Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-08-17
SOUTHERN development.

Though the buying inclination thar
has Of late moved in the West mas no'
yet reached the Birmingham IRON ois'
trict. sellers there are expecting ".
There is a good deal of iron stacked 10
furnace yards, which buyers refuseo
on the decline of the market. mere
was little export selling done during
the week, though the outward move.
ment was considerable. Included III II
was the last shipment of $4,000 tons
sold last April and the beginning OF
the Shipment of similar amount, anu
it is reliably stated that 600 cars nave
been ordered from one railroad aiohe
to move export iron. The Birmingham
correspondent Of the Manufacturers
Record notes a general resumption Oh
activity; the steel mill has starteu
with three furnaces in blast ana lls
blooming mill at work; the output VIII
be increased as demand warrants. Inc
bar. rod and wire nail mill has also
started, and it is thought that the
plow works at Ensley will begin op- 4
erations within a few days. New Goa
mines are being opened, principally D.
local capital.
AS a matter OF fact the Hncoyern1
of minerals in the South must continI
in more lines than one. In the Ten
nessee phosphate fields the setPacRs to
mining phosphate rock due tP heavy
rain and the drift of laborers 10 other
localities where temporarily they may
secure better wages, have resulted IN
a condition described by correspond
ent of the Manufacturers Record as
follows: For the first time since the
mines were opened there will be u
heavy decrease in production against
a heavy increase each succeeding year
heretofors;i6n the autumn OF 1889 all
the ordeg Fere filled aud thc~storaga
sheds were full of rock; the miners
went into winter quarters with over
100000 tons of rock on hand to ship out
Oh winter orders. To-day the situa-
ton is entirely changed. The ship
ments have been larger in the first SIX
months of 1900 than for the correspond.
ing period of 1899. The demand Is NOT
merely steadily, but rapidly, increas-
Ing. The orders on hand for the last
half OF this year are larger than they
were for the last six months OF last.
year Already some miners have been
compelled TO ask for extensions Of
three. four and even six months on|<
their shipments, and several companies
decline to book any further ofders az
any price"
For two years fluor-spar has been
mined and shipped from the mineral
belt in CriTtenden and Livingston
counties, Kentucky, and at this<tlme
shipments are about equal to the pro7
duction. A correspondent of the Manu-
facturers' Record, detailing the opera
tions of five strong companies in inc
fields. says: 1T is estimated that tneI5
are 500 men at work in all phases q
the business, though mining is still
the initiative. New men are CO
to investigate, and, while the
abnormal rush, representatives.
tai and mining enterprise fro
mercial centres are finding then
here every week. The quantity
fuor-spar is simply iDexhaustlble, and
it is of the purest quality; the spar
lead and zinc are found in true fiS
sure veins; the veins are from SIX
thirty feet wide, and as They are ca
ried deeper lead and zinc come ~
them and the spar gradually grow
less. The separation of the lead zina
and spar has been problem Whio
until recently has retarded matter
now the problem has been solved
the use of dry air gigs, and machinef
is being erected for this purpose. vi
company is building a large and
pensive plant, and as soon az >tnls
completed the zinc and lead ores VI
be worked and deeper mining for The,
will be commenced in earnest"
Among the many building operation
under way in the South are those con-
nected with the erection of new cotton
mills or adiuncts thereto. Arrange
ments have been made for the building
of the bleachery of the Clearwater
Is. CO. Bleachery and Manufacturing
Company; the bleachery will be estab-
Iished in a 100000 building. Cedar
town, Ca, is to have a 100000 spin
ming and knitting mill; the site has
been selected, and contracts for the
building will be let within the month;
The machinery will include spindles II
manufacture yarn and knitting ma
chimes for fine underwear, daily -
pacity of 400 dozen having been
cided upon. 1t is announced tina
mill for the manufacture of cot
underwear, with a daily capacity
300 dozen garments, will be establish
at Birmingham, while a company
been organized to build knitting II
at Eastman, Ga.