New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-20
THE SOUTHERN IRON TRADE.
,pp,r GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY.

IRON MANUFACTURERS IN NETWORK.
The leading coal and iron men OF the South
ubo have been this city during the last ten days.
~;n 90 home to spend the Christmas holidays thor
ouchlv satisfied with the business of the year. and
more than hopeful for the future. And they have good
reason to be- The timc .or which some OF them have
been waiting for nearly twenty years. when Northern
cap;talsts would be convinced not only OF the safety
but of the immense profits to be gained from the invest
ment Of their money in developing the almost iabu-
Iously rich coal and iron resources OF Alabama,
Tennessee and Georgia. has come at last FURNACES
throur the region increasing their capacity
new furnaces building are contracted for iresh
markets are taking the product iron workers are
arranging to establish themselves in this favored
region where they can buy their material cheaper
than anywhere else on this continent; new rairoaus
are beng built and old ones extended and in short,
the BIRMINGHAM Chattanooga and Sheffield districts
are lust now enjoying poon such as no o'her
section o. the South saw since the country was
9rst set.,ed. and what IA better it is boom that
rsts on the most solid OF foundations and ia as certain
to be permanent as anything in business can me-
The simultaneous presence in this city of such men
MS General Willard Warner, president OF the Iecumseh
Iron Company at recumseh, Ala. A. NJ ShooN, Oh
Tracy Civ. Tenn, manager of the Tennessee Coal
Iron and Rail- DAD Company; Professor J. Is. kiie-
brew. formerly State Goologist of Tennessfc and
of the Alabama and Tennessee Coal and Iron
COMPANY: Mr. Parish. of Philadelphia. also largely
interested in the development OF coal ana iron
prooerties in the Southwest has afforded an oppor-
tupy TO obtain from the men most competent 10 CIV"
a. n veriicaton OF the reports made By william u.
Kelley of P.nnsylvania after his return IRON recent
visit to this favored region
General Warner Mr. Shook and Professor Killebrew
xxsre toyether AZ the Fifth Avenue Hotel on Friday
ans while the first is the authority for mos; OF the facts
md fqures given herewith his statements were all
sustained by the other two each of them volunteering
items Of information to supplement these given by
the ex-senator
9Isnoposs Won know" said General Warner, " that
there are three great centres OF coal and iron pro-
ducton in the States OF Alabama, Tennessee and
Geora.a-Birnn cham, Ala, Chattanooga. Tenn and
She field. Ala The large charcoal-iron producing
OF west Tennessee and on the line OF the Selma
Division of the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia
Railroad in Alabama subdivisions oil the man
disrict,.
The great Clinton vein of red hematite or FOSSIL
ferrous ore belonging geologcalll to the urpe
Silurian period, beginning in the State OF Newton
extends with great persistency to Birmingham Aia
there attaining its greatest thckness OF twehty-SM
feet. 1t Ia six feet thick al hising fnwl, va ne
brown oematite ores, from which all the chaTcoaroh
OF these States made, and which is also largely
used by the coke furnaces Tor mixture wth the req
lematite ores at pres mt most aIgely developed
in Alapams, along and contiguous 20 the Selma
Division OF the Ea-+ tennessee, Virginia and Georgia
Ra;lrosd and in Hickman and WAY ne Count cs. Tenn
while great deposits. vet untouched are iounu III
Franklin County, Ala. on The Iihe OF tie SheiHe!u ana
Birming CHAM Railroad now eng, rapidly out Dy
Messrs Ensley. Parish, Shook and their associates,
and elsewhere in Alabama and Tennessee. These ores,
when cesnly min d. will yield raw. that Is without
roasting expe the moisture. from * to 90 rer cent
of lion: and calcined from 90 TO 90 per cent. The
red ores are all worked raw, and yieu from Az To 40
per cent OF Ion
AN INEXHAUSTIBLE COAL SUPPLY
,rf xl,angt Ia
and covers of 5000 square miles IN Tennessee
with from one to three workable seams the best
coking seam being the Sewanee. which is 800 square
miles IN extent In Alabama it area OF 5000
SQUARE miles. embracing the Warrior. Cahawoa ana
Coosa fields, with three four workable seams each
from four to seven feet i'll thickness, aud mostly
cokiug coal OF these the Pratt scam has hitherto
furnished by far greatest amount OF coal but the
proven The production OF the Pratt mine is
800 tons a DAY, aud of the Se~an laoo tons;
Each of the subdivisions OF this great coal and iron
field has its ana coai IN close proximity ana hne
Of The oest quality for furnace purposes rs ; o
found in great abundance Lear The ore ne new cry
OF Sheffield is built lime tone bhf on the lennes-
see niver IRON ~ 10 100 feet high The cost OF tins
lime tone the furnaces is simply that OF ouariylns
Within a radius OF tive mi Diruine nam there are
inexhansule quantities of coal. iron and limestone
" What means have You Tor getting your prOuuct 10
market I" was asked OF general Warne'.
The very beet, with the certainty OF important ex-
tensions of them in the future, was the reply.
1.-Two raj roads, the Georgia Pacinc and the Memphis
field from east to vest; the Sheffield and Blrn ing
ham and the Louisville and Nashville from north TO
south The Cabawoa neld Is redche by ine I Las'
Tennessee Virginia and Georgia, and by the New
Orleans and Pacdc; and the Cocsa held by the
East and West Railroad OF Alabama; he new CITY OF
Sneinld is most avOrably situated Besides Its assIeo
railwa, connections south, north east and west, IL
stands on the bank Of the Tenne River below the
Muscle shoals The n,er is navsable to this point al
ali seasons OF the year."
What de, elopmenis have already been made in
these districts ~ &c.,,
Warner :" have included not only furnaces now in
operation but that bui ding or contracts Tor
the erection of which have actually been signed ihls
VII show better than anyth NJ else what the country
expect OF US IN the future and that, oppose Is
what readers of Tnr ,BU will be most Interested
in Then / will tell you something about what we are
actually dong now. 49,
In the B mingham district there are Il large coke
furnaces in operation BUILDING, with an estimated
capasiy for 1886 OF 10000 gross tons OF iron. The
Chattanooga district has 10 coke and Is charcoal FUR
naces, witn a capacity Tor 1oss of 92OOOo tons OF
coke IRON and 100000 tons O. charcoal IRON The
Sheffield district has large coke furnaces now D"d-
ing with a capacity Tor 1888 OF 100000 tons OF coke
iron ami 4 charcoal furnaces that will produce
annually AZ 200 tons OF iron. The total estimated
product Of iron the three States OF Alanama. len
1essee and Georgia for 1855 will he 600 gross
tons, OF winch Alabama will produce 100000 tons
Tennessee 425 900, and Georgia 5000 tons All the
coke furnaces except one are supplied Win DITCH
stoves and OF the best modern type
HOW THE INDUSTRY HAS GROWN
Can you give in brief history of the development
of the coal and ron industry in the Southwest"
General Warner could. with the assistance of his
two trends, Mr. Shook and Professor KIiebrew. And
here il 49, The pioneer the manufnc ure OF coke
iron In the South was General j. w. Wilder OF Chat
tanooga, formerly OF Indiana, who built the first coke
furnace lockwood. Tenn, in 1867, and the second
In 1872 for The hoane Iron Company These furnaces
have been successfully and prodtaby run ever SINCE
the Koane iron Company psying regular u per cent
dividends a capita, OF $lOOO.O0O. The most I'm
oortant single factor in tue iron trade OF the section
l. tie Tennessee Coal, Iron and haroad ComDany |
which lately absorbed the Pratt Coal and Iron Com
PAW, of f,irmin CHAM, Ala. The capital OF j. com
pany Is 900 600 and IL now has in operation i've
large iurnaces-two at Birmingham, Ala. two at
South PittsOurg. and Que at Cowan, Tenn ana Is
building four large new at EDsley City, near