Iron mining in this region is in its infancy; and yet the value of the metal produced last year amounts to eighteen million dollars.
The cause for this rapid development is found in the fact that the Lake Superior ore makes the best iron in the world. Persistent efforts were made to cry it down, but those who were engaged in its production invited rigid tests.
Its tenacity, in comparison with other qualities, will be seen by the following tabular statement:—
| Swedish, | 59 |
| English Cable bolt, | 59 |
| Russian, | 76 |
| Lake Superior, | 89½ |
When this fact was made known, railroad companies began to use Lake Superior iron for the construction of locomotives, car-wheels, and axles. Boiler builders wanted it. Those who tried it were eager to obtain more, and the result is seen in the rapidly increasing demand.
The average cost of mining and delivering the ore in cars at the mines is estimated at about $2 per ton. It is shipped to Cleveland at a cost of $4.35, making $6.35 when laid on the dock in that city, where it is readily sold for $8, leaving a profit of about $1.65 per ton for the shipper. Perhaps, including insurance and incidentals, the profit may be reduced to about $1.25 per ton. It will be seen that this is a very remunerative operation.
About one hundred furnaces in Ohio and Pennsylvania use Lake Superior ore almost exclusively, while others mix it with the ores of those regions.
A large amount is smelted at Lake Superior, where charcoal is used. The forests in the vicinity of the mines are rapidly disappearing. The wide-spreading sugar-maple, the hardy yellow birch, the feathery hackmatack and evergreen hemlock are alike tumbled into the coal-pit to supply fuel for the demands of commerce.
The charcoal consumed per ton in smelting costs about eleven cents per bushel. For reducing a ton of the best ore about a hundred and ten bushels are required; for a ton of the poorest about a hundred and forty bushels, giving an average of $13 per ton. The cost of mining is, as has already been stated, about $2 per ton. To this must be added furnace-labor, interest on capital employed, insurance, freight, commission, making the total cost about $35 a ton. As the iron commands the highest price in the market, it will be seen that the iron companies of Lake Superior are having an enormous income.