Page:James Hudson Maurer - The Far East (1912).pdf/43

 steamers for Japan, line the tracks. Immense piles of slag, that the company will in the near future convert into cement, are to be seen along the railroad, while tons of old scrap iron, bought all over the East, are used to mix with the rich iron ore of the company's mines.

"With the utilization of the Siemens furnaces the entire elimination of phosphorous has been attained in the manufacture of rails; in fact it is claimed, the rail product is far better than can be produced in Europe. All milled steel products turned out also are excellent. Flat and round steel, bent over again and doubled under a steam hammer, shows no sign of fracture, and all tests for torsion, elongation and ductility prove the grades to be of the nighest character.

"During the coming spring, when the mills will be in full working order, their output of rails will be at the rate of from 5,000 to 8,000 tons monthly. The major part of this product is already bespoken, as by order of the Peking government all promoters of Chinese railroads must place their orders with this national concern.

"The management of this new enterprise is solely under the supervision and direction of Chinese. Mr. Lee, who spent some time in the United States and England studying the steel business, is the manager. He has two assistants, one of whom is a graduate of Cornell University. The chiefs of the technical departments have had thorough educations in the manufacture of steel in Belgium, one of the most important steel centers in the world.

"At the present time this Chinese steel mill is shipping 5,000 tons of its products to Japan monthly. Shipments have been made during the past year to San Francisco of pig iron, but the most noteworthy shipment of this product was made three months ago on the steamer Seneca. There was loaded at Han-Yang, 3,000 tons of pig iron consigned to the United States Steel Corporation and ordered by the corporation as a trial shipment. The price paid for this shipment yielded a nice profit.

"There is a clause in the regulations of the establishment which provides that no foreigners can obtain any interest in the works. In addition to the mills now in operation an immense plant for the construction of railroad passenger and freight cars, bridges and structural steel will be built before the end of the year 1908, the capitalists of Shanghai having already put up the funds for extension of the industry.