New-York tribune., 1895-02-11

castiron pipe, railway mechanism. and small
castings: and there bridge works chain ana
tool factories. stove foundries and many other
| establishments. Apart from the iron ana coal
! industries. there are cotton factories. Touring
mills breweries. and various other manufactures
Birmingham is something more tnan DOOM
| town" where real estate speculation has COL
lapsed The foundations of its prosperity nave
| been built upon the rock and will not be shaken
by the shrinkage and upheavals OF commercial
| depression.
Thomas Seldom. Of the Soss Iron and Steel
COMPANY is n Virgnian by birth. a son or the
ex-Confederate Secretary Of War. and man OF
| sagacty and energy He told me that his COM
| pany was employing force OF 2,4OO men In
mines and furnaces. running its works at so per
cent Of the capacity making from $50 to 500 tons
Of iron daily, and selling its product fairly well,
with orders ahead for three months. With three
furnaces in full blast and running steadily. Mr..
Seldom, while a strong Protectonist. was not
prepared 20 assert that the German tariff had
ruined the iron industry directly. although the
demand for pig iron had been lessened by the
| general paralysis of business. I'VE can do busi-
! ness under the tariff. he said III We can
! have a market for our goods. The iron industry
| Is always the first to feel panic and the last
to recover from 1t. Iron is now very low: but
we are making 1t more economically than II can
| be produced elsewhere. The labor in the mines
is white of all nationaties. and very trouble
| some. owing to the unions. Governor Jones's
| action was decisive in preventing riots last sum-
mer The manufacturers here are strong Pro-
| tectonists but they must have the laws en-
forced in the mining districts by Governor who
! will maintain public orde,. In furnaces
| have negro labor manly and have no trouble
with 1t. 1t is cheaper hut less efficient. than
| Northern labor We have no Bessemer in
| Alabama but We have iron. coal and limestone
close together. and with our large pg-ron plant
| this is a tremendous advantage all compet-
| itors"
G.. b. Mccormack. general manager of the
Tennessee Coal. Iron and Railroad Company.
| talked in a similar strain. asserting that busi-
! ness had slowly revived in Birmingham since the
collapse Of the reai-es,ate boom. that a full
| force employed in the company's mines and
! furnaces. and that the pig iron Of Alabama was
| sold mainly To Northern factories. whe-e II was
converted into various manufactures The pres
! ent tariff would not destroy the p.g-iron indus
| try. provided it did not deprive manufacturers
| Of a general market through the continuance Of
commercial depre ssion. Colonel Cornelius Cadle,
| OF the company. remarked that Birming-
| ham was running too much to pig iron. and
/
raw ma terial into finished products. steel could
be made there, although not by the Bessemer
process. and the iron manufactures OF the town
would be multiplied. diversified and greatly de-
| veioped In the course OF few years T. ii. Al
| drich and other pioneers OF the industrial prog
| ress Of Northern Alabama spoke in the same
| hopeful zone.
| The representatives Of the rongm mills and
| foundries were more disheartened than the pig
| Iron manufacturers. They complained that busi-
ness very bad. that they were adding -
their stock every day withou, finding a market
| for IL. and that Il was necessary for them 20
| shut down now and then IN order 70 avoid get
| ting too far ahead Of consumption. All these
| manufacturers. like IN. owners Of cOal mines
and timber tracts IN Alabama. are strong advo-
| Gates Of the Nicaragua Canal. and of any com
| mercial policy which Will open new foreign mar
| kets for American exporters
| ID, NJ FOrker. representing the Alabama ROlilg
NH said to me: I'VE had promising trade
| with Cuba. which was nipped by The collapse ~
the Reciprocity arrangements. We roll iron In
| all sizes and had started business with half a
dozen Cuban jobbers 1t went IN for eight months
and orders were increasing. with prompt pay
ments. and everything IN a satisfactory way. We
were shipping by way # Pensacola. and were
| learning what they wanted We were selling
manufactured iron. in pace Of English. German
| and Spanish iron Wher 1he trade was amount
ing to $4,000 or $50 900 wear the treaty arrange
| ments were abrOgated. md lost IL entirely.
the jobbers being compelled to cance! their ord
ers. in the same way the Cahaba coal was
| shipped from Birmingham 10 Cuba. Arrange
ments had been made for docking and trans
| shipping 1t at Pensacola. and 1t was promising
| to be a large trade when the Reciprocity agree
| ment was suspended by the passage " the Cor
| man tariff. The Louisville and Nashville Railway
shipping a large amount Of -four through
Alabama TO Cuba. and that trade has been bro
ken up by the coap pse Of the Reciprocity pocy.
A Birmingham machine and foundry establish
ncnt furnishing sugar machinery 10 LOuisI-
ana planters at the rate Of $4,000 year. but
orders for $4,000 or $4,000 were cancelled when
the German bin was cracted.'
The importance attached by manufacturer
to a single foreign market dscoses the In
terest which Is felt in the South In the develop
ment Of the export trade With the prices of
Of profit is very narrcw and the only hope OF the
manufactures lies in the enlargement Of his mar
ket abroad. Pg-iron manufacturers are pre-
dieting that they will soon undersell English
and German iron in the markets OF the world.
and II American trade does not revive they
will have to look abroad for consumers With
a production OF 100000 tons per annum to be
worked off, and with railway building suspended
and no considerable increase in demand at home
except for structural ron for foundations OF
buildings, and bridges and cast-irOn water ana
will be profitable either In Birmingham or any
where else. 1t is a larger home market, with
an increased demand for American iron from for
eign countries that Is the burden OF every manu-
facturers hopes. cheerfuly as ne may talk OF the
present situation.
Brminghams past IS boom town Is De-
hind It, Its future as the most favored centre or
iron production in the South Is before IT, ana me
extent OF it's prosperity will depend. In great
measure. upon the facility and success win
which Its iron be converted into steel by
basic processes already employed to large ex-
tent In England France and Germany That is
the chief problem with s now confronting the
leaders OF industry In this wonderful AIaDama
town. and the best experts believe that IL VIII
be solved. l. ~ r.
New-York. Feb. .. 1895.