Cincinnati in 1867, and the Eads Bridge, a magnificent

work crossing the Mississippi River at St. Louis,

completed in 1874, was made of chromium steel. The

Brooklyn Bridge, also constructed of steel, was completed

in 1883, its main span some 1,595 feet long.5

 We are the foremost of all nations in the use of
 iron and steel in bridge building for railroads
 and ordinary highways, and the lightness and
 gracefulness of our bridges are nowhere equaled,
 while their strength and adaptability to the
 uses for which they are required are nowhere
 surpassed.(6)

 Low price and quick delivery allowed the develop-

ment of a lively business in the export of steel for

bridges as well; but new demands for iron were not

confined even to railroads and great structures. As

one might suspect, the production of agricultural

implements also required immense quantities of iron and

steel.

 We are the leading agricultural nation of the
 world, and hence are the largest consumers of
 agricultural implements; but we are also in
 advance of every other nation in the use of
 agricultural machinery. Our use of iron and steel
 in agriculture takes rank next to their use in the
 construction and maintenance of railroads.(7)


 5Carl W. Condit, "Buildings and Construction,"
in Technology in Western Civilization, ed. by Kranzberg
and Pursell, oP. cit., pp. 387-92.

 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census, Report on the Manufactures of the United States
at the Tenth Census (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1883), p. 150.

 7Ibid.