The age-herald., 1898-11-06
DETAILS OF STEEL ROD ANDWIRE MILL. Contract Has Been Let and Plans
 Made Public. OFFICERS ARE COMING HERE Are Expected to Arrive From Nashville
 This Week. PLANT WILL WORK 1000 MEN From Time Iron Ore Enters Furnaces It Will Never Be Cooled Until It
 Is Turned Out in Fin
 ished Product.
OFFICERS ARE COMING HERE
PLANT WILL WORK 1000 MEN

The details of the big steel rod and wire mill, which is to be erected at Ensley' nave at last been made public. It has been kho"n in this city for several months that this big industry, which IS to consume the en- the output of the Alabama Steel and Ship building company's big steel mill, which Is now in process of erection at Ensley, vas certain to be built, but its promoters have thought it best not to give out the details until all of the arrangements were com pletted.
 The officers of the new plant are E. T. Schuler of Chicago president; c. D. Rob- inson of Joliet, H., vice-president and gen. eral manager; and c. Ii. Schuler of Cleve- land, secretary and treasurer. The new president was treasurer of the Consolidated Steel and Wire company and was elected general manager of the American Steel and Wire company, but did not accept the position. G. H. Schuler was manager of the Consolidated Steel and Wire company s Cleveland mill, and later was in charge of the five other mills of the American Steel and Wire company but resigned the posi- ton short while ago.
 Different Organization
 The Alabama Steel and Wire company, Wiilcil IS tle udiHe OI Ine company, IS an entirely different organization from the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad com pany, and from the Alabama Steel and Shipbuilding company. It's officers have let the contract for constructing their plant to the Garrett-Cromwell Engineering company, and they will proceed with the work very much on the same plan adopted by the Alabama Steel and Shpbuilding company in the building of its mill. The contracts for grading, for laying the foun- dations, for the buildings, the boilers and for most of the heavy machinery will be sub-let to other contractors.
 The company has been given twenty acres of land by the Tennessee company just south of the steel mill between it and the brick works. The plant will consist of the rod mill proper, a machine shop, a cooperage, large warehouse for the stor- ing and shipping of the finished products. and many other buildings
 More Than 1000 Men
 The mill will employ between 12oO and 1.500 workmen, nearly every one of them being highly skilled mechanics. Not only will the mill turn out wire and steel rods but also wire nails. farming tools and vari- ous other kinds of articles which will be ready for immediate sale to the hardware merchants. great deal of the machin- cry which will be used in the manufacture of these articles, will be made by the plant itself, as soon as it gets in working order.
 With the completion of the wire mill at the same time, it is intended, with the steel mill of the Alabama Steel and Ship building company, there will be series of the most remarkable manufacturing plants in the world in operation at Ensley. The coal which Is mined only a mile or two away, will be turned into coke in the bi- product plant of the Semet-Solvay com- pany. This coke will convert the iron ore which is also obtained only a short dis tance away, into the finished basic pig iron, in the four big blast furnaces of the Tennessee company which are only about a quarter of mile from the bi- product plant.
 From the furnaces the molten iron will be taken, without cooling, in great ladies, another quarter of a mile to the steel mill of the Alabama Steel and Shipbuildng com pany, where 1t will be poured directly into the steel furnaces. There it will be con- verted into openfhearth basic steel. After it comes out of the steel mill it will be cast into billets, and while they are still red-hot they will be turned over to the wire mill which will convert the steel at once into the finished product, ready for the market From the time the iron ore is dumped into the top of the blast furnace until it comes out of the wire mill as finished product 1t will never be cooled.
 Great Reduction in Cost
 Of course. such an economic system as this must result in great reduction in the cost of manufacturing steel products This advantage, it is estimated, will make a difference of at least g per ton. The wire mill will have capacity of at least 600 tons a day, which can easily be in- creased to 300 tons if necessary
 President Schuler and General Manager Robinson are now in Nashville making some traffic arrangements with the rail- roads and will be in Birmingham within the next day or two If they begin work as promptly as did the steel mill people with their plant, it will be only about two or three weeks before the site is surxnyed and the ground broken for the foundations. The company intends having the plant in working order by June 1, 1S99