The age-herald., 1898-02-12
A MOVEMENT IN
 THE IRON MARKET The Probable Result Oi Meetings of the
 HaSnateS TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION The Prime Object to Establish Uniform
 Scale Of Prices. ANOTHER MEETING WILL BE HELD A Peculiar Coincidence in Connection With the Movement Carnegie People Take a
 Hand-Another Order from
 Japan Received.
MEETING WILL BE HELD


 district has been one of great interest. The most important news of the week has, of course, been the meeting of the iron makers on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss their mutual intersts and matters affecting the iron trade.
 The details of the meeting have never been given out, but there is no doubt that the prime object was to establish a uni form scale of prices, which each manu- facturer agreed to maintain. number of operators had been cutting prices, it seems, and thus prevented any steady market and almost prevented any profit from the sales.
 The details of this agreement have not been arranged, but another meeting will be held in Birmingham for this purpose next Wednesday.
 Much interest is attached to this meet ing. Everybody in the Birmingham district is directly or indirectly interested in the price of iron, and 1t is not improbable that this meeting will result in cooperative movement among the manufacturers, which will in time carry the price up.
 It is expected that every iron furnace in the south will be represented.
 Ohio Iron Masters
 It is peculiar coincidence and one which will strike the observer as a matter of much importance, that simultaneously with the meeting of the n-makers of this city meetings have been held in different iron centers all over the United States.
 A dispatch from Cleveland, O., dated Feb. 10, says that there Was sensational story being circulated in that city that an effort was being made by the Carnegie Iron company to form a trust, controlling the entire pig iron trade of the country. Iron dealers of that city recently received communications from the Carnegie people, urging that such a deal be considered and advancing lengthy arguments to prove the benefit the trust would be to all con cerned.
 The dispatch further states that the pro- motors of the project propose to bring all the leading producers into the combine and regulate their output by giving each mem- Der of the combine an allotment. It is pro- posed to regulate the allotment by figuring on the average output of each firm during the past five years. A central selling com pany is then to be established which will handle the output of the trust, placing it in the hands of the consumers.
 The significant fact in connection with this dispatch is that Bessemer pig iron has taken big jump upward. A week or ten days ago Bessemer pig was selling at $9 ton, but the price has been forced up to $9.5O. and the Carnegie Steel company has picked up 100000 tons at that figure.
 Feeling in New York
 A dispatch from New York also dated Feb. 10. confirmed the rumor which has been for some time floating around Wall street that more settled state of affairs in the iron and steel business would soon be seen.
 It says that the manufacturers lay great stress upon an announcement that the &C., tion taken is merely "a business agree ment," whereby apparently seeking to hide the fact that the old steel rail trust is resurrected.
 t, .,-fb ct Tod hot fhn cnnfa- lives of the Carnegie and other steel com panies have been in session for several days past and the schedule of prices which they announced on the 10th will quickly put an end to the fierce competition which has existed since the collapse of the steel rail trust over year ago. The scale agreed upon and announced for steel 'T" rails at Chicago is $20 per ton for standard 3o-foot, and $22 per ton for 60-foot rails. and at Pittsburg SIS per ton for standard 3O-foot and s20 for 60-foot rails. This is an advance of from 50 cents to $3.50 per ton from the last market prices.
 Some Big Scheme Foot
 "The dispatches printed in the papers during the last few days" said gentle man indirectly interested in iron matters to an Herald reporter yesterday, "evi-. dently means that there is some big scheme on foot of much greater extent than is given out by the manufacturers assembled here this week. It is possible that the meeting of the iron men in different tions of the country may be simply strange coincidence, but to my mind it means great deal more.
 1T think that the iron manufacturers All over the country are tired of the cease- less cutting of prices, and are determined to at least maintain steady price if not to raise it. You may call this movement trust business agreement or anything else you will, but the fact remains that there is some big deal now being con- sidered How they will got around the fact the Birmingham iron is about $2 cheaper per ton than the Pittsburg pro- duct. or when this deal will be consum- mated don't know
 The Local Iron Market. The local iron market has been very steady this week. The most interesting order of the week was one received Thurs day by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail- way company for 2OO0 tons of pig from narties in Japan. This is not freak" order but one of many that is being re- ceiyed. The Birmingham district Is getting a. tremendous amount of advertising by these foreign iron shipments Nearly every newspaper is compimenting Birmingham on the shipments to Japan, Sweden and other foreign countries, besides to all parts of the United States.
 | The American Manufacturers statistics of the iron production for 1897 gives Ala hama the rank of fourth state in the union. Pennsylvania is first, with 4,631 63f tons; Ohio second. with 1372,SS9 tons; Illinois third, with 1,117.239 tons. and Alabama fourth with 947 S31 tons.