ulation, in 1850, of 138,098, having gained, since 1840, nearly 57,000. In this county a larger capital is invested in iron manufactures than in any other county in the State, which is pretty good evidence that, at present at least, it offers greater inducements to that branch of industry than any other point. Except at short periods of very dry seasons, the Ohio is navigable to Pittsburg by boats of light draught. It is not, however, navigable for boats of the largest class during any considerable portion of the season. When the spring freshets occur, there is deep water; but the boats built at Pittsburg are adapted to the lowest possible draught, so that they may transact business nearly the whole year. At times, in severe winters, there is sufficient floating ice in the upper Ohio to impede navigation for a few days. The principal harbor is furnished by the Monongahela river, which has a better depth of water than the Alleghany. The city lies chiefly between the two. It has rather a pleasant site, and is surrounded with hills of bituminous coal, which can be quarried and delivered in the city at a trifling expense. It is to this fact, and the close proximity of good iron ores, that Pittsburg owes her great growth in manufactures. Pittsburg is the great entrepôt of western Pennsylvania, from the Ohio and Mississippi basin and from the lakes. The Ohio river gives her an eligible connexion with the first, and its trade; while the Beaver and Erie and Ohio canals give her access to the latter; and the Pennsylvania canal, from Johnstown, gives her the command of the principal portion of the trade of the State west of the Alleghanies. Besides these connexions, however, Pittsburg is about to reap great benefits from numerous railway projects, which will soon be in operation in various portions of western Pennsylvania. These are spoken of pretty fully in another department of this report, and it is therefore unnecessary to describe them under this head. One of the most important of all these projects is the Pittsburg and Olean railway, which will pass through some of the best agricultural counties in the State, but which heretofore have not had access to a market, sufficiently expeditious to develop their rich and varied resources. To connect with the route just mentioned, a road is about to be built from Buffalo, at the foot of Lake Erie, to Olean. This road will connect the western termini of the Pennsylvania canals with the western termini of the New York canals, and the head of Ohio navigation with the great lake port at the eastern terminus of navigation on Lake Erie. Buffalo will have access also to the coal and iron of Pittsburg and other portions of Pennsylvania by a direct route, and by a mode, too, which enjoys superior advantages over all others in carrying coal. Railway tracks may be laid direct from the city to the mine, and follow up the quarry indefinitely, perhaps, so that by such a mode no transhipment or cartage is required; but, with water communication, it cannot be done so easily. There, coal must be carted from mine to boat, and when arrived at the place of destination, instead of being dumped right from the cars into the coal-yard, as upon railways, it must be raised out of boats and carted away to the yard. Perhaps coal and other minerals or ores are the only kind of heavy articles of which it can be said, with truth, that they may be transported more cheaply by railway than by water. The manufactures and commerce of Pittsburg are immense; but no returns, later than those of the census of 1850, are at

hand, by which to exhibit the exact value of the former, and the commercial returns are but indifferently kept at any time. Below, such authentic data are presented as could be procured indicative of the character and extent of each.

In 1840 there were in operation in Pittsburg and Alleghany city thirty-two furnaces and forges, with a capital of $1,437,000; the total capital employed in manufactures was stated at $2,784,594. The tonnage of the port, in 1840, was estimated at 12,000 tons.

In 1850, according to the returns of the United States census, Alleghany county had manufactures of all kinds employing capital, and yielding annual products as follows:

The great bulk of the above aggregate of nearly seventeen million dollars of the product of industry is made up of manufactures of various kinds of iron, steel, nails, glass, cotton, clothing, boots and shoes, cabinet-ware, whiskey, flour, and provision-packing. Iron, of course, takes the lead, and enters into almost all kinds of manufactures to a greater or less degree.

It is proper to remark here, that little reliance is to be placed upon the accuracy of census returns, generally, in matters of business which relate to the actual substance of men so intimately as the above queries indicate. Various motives instigate different persons to give replies susceptible of constructions very wide of the mark aimed at by the government-sometimes above, perhaps, but generally very far below the real value of the property or business undergoing investigation. Business men are proverbially jealous of all intermeddling in their affairs; and so, however good the object of the meddler may be, or how innocent soever the instrument employed, the replies are usually so colored, as it is supposed will best subserve the interests of their maker. Hence, such returns should be used under a full view of the circumstances and with many grains of allowance. In the case of Pittsburg and vicinity, all commercial returns, lately compiled, present very dif ferent results from those of the census. That city is well known to be one of the most prominent in all the western valleys for the construction of steamers both of wood and iron-an interest which does not fully appear in the census returns. It is said that the number of steamers built at this place, during a series of years, will average about one per week. Supposing this statement to be correct, and that the value of the machinery and joiner-work was included under those heads, which is hardly probable, there is still the cost of material and labor required to construct fifty-two hulls, unaccounted for, which, at the moderate aver

age valuation of ten thousand dollars each, would amount to five hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

This is but a single item; and it is not at all improbable that many more might be cited, less important to be sure, but still capable of adding their quota to the general aggregate. In western Pennsylvaniathat is, in the twenty-two counties west of the Alleghanies-there were different varieties of iron works in thirteen of the counties, to the number of one hundred and forty, involving the investment of $6,887,376. The principal, and, in fact, almost the only accessible market for the products of this immense capital, is Pittsburg. During late years, it is well known many of them have remained idle, owing to the low, unremunerating prices of iron. But the late advance of prices in Europe, and the present high rates, are stimulating this important interest, and inviting capital, and labor to engage in it, with good prospects of an adequate reward. Pittsburg must, therefore, soon reap a rich harvest in the augmentation of her traffic from this source. Pittsburg, however, is not entirely dependent on the suburban counties for her iron manufactures. There are in the city fifteen rolling mills, having a capacity for making 49,200 tons of bar, rod, hoop, sheet, and boiler iron, nails and spikes, and bar and sheet steel, annually. Of the above fifteen works, six are employed in the conversion of steel; of which they made, in 1850, 6,078 tons. In the same works there were 205 nail machines, capable of turning out 1,000 kegs of 100 lbs. each, or an aggregate of 10,250 tons. The aggregate value of the products of these fifteen works is estimated at $3,425,000.

The pig iron consumed in these and similar manufactories is supplied by the foundries located upon the several rivers which communicate with the mountainous districts. The ore is principally furnished to the foundries by the neighboring farmers during the winter season, when their labors are not required in agricultural occupations. Digging the ore, and delivering it to the furnaces; felling trees, and converting the wood which is unfit to transform into lumber, into charcoal, for the use of the furnaces, and raising produce for the subsistence of the laborers employed in the manufacture of iron, afford abundant and profitable employment to the agriculturists of the surrounding country, and contribute largely to the trade and commerce of Pittsburg.

The manufacture of glass is carried on by thirty-three different establishments in this city, which is scarcely less noted for the quantity and variety of this article, annually classed among its exports, than for the larger and more valuable interest just described.

These remarks are intended to convey some idea of the principal manufacturing, and consequent commercial, interests of Pittsburg, as now in progress; but it may be well to add, that they may be extended almost indefinitely. There is no known limit to their capacity, or to the elements necessary for their augmentation. Wood, coal, ores, and agricultural resources, all abound in the utmost profusion, and at the greatest possible convenience. All that is wanting to constitute Pittsburg the "Birmingham" of the American continent is labor.

The commercial interests of Pittsburg are hardly less important than the manufacturing. The enrolled tonnage of the port in 1851 was about

17,000 tons; consisting of 112 steamers, employing officers and crews of 2,588 persons, and carrying 466,661 passengers. Of the property carried on the river steamers, either as to amount, character, or quantity, no returns are at hand, and there is no very satisfactory mode of ascertaining its value. The best mode of ascertaining its character which now presents itself is by the examination of the returns of the canal commerce of Pittsburg, as made to the commissioners of the State works.

Comparative statement exhibiting the exports by canal of some of the leading articles during three seasons.

This and the following tables include the amount of the articles specified, moved from and received at Pittsburg on all the public improvements during the years named.

Comparative statement, showing some of the leading articles imported into Pittsburg, by canal, during the years named, each ending December 31.

On the average, these figures indicate a very gratifying increase in the canal commerce of the city, but especially in the iron trade for 1852. In this fact, and in the greatly increased importations of dry goods and groceries, may be seen the evidence of the stimulation which the advanced prices have already imparted to the iron manufactures.

Statement showing the imports and exports by canals, at Pittsburg, during the year ending December 31, 1852.