitted with the finest special machinery. About 350 hands are employed. Only high-grade bicycles are manufactured. The company has a very finely finished retail store at the corner of Wabash avenue and Van Buren street.

The Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company, 222-228 North Franklin street, have a seven-story factory, fully equipped with the most improved machinery for the manufacture of bicycles. So successful has this company been in building up its trade, that it is arranging to double its manufacturing facilities. Its retail store is at 85 Madison street, and is fitted up most attractively.

The wonderful development of the agricultural implement manufacturing industry Agricultural since 1860 can be readily apimpiements. precjated by a glance at the following table, compiled from the census returns:

A description of the principal establishments in Chicago, whose fame has extended far beyond the borders of our own country* and whose prod nets are found in almost every land under the sun, is subjoined, as follows: four hundred and sixty-eight machines for cutting grass and reaping and binding grain during the single season of 1889-90 is a wonderful performance. Were this great number but the hand-sickle and scythe, it would still be no small feat, but these are all machines to be drawn by horses and their weight is from 650 to 1,300 pounds.

Cyrus H. McCormick in 1831 had the first successful reaper in a field of grain. A young man of twenty-two, he had seen his father for a dozen years unsuccessfully trying to cut grain by horse-power, and, after a final failure by the father, the son built a machine which did the work. It was crude, to be sure, the Cog-wheels being of wood, and every piece made by himself in the small shop on the farm, but the features of that machine are the fundamental devices upon which the modern self-binding harvester is constructed, and without which no successful reaper has ever been built. With remarkable perseverance, Mr. MoCormick toiled on his father's farm in Virginia for the next nine years, improving, perfecting and building a few machines. In 1844 the first consignment of reapers was sent to the western prairies. The route they took will itself tell the story of the development of the great West and Northwest. They went by wagon 120 miles to Richmond, Va., then by boat and sailing vessel to New Orleans, and finally by boat up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati. The journey covered 2,500 miles and occupied months, a journey that in this day could have been accomplished in ten hours. Chicago was then little more than a trading post, the fruitful States of Ohio and Indiana were just being settled, and Illinois and the Northwest vast stretches of prairie. The time was ready. The practicability of the McCormick machine had been demonstrated. The vast plains had shown that they had only to be "tickled with a hoe " to produce an abundance. The trouble had been to harvest the crop which profligate nature and a soil fertilized for ages by the accumulation of decayed vegetation were ready to produce. The reaper offered the means. All countries poured in their contingents, who had only to select their farm, a gift from a wise government. The plow turned over the sod, and the market town, perhaps a hundred miles away, furnished the McCormick reaper to any honest man without a dollar of cash, to be paid for in yearly installments from that crop which the keen foresight of Mr. McCormick knew would be produced. If one failed, a dozen succeeded, and their success caused scores to pour in. Chicago was a quagmire over which scarcely 30,000 people picked their way in 1848, but its advantageous position was realized, and here the Mc- Cormick works were located. Only a hundred miles from New York City, in the Genessee Valley, where the McCormick machine had been manufactured on royalty, was then the center of the wheat-growing

About this time, in 1851, the first World's Fair was held in London. Mr. McCormick was there with his reaper, and while prophecy has not been reckoned as an exact science, yet the London Times, in an editorial speaking of the advantages of the fair, remarked that the reaper shown by McCormick would be of inestimable value to the agriculturists of the world, and add untold millions to the wealth of the nations. The gold medal received from that fair was the first ever awarded to a reaping machine. The significance of the prophecy of the London Times is not realized fully by viewing the great strides made in growing cereals, but the growth of commerce, the building of ships and railroads, the founding of cities, all dependent upon the produce of the country for their support and maintenance, must be considered when figuring on the " untold wealth" that has been added to the nations.

At home the McCormick machine has a record of wonderful success. Abroad great prizes have been awarded it without interruption; at Hamburg; in 1863; at Paris in 1867, together with the Cross of the Legion of Honor; at Vienna in 1873; at Paris in 1878, with the decoration of an Officer of the Legion of Honor for Mr. McCormick; at the Royal Agricultural Shows on numerous occasions, and at various other places and trials has the McCormick machine maintained its unquestionable excellence.

The McCormick works are located in Chicago, on the south branch of the Chicago river, at the corner of Western and Blue Island avenues. Their quarter of a mile of dock frontage allows the largest lake vessels to unload their cargoes of iron, coal and lumber at the very doors where it is to be used, and then to re-load with machines for all the lake ports. When to this are added the railroad facilities for receiving and shipping, a locomotive owned by the McCormick company, and over two miles of railroad track inside the enclosure of the works, some idea can be obtained of the material that can be brought in and sent out. The books show that 10,782 cars of freight were handled during the season ending August 1, 1890. As the harvest season approaches it is frequently necessary to get car-loads of the machines off in short order, as delay means the loss of sales. The facilities for such shipments are unexcelled, there being covered sheds from the warehouses from which fifty cars can be loaded and dispatched within a single day. This seems a large number, but when it is considered that two days will suffice to manufacture these fifty car-loads, that they should be loaded and shipped in one day does not seem a great achievement- The floor space demanded for the great number of machines daily manufactured is thirty-seven a.cres.

The grain and grass-cutting implements, as made by the McCormick company to-day, are composed mainly of iron and steel. The tongues and draft attachments are of wood, Perhaps there may be another small part or so weighing a pound or two of wood, but the "McCormick machines of steel" are in fact iron and steel machines. And yet seven million feet of lumber are annually consumed, principally in making the boxes in which the small parts of the machines are packed for shipment. For months during the season just passed, 200 tons of iron and steel were daily consumed. The aim of the McCormick company is to construct machines with as little weight to be drawn over the soft ground of the field as is consistent with strength. The frame-work is thus of bar iron or steel made in special forms to obtain strength, the coverings are of sheet steel, and the castings are largely malleable iron; 16,800 tons of this special bar iron and steel were used during the year ending August 1, 1890; 2,200 tons of sheet steel and 19,000 tons of castings were worked into the balloon framework of the harvesters, and into the other machines. In the straightening of the malleable castings, the turning of the shafting, the drilling, and in many other operations in the works, special machines are used, many of which have been designed and manufactured for the McCormick company. So thoroughly systematized are all departments, that the managers are confident that in no shop in the world is material worked into completed forms more cheaply and expeditiously than in the works of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company.

In order to protect the users of their selfbinding harvesters from inferior grades of cord, which break, cause much trouble, and delay the machines, the McCormick company furnished, in the season of 1889-90, more than eight thousand tons of binding cord to their customers. This was the largest amount disposed of in a single season by any one concern in the world.

Two thousand employes at the works are not all who are connected with the great business of the McCormick company. The agents engaged in selling the machines, in collecting for them, and in conducting the business, make an army of more than eight thousand.

In the invention and development of the reaper, Mr. McCormick played an important part in the history of his country, and in the triumphs of his machine he added great lustre to the fame of the American inventor. The business founded by him has grown and flourished under the direction of his son, Cyrus H. McCormick, until the sales are now more than one-third of all the grain and grass harvesting machines the whole world consumes.