, 1885-03-04
ALABAMA's WEALTH.
DEVELOPMENT or IRON AND COAL
INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH.
Tbs frorl City of Observation-Disclosures
less Resources and Cheaper Produe
Than In Penn sylvania-Tho Ono
Dra~baek-rhs Future.


IA X. Mcclure In Philadelphia Timesl
Unless all evidences and calculation are at
fault, the iron and coal OF this region within
range OF cheap production, are practically
in~exhaustible. birmingham Is part OF tho
great Black Warrior coal field that contains
over aye0J square miles OF accessible coal,
aud To IL may be added the 200 square miles
OF equally good and accessibls coal in
the Cahaba field and l5o square miles
more In the Coosa field. In ad-
dition TO the e, it may DO well to consider
the 5. 300 square miles OF coal just south OF
the Tennssses- These nearly II, 900 square
miles OF coal ars practically one vast coal
field, capable OF supplying tho world with
that commodity. As yet It Is not penetrated
by water navigation, bat when $500, 900 or
little more would open the great Warrior
coal field 10 uninterrupted water highway TO
every port Of the world through Mobile bay,
how long will it require the lesson of Biz
mingham to open the grand water highways
OF Alnbama To the nlimitable wealth OF her
coal feldsl
The maximum cost OF coal here Is <1.5
per ton at the furnace doors It is found in
nearly horizontal strata, and varies from O
10 15U feet in thickness, the Warrior fold,
whencs this city 10 supplied, having the
thickest veins The iron ore hat Is mined
and delivered cheaper than at any OF our
great iron fields of the north, is absolutely
exhAustless and embraces the red hematite
and the crown ores. with a more than ample
supply Of limestone close at hand.
Red mountain takes It's name from
its iron, and 1t Is almost lit
orally a mountain OF iron. 1t is estimated
by official geological reports that there are
90. 900. 900. 900 tons Of iron in it alone. These
exceptional facilities for producing iron and
coal nre increased by the more genial eli
mate and cheaper labor that must ever 10
obtained where bota fuel and food are
chenpensl by the absence o. sever9 northern
winters. This Is the only iron center as yot
developed that seems to offer the production
OF iron at the minimum Of cost, as 1t has
every requisite for iron in superabundance
and all attainable at the furnace with this
least outlay.
The one drawback that has hindered the
appearance OF Birmingham iron in all our
northern markets is transportation, but even
with the Disadvantages of costly freights,
iron from this city now successfully com
petes with Pennsylvania at home and in
New York and New England The southern
railways cannot afford the cheap freights
that the northern lines can offer because Of
their immensely larger traffic; but the south
will rapidly improve In its transportation
lines; its improved transportation will
rapidly develop industrial products, and
both will rapidly cheaper transportation I'M
till II approximates northern rates. And
when comparatively cheap railway tram
portation shall come TO the iron and coal OF
Alabama, with water transit by the Warrior
and the Tombigbee rivers to the sea, who
can measure the growth Of those industrics
In this stated
1t is idle for Pennsylvania and other great
iron and coal producing states to close their
eyes u the fact that we ave reached the
lightning OF a great revolution in those pro-
ducts No legislation, no sound public pol
icy, no sentiment can halt such "a revolution
when the immutable laws OF trnde command
IL; and the sudden tread of the hordes from
the northern forests upon ancient Rome did
not more surely threaten the majesty Of the
mistress OF the world, than does the tread of
the iron and coal diggers OF Alabama
threaten the majesty Of northern iron and
coal fields.
And let not the north be deluded with the
idea that this strange development in tho
heart OF the south is ephemernl. There has
been no sudden local demand and no spec
ially fortuitous circumstance to create a
city hers rs IL by magic. IL has been done
simply because it can, with imperfect facil-
tiles for reaching the markets of the coun-
try, more than rival our chief iron and coal
centers Of the-north; and with that fact ac-
cepted, what must DO the future OF a state
that has the resources TO multiply its Biz
minghams almost indefinitely