The age-herald., 1899-07-23
Review of the Iron Conditions of the
 District. IRON SLOWLY CREEPING UP No. 1 Sold As High Ks $i6.OO Per 4a7iaa57 Ton. i1E BRADSTREETS DISTRICT REVIEW Old Orders the Companies Have to Sup- ply Are Decidedly Unpleasant,
 But the New Business is Be-
 ginning to Be Felt
BRADsTREET'S DISTRICT REVIEW

gently about the iron furnaces of Alabama, those that are in blast and those that are to be put in operation by the big companies that are scooplng up the idle stacks, that an exact statement of the condition of all the furnaces in the state will not be un- interesting.
 Not eountaing two or three charcoal fur naces, there at present about thirty-sX fur naces in the state, in addition to the two furnaces at Fort Payne which are being dismantled and removed to other states. Of this number, there are twenty-one in blast, or twenty-two counting the Ironaton furnace just now going out.
 The Tennessee company now has thirteen of it's furnaces in blast; the Alice furnaces In Birmingham, three at Ensley, five at Bessemer, one at Oxmoor, and two at Shef- field. It has three idle furnaces, one each at Ensley, Oxmoor and Sheffield. These figures do not include the company's Ten nessee furnaces, nor the fifth furnace which is now being erected at Ensley.
 The Sloss company has all four of it's fur naces in blast two in Birmingham and two at North Birmingham. This company is said to have recently closed a deal where " AN 5NtS SOHllOl Ol tllIe0 luIUdceS III north Alabama, all of which are idle They are the Lady Ensley and the Hattie Ensley fur naces at Sheffield, and the Philadelphia fur mace at Florence These three furnaces have been owned by separate corporations.
 Review of the Companies
 The Woodward Iron company now has both of it's furnaces near Bessemer in full blast.
 The Pioneer company, now part of the Republic Steel and Iron company, has both of it's furnaces at Thomas in blast.
 The Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron company has three furnaces, one of which at Ironaton, is just now going out of blast for repairs, and two idle furnaces, the Mary Pratt furnace in Birmingham, and the furnace at Gadsden.
 The Vanderbilt furnace, near Birmingham is now almost ready to go in blast again, having been put in condition by the Tut wiler company and preparations are being made to repair the furnace at Talladega, by another company
 In addition to the above, there is the Will Hanson furnace in BirminghanT the one at Trussville Attalla, and the two Wood stock furnaces at Annston, all idle. All are owned by different parties and efforts are being made to sell nearly all of them to the larger companies, but so far no act i've steps have been taken toward making the necessary repairs for putting them in blast.
 Only two of the idle furnaces mentioned above, those at Ensley and Oxmoor have been in blast recently, and they are now out for repairs. When they go in blast again it is probable that they will take the place of furnaces now in blast, going out for repairs. All the others have been out for years and with two or three exceptions it will take number of months to get them in condition again.
 Output from the Furnaces
 The output from the furnaces now in blast is not as large as it might be, owing to various causes, such as the unsklled la- bor that has been put to work at many of the coke ovens and furnaces and other causes. During the month of June there were twenty-three furnaces in blast in AL abama and Georgia, and their total output was 21.550 tons per week, BOTS tons ! day, which is an average of nearly 134 tons only per day for each furnace. These fig ures are official
 In the meantime while all the prepara- tions for putting new furnaces in blast is going on, the price of iron is climbing slow ly but surely upward. None of the compa- nies have any regular quotations but sell for the best price they can get, according to the quantity and the time it is to be de- livered. Some sales have been made for as much as $16 per ton for No 1, and other grades in proportion. The price on No. 1 may be said to range from $15 to SIG These figures offer quite a contrast to the $725 per ton. which No. was bringing just one year ago.
 The following review of the commercial and industrial conditions in the Birming- ham district was compiled and written by Manager Lovejoy of the Bradstreet Agency in this city, and was published In Brad streets yesterday morning:
 up to March deliveries of pig were be- ing made at old prices. and only since then have the majority of the furnaces been re- cevipg the benefits of the general improve ment inaugurated in the latter part of 1898 and even now some old contracts hang oyer which. together with q fifty-cents raise in the freight rates. effective July 20 and about 40 per cent increase in wages to em- ployes. makes them decidedly unpleasant to complete. producing. as they do. net loss of s1.50 to S2 per ton.
 LaFg est in History
 However new orders at the prevailing prices more than offset the above condi- lions and leave good profit to the producer. Sales of pig iron are larger for the past six months than ever in the history of the business in Alabama. This was made pos stble only by the large stocks in the war rant yards.
 .Statistics show July the total amount of pig iron in Alabama to have been 47, 900 tons divided between the warrant yards, g 900 tons, and furnace yards, 15,000 tons. | These amounts are being continually re- l duced. Local consumers of pig have con- siderable difficulty with the furnaces in de- l liverlns.
 "Before the fall is ended all of the fur naces in Alabama. with the possible excep- | ton of two some of which have been idle | for ten years, will be in blast. This will be l brought about by combination of charcoal 1 furnaces being converted into coke. togeth- 1 CT with idle furnaces under the style of the | Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron com | pany, and the purchase of additional idle | furnaces by the Tennessee and the Sloss