The age-herald., 1901-04-10
DEAL BELIEVED
 ID BE UNDER WAY Consolidation is Said to be a
 Certainty QUESTION AS TO THE PRICE
Absorption of Robinson and Smith Mining Companies by the Tennes- see May Be a Forerunner
 of the Other Deal.

"The statement made in the Age-H Herald of Monday that the consolidation of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Com- pany and the Sloss-Sheffield Company, together with other mineral properties in the Birmingham district, Is being hurried to completion is undoubtedly correct in the main," said a man who is himself largely interested in mineral property.
 "The price demanded by the Sloss-Shef- field Company may be s3O.ooO0OO asstated, and the offer of the Tennessee Company $25, ,000, OOO or the figures may be less. but that is of no consequence to the public If the great steel trust is watered to three times it's value, why shouldn't the Sloss-Sheffield Company be watered 10 two or three times its value? It Is no ar- gument in a big deal to say that the property of a company Is not worth a stated price. What do great combinations care for real values so long as the public will accept fictitious prices?
 'In this pending combination of vast properties in and around Birmingham the local public has got nothing to say. In a sense, 1t Is not the public's business; but whether it was, the consolidation, combl- nation, trust, or whatever 1t is called, is going rapidly to completion, and the pub lie can neither help nor hinder it.
 DenlaIs are Absurd.
 "The repeated and emphatic denials from high quarters are absurd in view of the fact that the Tennessee Company has had an eastern expert in this district for two months inspecting and investl- gating all mineral properties, and upon that experts reports has offered the Sloss- Sheffield Company a sum far in excess of it's supposed and apparent assets, probably s25. .Oo0OOO, as stated in the inter- view in Mondays Age-Herald.
 Nobody expects the high sources to admit anything until the big deal is final ly closed, which may be tomorrow or the next day-certainly within the next few weeks. But it doesn't matter The main facts have been already given in the Age Herald interview.
 And now that all the great mineral in terests of the district are virtually con solidated, let us earnestly and prayerfully hope that the new and greater company, whatever be its name, will institute two paydays for every month and let the em- ployes trade wherever they think proper. Let there be a payday regularly every two weeks"
 Is Virtually Effected.
 Another man, a large merchant who has dealings with the present great com panies, said
 "Why. the consolidation of the Tennes- see and the Soss-Sheffield Companies is virtually effected; 1t iss practically &C., complished, no matter what denials are offered from any direction. For one. am sorry of the consolidation, because I don't believe it best for Birmingham and the district, but my views may be wrong; they are certainly of no practical value.
 ''The first public step in the general consolidation was taken today when at a meeting of the board of directors of the Smith Mining Company J. R. Vail, audi tor of the Tennessee Coal. Iron and Rail- road Company, was elected secretary and treasurer, succeeding Mir. Simpson, who resigned
 This means that the Tennessee Com pany formally takes charge of the books, accounts and work of the Smith Company and the offices of that company cease to exist, as will the company itself as an industrial entity. The Robinson Mining Company is in process of undergoing sim liar absorption or obliteration. The Ten nessee Company has owned it for three years and now 1t in effect is passing out of existence. Tomorrow or on some day soon the Sloss-Sheffield Company and other concerns will go the same way. The mammoth consolidation is at hand!"