DOMESTIC COTTONS FROM NEW ENGLAND PASSING THROUGH COMMISSION HOUSES IN

DOMESTIC WOOLENS FROM NORTH AND EAST, SOLD ON COMMISSION AT PHILADELPHIA.

1856.

20,000 cases, at $320..

1857. 18,500 cases, at 320. 1858. 28,500 cases, at 310...

$6,400,000

5,925,000

7,285,000

The leading interest of Pennsylvania is, of course, iron, and that figures largely in the trade reports.

The present condition of the American iron trade is far from being a fair representation of the natural strength of that part of it which properly belongs to the trade of Philadelphia. At the height of the financial difficulties of 1857, nearly all the iron works were compelled to suspend operations, temporarily or permanently, and though they were very soon resumed in many cases, the majority continued silent through most of the year 1858. Many which were so long stopped are now resuming operations, however, and it is believed that the production of the anthracite districts of the Lehigh and Schuylkill will soon be as large as at any former time.

The following tables are from the report of the Secretary of the American Iron Association. The summary shows the distribution of the iron business of the country, in all its departments, and though the latest full tables prepared are for 1856, the proportion of the total production falling to Pennsylvania, is increased rather than diminished in 1857 and 1858. In both these years the furnaces of the Susquehanna, Schuylkill, and Lehigh anthracite regions sustain their production much better than any others in the United States, and the chief rolling mills of the State are also far better sustained than any elsewhere. The aggregates for 1856, in the production of anthracite and charcoal pig iron, and of the rolling mill product, very forcibly exhibit the leading place Philadelphia and the State have in the entire business:

Pennsylvania has thus 90,000 tons of pig iron more than all other parts of the Union together, and its anthracite iron falls but 50,000 tons short of the production of all other States. This anthracite production is all so near Philadelphia as to belong in a peculiar degree to its trade.

For the purpose of adding to these the most recent results in regard to the production of the leading districts, there has been obtained from the proprietors of several of the leading anthracite furnace works their production for 1857 and 1858, and the like facts from several of the rolling mills. In the Lehigh district most of the furnaces have continued in blast through the whole period of disaster to the trade generally, the

demand for their iron, which is of superior quality, and has almost entirely displaced the Scotch pig for the use of founders, being such as to keep them steadily employed. The Schuylkill district is next to the Lehigh in the character of its iron and in the quantity produced, but the furnaces are fewer in number and the works smaller. Many of these have remained suspended through most of the year 1858, but all are now resumed or preparing to resume. Ascending the Schuylkill, we find more than half the number of anthracite furnaces out of blast during 1858. One of the "Wm. Penn" furnaces was out; the "Spring Mill" furnace. was out half the year; the "Merion" out until April; the "Swede" furnaces both out, one of these having resumed in February last, and the other soon to resume; the "Norristown" furnace wholly out, as also the "Montgomery," at Port Kennedy; two of the four "Phoenix" furnaces; one of the "Henry Clay" works at Reading, and that of Seyfert McManus & Co., at Reading, with perhaps three or four more of those beyond Reading. The production of fifteen of the twenty-two in the Schuylkill district, in 1857, as reported to the Iron Association, was 48,310 tons, the whole not exceeding 60,000 tons. In 1858 the number out of blast must necessarily have reduced the total to 40,000 or 45,000 tons.

The anthracite furnaces of the Susquehanna have been fully as much reduced in production, through 1858, if not more. In 1857 those on the main Susquehanna and on the North and West Branches, together, produced, for 25 furnaces heard from out of 46 in existence, 75,759 tons against 79,188 in 1856. A large share of those not reporting were not in operation, and the total did not reach 100,000 tons. In 1858 the production did not probably exceed 55,000 tons. The Bloomsburg furnaces, however, produced the same quantity as in 1856, but less than in

1857.

The Lehigh district sustained its production much better. Of the twenty furnaces in blast in 1857, but two or three were suspended in 1858. Several of the furnaces were out of blast for a part of the year, but the Crane Iron Company, the Allentown, the Thomas or Hockendaqua, the Glendon, Cooper, and other works, were quite generally kept in full operation. The production of four of the leading establishments of this district have been communicated by the proprietors, and these exhibit a decline of but about 5,600 tons from 1857, and about 7,000 tons from 1856. Extending the table subsequently given from the Secretary of the Iron Association, to embrace 1858, we have the following compari

The proportions, of course, are not full in case of the furnaces not making returns for the last two years, since the majority were out of blast and making no iron, at least during the larger share of 1858. The productiveness of the Anthracite Iron Works of Pennsylvania is

illustrated by the following statement of the actual operations of the Lehigh Crane Iron Company's Works for the past three years, the leading establishment of the country, and probably the most productive in the world. The statement is obligingly furnished from the office of the company, and its separate publication is permitted at the request of the Philadelphia Board of Trade. The whole number of furnaces at these works is five, and the full capacity of works 45,000 tons of pig iron per an

Far the larger share of the rolled iron, both bar and railroad, which is manufactured in the United States, is made in Pennsylvania, and most of this share within reach of the business of Philadelphia The amount of railroad iron made by works of the State in 1856, in comparison with the total for the entire United States, is thus stated by the secretary of the American Iron Association:

The Trenton Mill, New Jersey, rolling about 13,000 tons in 1856, really belongs to the account of Pennsylvania iron rolled, in a great de

gree.

The production of rolled iron in Pennsylvania has of course fallen off during 1857 and 1858, as in the case of pig iron, but the natural strength of the establishments is strikingly shown by the degree to which the manufacture has been sustained under the heavy disadvantages now existing. The following is the aggregate of two establishments for 1857 and 1858, in comparison with the product of 1856-the Phoenix Iron Company's Works, on the Schuylkill, and the Cambria Iron Works, at Johnstown, Pa., both of which are owned and controlled in Philadelphia:

Product of the rolling mills named........... tons

1856.

1858.

1857. 31,798 34.599 43,278

The production of the Lackawanna, Montour, and Safe Harbor Mills, is not known. Several other mills in Pennsylvania have been altogether silent during most of the year 1858, and the aggregate produced in the State is probably not more than two-thirds the product of 1856, and it may not exceed half that product. Considering the great natural extension of demand, and the increased capacity of the works, this is a striking proof of the severe pressure existing on this, as on every other branch of the iron producing interest. The report of the secretary of the Iron Association on this branch of the iron trade is extremely valuable, and quite full on all other points relating to the production of railroad iron. There are several rolling mills for plate, boiler, and bar iron located within the city limits, and others in the vicinity are controlled by Philadelphia business houses. In every branch of manufacture, except perhaps nail making, the iron worked there is in proportion to the produc

tion of pig iron. The mills rolling steel, plate, and bar iron have been generally more active during the past year than the rail mills, and they are now as fully employed as at any time in 1857, previous to the financial difficulties. The deficiency in production during the year of least activity, leaves the market bare of many descriptions of small iron, and the present activity is in part induced by this unusual demand. The mills of the city, and those of the vicinity represented there, are particularly distinguished for steel rolling, in part from English bar iron, and for the finer grades of sheet and plate iron. The sheet iron closely approaches the Russian in quality, and it is largely used for all the purposes to which that is applied.

Several of the mills are adapted both to rolling and forging, and others are constructed for forging alone. The Pencoyd Works execute forging more largely than rolling; the Fairhill Forge, and Norris' Locomotive Works are the principal forging works in the city itself. The Reading Steam Forge conducts heavy shaft forging exclusively. There are several other works at which more or less of this heavy axle and shaft forging is done, all of which is quite distinct from the bloomery forging of the primary class of iron works named in the report of the Iron Associ

ation.

In other parts of Eastern Pennsylvania, as we are informed by the Iron Association, there are, including the rail mills, no less than thirtyeight additional rolling mills, which roll railroad iron exclusively.

Of other rolling mills, there are seven at and near Coatesville, Chester County, four at and near Reading, one at Pottsville, two in Lancaster County, three at and near Harrisburg, one at Weissport, two at Williamsport, five near Bellefonte, etc.

The production of the steel, sheet, and bar mills of the city and vicinity was in part made up, for 1856-7, from the best information obtainable, though the mills located at any considerable distance were not included. The following numbers are close approximations to the annual prodution:

The production of sheet and plate iron is largely increasing over that of 1856-7, in the current year. Not only is the production of several mills on the border of Maryland and Delaware now carried there, but there is additional machinery employed in rolling this description of iron in and near Philadelphia. Its increased use for roofing purposes adds to

the demand.

In towns of Eastern Pennsylvania, more distant than Norristown, Phoenixville, &c., the Iron Association reports as made, in 1856—

Boiler and other plate..

Bars, rods, and nails....

tons

Taking all together, we have the following aggregate:-

2,190 13,500

The aggregate value of this production is very nearly $5,000,000. The entire quantity of railroad iron made in Eastern Pennsylvania, exclusive of the Cambria and the Juniata works, in 1856, is stated by Mr. Lesley at about 65,000 tons. Probably the depression of 1858 reduced the production to a point not far from 50,000 tons, or to about three-fourths the business of 1856. This branch of the rolling mill operations is thus placed at about half the value of the small iron rolling. It is not over-stating the value of this second department of the iron interest of this part of the State at these sums, which, together, give an aggregate of $7,500,000 as the value of all the forms of rolled iron furnished to the uses of the country by the business circle belonging to Philadelphia. To include the Cambria Works would add largely to the aggregate of railroad iron.

Art. III.-VALUATION OF LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES.

NUMBER VII.

FOR the correct valuation of a life policy the most reliable tables are to be obtained from the experience of insurance companies. The particulars which they furnish as to the ages of the insured, and the number of the living and dying, are perfectly and exactly reported, and deserve, therefore, the fullest confidence; while those derived from the most correct census, or from the most careful registration, are more or less erroneous. Many of the ages in every census are unknown to the people themselves, or are reported in round numbers, or are given falsely to the census-takers, while many will be omitted entirely. This is still more true of the registrations of the deaths, when the report must be made by the survivors, who may be entirely ignorant of the age of the deceased. None of these sources of error occur in the experience of a life company. The ages are carefully ascertained and the period of death exactly known, because large amounts of money are dependent on both, and they are therefore examined and scrutinized with the utmost care. class of people who insure generally know their age, and, having strong motives to state it correctly, their statements can be received with confidence. Besides this accuracy, there are other reasons why the life insurance experience is a proper guide for the valuation of policies. The insured are likely to be of the same class in the future as in the past. Their habits and exposures will probably be similar. Every element that prolongs or lessens the duration of life will probably exert the same influence on both. And as the mortality no doub: varies slightly among the different classes of society, this tends to strengthen the confidence to be placed in the results furnished by the life companies.

The

There is, however, one great objection to these tables. Many of the members of a life office are insured for a single year, many for a short period, and of those who take policies for life very many abandon them after one or two years' insurance. And these persons, having been recently examined by the company's physician and pronounced to be sound and well, are not likely to be subject to the same rate of mortality as those who have been long members of the company.