C. D. Dyler
IN connection with the remarkable development of navigation on the Great Lakes the most important item is that connected with the bringing to market of the product of the iron ranges of Minnesota and Wisconsin, this important traffic being largely conducted by corporations who are also engaged in the operation of furnaces in the Pittsburgh district.
One of the leading enterprises thus combining activity in the pig iron industry with that of lake vessel transportation is The Shenango Furnace Company, founded in 1901, by William P. Snyder, and incorporated in February, 1906, under its present style. The company's operations are very large in all of the various departments of production and distribution in which it is engaged, these including the mining and shipment of Mesabi and Marquette Range ores, the manufacture of Bessemer and basic pig iron, the mining of bituminous coal and the manufacture of blast furnace coke and the ownership and operation of vessels engaged in lake transportation. The Shenango Furnace Company operates blast furnaces at Sharpsville, Pa., iron ore mines on the Mesabi Range, and coal and coke works at Wilpen, Pa.
Besides the manufacturing operations carried on by the present company, The Shenango Furnace Company conducts its transportation through The Shenango Steamship Company and procures raw material through the Lake Erie Limestone Company and the Antoine Ore Company.
The lake transportation activities of the company are carried on under the active direction of C. D. Dyer of Pittsburgh, who is vice-president and director of The Shenango Furnace Company, secretary and director of The Shenango Steamship Company, director of the Lake Erie Limestone Company and identified in a prominent and influential way with the interests of lake navigation and pig iron and iron ore transportation. The steamers controlled by the company are -William P. Snyder," "Wilpen," "Shenango," "Colonel James M. Schoonmaker" and "William P. Snyder, Jr.," which are among the largest and best vessels transporting iron ore, pig iron and coal on the Great Lakes.
Mr. Dyer was born in Allegheny, Pa., August 24, 1859, and was educated in the common schools of Allegheny and at Willard Academy. He entered the service of the Pennsylvania Company in April, 1880, advancing at that service until on July 1, 1892, he was made the freight agent of the company at Allegheny, Pa., and thus continued until November 15, 1902, when he became traffic manager for W. P. Snyder & Company, the Clairton Steel Company, and The Shenango Furnace Company; interests controlled by William P. Snyder. Upon the incorporation of The Shenango Furnace Company on February 1, 1906, he was elected vice-president and director of that company, in which connection he has ever since continued. He has been especially active in the transportation end of the business, and has become one of the prominent leaders in the organization and efforts created to improve and enlarge the lake carrying interests. He is a director and member of the executive committee of the Great Lakes Towing Company, is director and member of the Lake Carriers' Association, and member of the Advisory Committee of the Great Lakes Protective Association.
During the war Mr. Dyer has been actively identified with the cooperation of the pig iron and lake transportation interests with the Government in war-winning activities. During that period he has been president of the American Pig Iron Association, a member of the American Iron & Steel Institute Committee on pig iron, iron ore and lake transportation and on the mobilization committee for Great Lakes vessels, in the work of co-operation of lake vessel interests with the Government's war program.
Mr. Dyer has not only been a great promoter of the interests of his own company in connection with the lake transportation business, but is also recognized as one of those whose efforts have had a profound influence in the larger development of Great Lakes traffic.
The Lake Carriers' Association is the organized medium through which the better development of methods and facilities has been obtained and Mr. Dyer has been one of its leaders in this constructive work.