Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-26
Psbug Pttsburg

time here. He is a man of wide eXperi- ence in the business world, and his ideas carry great weight. lie was tor eight years president of a national bank in
 Nashville, and has occupied other posi-
 tiOnS of trust. lie is most genial gen
 Lleman and when the days duties are over and he converseS with his fri=nds in the hotel lobby, a large number Of inter- esUed listeners gather around. lie IS in
 close touch with the leading business m=n of the nation ana what he says is not mere suppositon. He is himself a nov
 ing factor in the great development if
 thlS district. To the attentive listener
 his conversations are as valuable as university course. MT Baxter and Col. Shook are to the complex machinery ot
 the company what the governor IS to the
 engine. Col. A. M. Shook makes pro-
 longed visits to Birmingham, but has not
 yet concluded to move his family here.
 I1is son, Mr. Paschal Shook, makes this
 his home, and is prominent in the busl-
 ness and social circl5s. Col.
 Shook IS almost as thoroughly
 identified as if he Were resident.
 lie is president of the electric sureeIt railroad company, is member
 Of the Commercial club, and feels deep interest in everything that affects Bir-
 IIingham He has infinite faith in the
 future of this city
 The iron of the Tennessee company is now attracting worldwide attentiont and
 the name of MT. James Bowron is closely
 connected with the iron interests He IS Birmingham's Bismarck-a man of
 ''iI,on and of blood" He is English by
 birth, but an American by adoption and a
 coSmopolite by nature. He is a perfect
 treaSure-houSe of information to the
 newspaper reporter; he takes a bright
 view of things, and a newspaper man is
 by training optimistic. MT. Bowron is
 not unlike an editor, for as the editor
 sits near the telegraph wire reaching to
 all parts of the world, so he sits at his
 desk and receives letters from every
 civilized country clamoring for iron. MT.
 Bowron is a linguist of skill, or he could
 not translate these letters. His stenog
 rapher is also a inguiSt, and MT. BowrOn
 IS not SO ungallant as the war depart
 ments which excluded a lady because she
 could talk i'm six different languages.
 MT. Bowron has written and talked so
 much about the Birmingham district that
 we all feel under lasting obligations to him. When the Alice furnace last year
 made basic iron from which steel was
 made, it was MT. Bowron who pointed out
 the unlimited advantages that would accrue from this achievement. Already we see the situation is being graSped by
 the Birmingham Rolling mill, which is
 building steel plant in 200 yards of the Alice furnaces Some months ago Mr. Bowron published am article in which he said: 1.-The chief direction in which our efforts should be united is to impress
 upon the producers of basic open hearth
 steel the advantage to accrue to them
 from the consumption of our metal at
 the point of production, where, if desired,
 it can be furnished hpt.''
 The shipment of pig iron abroad by
 the Tennessee company has attracted at tention in every civilizel land. In 1895 the company shipped 2,69S tons, and in the past ten months it has sold about 75,000 tons. That Birmingham can sell iron in England is the eighth wonder of the world. It is done by virtue of our natural resources. The ore that is smelt- ed at Ensley furnace lies under Red mountain, from which the fires of the furnace can be seen. Its transportation to the furnace is only six miles. The ore that Carnegie uses at Braddock, near Pittsburg, is brought to the lakes dis tance of fifty miles, by rail, travels thence 1000 miles over the lakes, thence loaded again on cars at Cleveland, O., it comes 150 miles more before it reaches it's des- tination on rail. The Carnegie ore must travel over 1,200 miles, as against six
 miles for the Ala abama ore. The coal to operate the Ensley furnace lies under heath them, and the dolomite is within a. stones throw. Thus the tons of mate rial entering into the production of a ton of pig iron, being multiplied by the num- Der of miles over which they are carried, represent at Pittsburg, Pa., nearly 2,000- | ton miles and around Birmingham only | from 15 to 50-ton miles, This marvellous | concentration of these three commodi- l ties of raw material has made this dis l trct alone produce in year over 4,00O,- l GOO tons of coal and over S01, 900 tons | of iron. Thus it is seen how Birmingham m l undersells the world. The freight on a l ton of iron to Pensa cola is about $1 a l ton,, and when it reaches that point 1t | is $2.50 ton below English iron. The Birmingham iron can pay freight of
 more than $9 a ton and then undersell all | other countries. Not only have we nat
 ural advantages but we have made great | improvements in furnace methods. The | total cost of production is now less than | the cost of the raw materials five years | ago.
 | The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad | company, with its furnaces coal mines, l ore mnes coke ovens, railroads, etc., l giving employment to thousands of men, | is the prime factor in the development of l the Birmingham district.