Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-04
SOME VALUED STATISTICS
By Hon. W. D. Kelley and Col
 A. K. Mcclure
ON THE COAL AND IRON ORE
Of Birmingham District Which Are Worthy of Perusa By the Congressional Commit
 tee En Route to Washington.

After the astonishment expressed yes
 terday by the visiting members of the
 rivers and harbors committee at the
 magnitude and rich character of the re-
 sources of this Birmingham) district,
 they saw upon their trip, the State Herald
 is pleased to call their attention to the
 following regarding the richness of Bir-
 minghams Red Mountain ore and coal
 district from the late Hon. Wm. D. Kel-
 ley, member of congress from Pennsylva-
 mia, years ago:
 "A very large part of the south is
 blessed with climate unexcelled, if
 equalled elsewhere, in the world. As to
 the mountain region of the south, it is richer in natural wealth and in ad- vantages for the development of that
 wealth; it has finer climate, better wa
 ter and higher conditions of health than
 any region of which I have any knowl- edge. and is witfal, one of the most beau tiful regions in the world, and nowhere,
 other things being equal, can iron be made cheaper than here"
 As to how the development in the man. ufacture of iron here in the south is draw ing the attention of the public in the
 northern states, the following from a Pennsylvania newspaper will doubtless interest the committee, as also the general publie:
 Slavery limited the south to one voea- tion, agriculture and the war and eman- cpation impoverished the planters of that section. With the close of the war the south was bankrupt, it's credit de- stroyed, its plantations fenceless, often without buildings, and invariably without working force. Slavery had rendered all other forms of industrial develop | ment in the south impossible, and the war, instigated by slavery, not only wiped out slavery but ruined the single industry to which slavery had limited the country.
 The war did not destroy any of the great national wealth of this section, however and with slavery out of the way, 1t became possible to open the coal mines of the south, establish blast Iur- naces to manufacture southern ore Into pig iron, build factories to manufacture southern cotton and to turn the south's immense forests of valuable timber into merchantable lumber. There were knotty social, political and economic questions | to be solved, requiring some time, or course, but these are in gradual pro- | cess of solution and 1t has come to pass l that within thirty years of the close of | the war the south has not only been | recognized as the most inviting field for | the investment of capital in industrial de- | velopment, but that in a period of great | industrial depression it is the one section l that is making progress all the tune. l TWO SLdllStltdl TtpOllS Oul Oi iiohJ n' VI | worth quoting in proof of this fact. The | production of pig iron for 1896 in the l United States was S623127 tons, a de l crease of 823 1S1 tons from the year 1885 l Of this amount the south, in which there l was scarcely blast furnace at the close l of the war, produced 1884, ,451 tons, an in- | crease of 132 GOO tons over 1895. The whole 1 country showed a heavy decline in pig | iron production for the year, but the south made a distinct gain. The bank clearings tell the same story. The clear | ings of the second week in January in the whole south as compared with the cor responding week one year ago, show | gain of 6 per cent, while the middle states show decrease of 2A, the middle western a decrease of nearly 111s and the Pacific states a decrease of 1-3 per cent. Only New England of the entire north showed any increase at all. and it's | increase was less than that of the south These figures are well worth the care | ful consideration of northern capitalists | seeking new investments" s"-Philadelphia | Times, Feb 2
 | Far seeing gentlemen like Congress- man Kelly have for years been calling | the attention of investors and iron and steel manufacturers to these most ex | cellent resources and the following from l a speech of Col A.. K. Mcclure, (of the | Philadelphia Times). delivered in 1895, regarding the resources of the (Birmng- | ham) district:
 Col. Mcclure said in 1885, 'It is the most inviting iron field on the continent, with a coal trade in the near future that | will be bounded by the coal ports of the world