Ironton, Ohio, in The Year 1888
Ironton Register Newspaper Thursday, Jan 10, 1889
Submitted by Barbara Madden for The Lawrence Register website
A Glance At The Past Year With Interesting Facts and Figures Of Business, County and City Affairs
1888 has not been prosperous, and it has not been attended to disasters. The business has been quiet throughout the year. The iron market has maintained a uniform condition bordering on dullness.
A year ago, No.1 Foundry pig iron was $21.50, today, it is the same, and through the year, there has been little, if any, variation. Cole iron has uniformly kept its price, which has been an unsatisfactory one. Nearly all the furnaces ran during the year and are still at it, hoping that the present year will present more prosperous conditions.
Ironton has been somewhat active during the past year. The various trades have been kept lively. There has been a great deal of building. Our merchants have had a good sales run and are in better condition than they were a year ago.
We give numerous statistics of the past year’s work below:
THE FURNACES
We give below the output of the furnaces in this county in 1888, and for comparison, give the yield for 1887, as follows:
| 1887 | 1888 |
| Hamilton 19,000 | 22,136 |
| Iron & Steel 10, xxx | 14,770 |
| Alice & Blanche 22,700 | 16,000 |
| Sarah 10,310 | 11,000 |
| Belfont 17,xx0 | ————– |
| Mt. Vernon 2,900 | 2,800 |
| Pine Grove 3,911 | 4,200 |
| Hecla 1,400 | 2,750 |
| Vesuvius 2,100 | 2,350 |
| Olive 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Total 93,254 | 76,606 |
There is a decrease of 16,648 tons in the year. This decrease is more than accounted for by the stoppage of Belfont, a matter incident to the introduction of steel at the nail mill.
Otherwise, and among the remainder of the furnaces, there is an increase in output over 1887. During the year, Alice’s stack was blown out, and the blast was put on Blanche’s stack.
The production of Alice is put at 14,000 for the year and Blanche at 1,100. This makes the total product of the Etna Iron Works last year 28,450 tons. Hamilton and Iron & Steel have materially increased their yields.
Hecla nearly doubled her product. As will be observed, the first five furnaces use coke, and the other five use charcoal. As to the Etna Co. furnaces, we may note that Alice was in blast for eight months, Sarah was 11, Vesuvius was for ten months, and Blanche was only twenty days.
THE MILLS
The Lawrence mill ran 201 day turns and 232 night turns during the past year, making 10,674 tons of finished iron in that time. These figures show more days and nights employed than in the year before, when 270 days and 119 1/2 nights were reported, with a product of 11,504 tons. In 1887 the mill made its greatest output, and last year came next.
The Belfont mill reports a run of 38 weeks during the year and a product of 174,800 kegs of nails.
The Kelly mill reports 41 weeks in operation and 160,000 kegs of nails.
Neither mill will come up to its production in 1887 when the Belfont reported 206,000 kegs and the Kelly 182,000. The aggregate of weeks employed at both mills is the same as in the year ‘77, but there were more fragments of weeks in ‘88.
IRON RAILROAD
In sympathy with the decline in the iron business, the transportation on the Iron railroad fell off materially in 1888. In 1887 the Iron railroad did the greatest amount of business in its history, the total tonnage being 220,895. Last year the tonnage fell to 166,583, a decrease of 25 percent from the preceding year. We give below the tonnage for the past and two previous years.
| 1886 | 1887 | 1888 |
| Coal 70,800 | 67,697 | 49,773 |
| Lime 63,567 | 79,519 | 59,742 |
| Ore 36,332 | 36,410 | 49,373 |
| Pig Iron 1,702 | 3,408 | 2,647 |
| Merchandise 3,652 | 13,836 | 5,047 |
| Totals 106,035 | 220,646 | 165.562 |
One thing that accounts for a great deal of this decline is the manufacture of steel nails, into which Belfont has gone the past year. This has stopped her forge and cut off the demand for coal, all of which fuel used to come over the Iron Railroad. Then, again, this steel nail business resulted in the furnace’s stoppage, which had not made a pound of pig iron in 1888.
SCIOTO VALLEY R.R.
During the past year, there was received at this place, on the Scioto Valley R.R. 127,937 tons of freight, on which $68,238 was paid for transportation. There was sent from Ironton 106,070 tons, on which $38,880 was paid for freight.
There was a decrease in the amount of freight received compared with 1887. That year, 193,054 tons were received, and $106,323 was paid on the freight. But the number of tons forwarded from here exceeds that of last year. In 1887 the exports amounted to 90621 tons, and the freight on it was $35,267.
By these figures, it will be seen that the amount of freight handled in 1887 exceeded that of 1888 by 50,668 tons and the revenues by $36,672
FOUNDRIES
The Foster Stove Works made 257 heat, melting about 1000 tons of iron and 8000 stoves.
The Whitman Stove Works made 260 heats, using 435 tons of metal. They made 600 ranges, besides many stoves and other castings.
The Hanging Rock Foundry made 160 heats and melted 240 tons of metal.
FIREBRICK
The output of firebrick for the past year is shown as follows:
Ironton Fire Brick……………………………………………………………2,000,000
Petersburg Fire Brick Co…………………………………………………..1,450,000
Standard Fire Brick Co…………………………………………………….. 830,000
Total…………………………………………………………………………………..4,300,000
(from transcriber…does not add up.. but figures not easily discernable)
This is a material decrease from the product of 1887, the decline being 1,500,000, a half-million increase over 1886. The cessation of the Standard is the cause of the decrease. That has been idle for more than half the year. Notwithstanding the decline in the product, the work has been quite brisk, a greater variety of forms of manufacture making up some for the decrease in the output.
LUMBER
The sawmills were not kept as actively engaged last year as in the year before. This is because the supply of logs was not equal to the demand. The product was as follows.. lumber feet board measure:
Newman and Spanner…………………………………………………4,000,000
R.N. Fea? on……………………………………………………………..1,000,000
Chicago Lumber Co………………………………………………………610,000
Crowell & Co……………………………………………………………….400,000
Penn Lumber Co……………………………………………………………300,000
Total……………………………………………………………………………6,300,000 (as appeared)
This is a good yield, considering the limited supply of logs and that some of the mills were not in existence but a part of the year. In the case of the Chicago Lumber Co., their product represents a run only from Dec. 13 to Jan 1, scarcely over half a month. It is likely that their output will run to over 12 million feet next year.
TELEGRAPHING
In 1888, the Western Union did a business representing $10,474. In the money order department, the receipts were $028 (newspaper typo?) and disbursements $720. These amounts are not included in the $10,474 above-stated. The total number of messages handled (sent and received) was 33,274. Newspaper telegrams sent contained 87,278 words. These figures show a considerable increase over those of 1887. There were 2,705 more messages sent last year than in the previous year and 8,421 more words of newspaper dispatches. The statement shows an increase of 20 percent over the 1887 business.
IRONTON POST OFFICE
Amount of stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards sold at the Post Office of Ironton, Ohio, for the four quarters ending December 31st, 1888:
Quarter ending March 31st 1888………………………………..$3,408.26
” ” June 31st 1888………………………………….1,806.71
” ” Sept 31st 1888………………………………….2.040.40
” ” Dec 31st 1888………………………………….2,686.40
(this copy is very blurred, not accurate, and totally doesn’t add up)
Total…………………………………………………………………………..$9,887.08 (blurred)
The receipts for the four quarters ending Dec 31st, 1887, were $9,079.03 showing a net increase for 1888 of $808.03 over receipts for 1887.
COUNTY AFFAIRS
During the year, the Probate Court appointed 46 administrators, 12 (? blurred copy) executors, and 35 guardians. 13 wills were probated, 15 persons were judged insane, nine persons were sent to the Reform farm, and 2 to the Girls Industrial Home. Sixteen persons declared their intention to become citizens, and 24 were naturalized.
There were 453 marriage licenses issued during the year. This number is just 15 less than the year before.
The Recorder’s Office recorded 682 deeds and 428 mortgages against 770 deeds and 361 mortgages in the previous year. Four leases and 203 mortgages were canceled.
One hundred prisoners were confined in the county jail, a decrease of 23 from the year before. Eight persons were sent to the penitentiary, the longest term being for three years.
One hundred sixty-five new suits were brought in the common pleas court; 14 were for divorce. There were 33 orders of sale issued.
CITY MATTERS
During the year, there were 565 criminal cases before the Mayor, an increase of 28 over 1887. Of the number arrested, 516 were males, 49 were females, 374 were single, and 191 were married. The number of fines collected was $584.30. Two hundred sixty-four persons were committed to the city prison during the year.
The number of civil actions before the mayor was 76, of which 41 were for the recovery of money. The number of judgments rendered was $3,575.99
MORTALITY
There were 119 burials in Woodland Cemetery, against 82 in the year before.
St. Joseph’s reports 19 which are two less than the previous year.
Sacred Heart Cemetery reports 22 bu- (here the copy ends)
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