The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-10
THE SOUTH PROspERING.
Boom for Che Birmingham Steel In
dustry-GOOd Crops.
Washington Letter in New York Mail and
Express

Washington Letter in New York Mail and
Express.
Visitors to Washington from the South
tell of improved conditions showing that
the United States. Among those in the city
is DR.. r. A. Moseley, of Birmingham, Ala.
He says:
Nature is taking hand in boosting
along the era of prosperity which has
struck the South in the vicinity of Birm-
ingham On the Fourth of July they found
brown ore in the Birmingham district,
which will prove the salvation of Ala
bama's iron industry, as it develops in un-
limited quantities and is superior in quail
ity, containing 90 per cent. of lsetallic IRON
and per cent. of silicon. Birmingham
will be able to sell iron at 81 a ton and
make a profit. That is lower than any
other iron district can produce it.
But that is only half of the good news
have been receiving from home touching
this subject" continued DR.. Moseley. ''On
Thursday of last week the new slxty-ton
mill of the Birmingham Rolling Mill Com
pany made the first run of steel by the
open hearth basic process and the result
was so stupendous that a revolution in the
cost of producing steel is but an incident.
l am Informed that the process is the
same by which the low silicon pig iron,
made in the Birmingham district of Ala
bama red ore, converted into steel at
Pittsburg and Chicago to the extent of 3d.
90 tons. j. d. Dyer, superintendent of the
Rolling Mill Company, says that the cost
of making steel at Birmingham will not
exceed $12 a ton, and may be reduced to
q
paying SIS ton for steel billets imported
from Pittsburg, to be made into the fin
ished product. 1t will mean a saving to
the Birmingham mills of from 50 to IS
ton.
EVEN at the old rates Birmingham has
sold in competition with PittSburg, and
will now invade the Pittsburg field with
steel of it's own production at ~ to 4 less
q ton allowing 81 for freight charges. The
stockholders have promptly increased the
working capital invested to $500, 900, and
wi AZ complete a
plicate Of the present steel plant, the roll
ing mill increasing its capacity to three
hundred tons a day. 1t now employs 1900
hands / am also advised that a prominent
capitalist stands ready to erect a million
dollar steel plant at short notice, and that
numerous smaller steel-consuming plants
will Immediately start up, now that the
experiments have proved the accuracy of
prediction.
of these recent developments as of as much
Importance to their section as the gold finds
in Alaska, and there is no doubt that noun
ing that has happened in decade will give
a stronger impetus to the revival of bust
ness or do more to stimulate investments
than this new discovery and the success of
my opinion and that of all informed per-
sons, to make Birmingham the steel and
iron manufacturing center OF the united
I'm the Pee Dee district. in South Caro-
lima" said Mr. r. M. Wells, of Darlington,
S. c., at the Raleigh our farmers are
making money as they never made it be-
fore, for they have learned the wisdom
that lies in the diversifying of crops. Of
late years tho tobacco crop has paid well,
and a great many people are now engaged
in cultivating the plant, which grows TO
perfection in that part of the country L
know planter intimately who used to put
in every year 1900 acres in cotton. He was
always in debt and carried a $4,000 mort
gage on his place. A few years ago he con-
Guided to change his system, so, reserving
400 acres. he rented out the remainder.
OF the land he kept for himself he devoted
800 acres to corn and 100 acres to tobacco.
Since the adoption of the new, policy he
has lifted every dollar of his obligations,
and he told me that his corn and tobacco
have annually brought him a clear profit
of So. GOO He said further that if he couldn't
rent out an acre of his place he wouldn't
put any of it in cotton, but would let it lie
idle instead.
I'm view of the fact that there is no
money in the production of cotton to the
planters in Carolina, who have to compete
with the Mississippi and Texas farmers, the
owners of lands that require no fertlizing.
il is easy to see that Our people are forced
to the cultivation of other things. In to-
bacco we have found a crop that instead of
landing our farmers in debt as cotton did,
is a source of revenue: The case | have
given is not an exceptional one, and it is
absolutely true"