mately half the genuine wrought iron pipe today manu- 
factured in the United States. In the early years bars, 
sheets, etc., as well as pipe, were made. Now the entire 
output of the company’s puddle mills is required in the 
manufacture of Byers Pipe, couplings and nipples. Surplus 
of pig iron, made primarily for supplying the company’s 
puddle furnaces, is sold to the foundries within shipping dis- 
tance of the blast furnace at Girard, Ohio. 
Typical of the unvarying policy which the Byers Com- 
pany has pursued in maintaining the highest standards of 
quality, and in building into its pipe the longest possible 
life, it is noteworthy that its rolled products have always 
been made of unadulterated wrought iron with no admixture 
of scrap of any nature whatsoever. In this connection it is 
interesting to examine the picture of the old puddle mill, 
shown on the opposite page. It stands on the site of the 
original Byers plant, and the sheets which form the siding 
and roofing were made in Byers own works in 1881. With- 
out paint, without galvanizing, and practically without re- 
pairs, these wrought iron sheets have served for 45 years in 
the smoke and sulphur laden atmosphere of the industrial 
plants and railroad yards of Pittsburgh’s South Side. Their 
condition today makes it appear that these old sheets will 
last for another generation. Many records of old Byers 
Pipe in buildings that have been dismantled also show un- 
interrupted service for forty, fifty and more years—all be- 
speaking the exceptional life of old-fashioned wrought iron. 
While higher in first cost than modern steel pipe, the 
lasting qualities of Byers Genuine Wrought Iron Pipe make 
it particularly adapted for permanent installation where 
ultimate cost per year of service is the dominant considera- 
tion. It finds its chief uses in the plumbing, heating and 
other pipe systems of large buildings; in railway service, 
particularly for locomotive piping and for airbrake lines; 
in the oil and gas fields, both in the wells and long distance 
pipe lines; for water and gas service lines, and other under- 
ground installations; in industrial plants for handling process 
liquids, hot water, steam returns and in other similar services 
where corrosion is a factor to be reckoned with.