Grand Trunk betterments, etc.

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Owing to the difficulty in procuring iron girders & columns, work on the general office building, McGill St., Montréal, has been postponed until next year. In a recent interview on the subject the architect said: The demand for iron is far greater than the supply. We practically cannot get it for love or money. Carnegie's mills are working 7 days a week, & 24 hours a day, & yet they find it impossible to keep pace with the demand. They are probably turning out $1,000,000 worth of iron work a day, & from these figures you may be able to form some idea of the nature & dimensions of the present demand. The railways of Canada find it absolutely impossible to secure rails for their tracks. At the present moment they want 64,000 tons, & can't get a pound. The English & French foundries can hardly provide enough iron for their local markets, so that the question of importation cannot be entertained. Within the past year the Russian government has ordered 1,800,000 tons of rails for its great Siberian railway; the French Exposition has utilized another 1,000,000 tons in the construction of the exhibition buildings in Paris, & an additional 500,000 tons will yet be used before these structures are completed. The Russian government has ordered from U. S. locomotive manufacturers upwards of 482 engines for the railway to which I have already alluded. Then there are the bridges & public works in Canada & the U.S. to be taken into consideration. When you add to these the recent order of the British Government for 500,000 tons of armor plate, you will gain some idea of the tremendous proportions which the demand for iron has assumed during the present year. The scarcity of the material has enhanced its value, & this is another feature which has caused us to postpone the erection of the walls of the offices until next year. You will scarcely believe me when I say that the British government is paying $500 a ton for its armor plate, & yet such is the case. As Canadian nickel enters largely into the construction of such, you will see how valuable this industry will yet become to the Dominion. With regard to the future I do not know what we are going to do. Every modern public. building is constructed in the main of iron, & with the increase in the number of such will come a proportionate increase in the demand for iron. What to do under the circumstances is a question hard to solve.—Star.

Railways: G.T.Ry.

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