Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-19
rom these materials by the basic open

from these materials by the basic open hearth process.
 Similar conditions and difficulties at tended the operations of the small plant at Fort Payne, which was built in 1SS9-90, not to manufacture steel commercially. but for the purpose of selling town lots. Two furnaces of small capacity, ten tons each, five cut nail machines which have never been set up, two trains of rolls, one two-high 32-inch reversing with a ca pacity of over 300 tons per day (while the maximum furnace capacity is probably not over thirty-five tons per day), and one 22-inch nail plate mill, not erected, constitute the plant al Fort Payne No wonder it has not been a commercial suc- cess.
 People skeptical about the entire fea- sibility and practcability of successfully and commercially manufa curing steel in the south, and who point to the enter prises at Chattanooga and Fort Payne as monuments to doomed industry, would find quite as much justification in the claim that pig iron could not be made in the south because the blast furnaces at Fort Payne, Gadsden, Talladega, Bris- tol Clarksville and West Nashville were standing idle or completely dismantled. Blast furnaces also of small capacity and limited facilities. although located most favorably as regards contiguity of raw materials. cheap labor, etc., are also idle and unable to produce iron and come out
 
 nota bly, the Mary Pratt, William son and Vanderbilt in Birmingham. To identically the same cause and condt- tions may be assigned the idleness of what is known as the Henderson plant, near Birmingham Ala. One small fur mace of twelve to fifteen tons capacity constitutes the plant, and, while it is admirably adapted for experimental pur- poses, several of importance and with results in every way satisfactory having been conducted there, it can never be made a commercial success
 Another instance where a steel works was built for the purpose of booming a. town and selling town lots is the Watts Steel and Iron syndicate, limited, of Mid dlesboro, Ky.
 The situation at present in the steel trade Is one of great importance and in terest to the south, and one which has in- duced manufacturers and investors to look upon this as the future field of de- velopment. As before stated, the rapid growth and development of the basic open hearth process is primarily due to the superiority of it's product over that of the Bessemer As we have seen a few years ago the process was practically unknown in this country. Slowly but surely it began to encroach upon the then unmolested territory of the Besse- mer, and engineers and builders, desiring to provide themselves with metal of the greatest strength and durability, began to specify it, and once established on a firm footing it's position and relation to the trade became permanent and import ant. The question no longer exists as to both the feasibility and practicability of making steel rails by this process High carbon is required and is obtained in the same manner as in the Bessemer, 1. e., by the addition to the metal while In liquid form of Spiegelsein, the discovery of Mr. Mushet, to which reference has been made; or the Darby process may be used and the metal recarbonzed by adding pulverized coke, charcoal or other car bonaceous material.
 It has been fully demonstrated that pig iron entirely suitable for the purposes of the basic open hearth process can be produced in the south, large quantities be- ing at present manufactured in the Bir- mingham district and shipped to nearly all the large concerns in the country who have basic open hearth plants. The Carnegie company recently purchased 25,00O tons of this pig metal and shipments are today being made on that contract; also on a contract with the Granite City Steel company of Granite City, H., for 12,O0O tons, which is converted into tin plate bars and thence into tin plate.
 There is every reasonable assurance that large basic open hearth steel plant.