The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-05

ary furnaces. Tn November, 1899, large plant, consisting of ten fifty ton fur naces, started at Birmingham and is being successfully operated, using native ores, coals, limestone. dolomite and ferro manganese. The cheapening of the pro- cess of manufacture and the largely in- creased demand for open hearth steel not only brings the south prominently to the front as an iron center but also as a steel center
 The development of the Bessemer pro- cess and the discovery of the great Mes aba deposits of Bessemer ore will always give Pittsburgh and the lake cities per manent positions as manufacturers of iron and steel, both on account of their respective locations with reference to centers of population and domestic con- sumers.
 The proximity of the raw materials, the low cost at which pig iron can be made the fact that it is suitable for basic open hearth steel and the geo. graphical position as regards the mar lkets of the world will in normal times give the south an opportunity to make and market it's steel products not only at home, but, with it's splendid transpor- tation facilities for reaching the gulf and South Atlantic ports, will enable 1t to distribute It's finished products to all the countries of the world which cannot make and finish as cheaply as the south.
 Notwithstanding the fact that this sec tion Is handicapped by the other iron dis tricts of the country having lower phos- phorus ores 1t has compensating benefits that more than offset this fact. No other district in the world can assemble it's raw materials that enter Into the manu- facture of iron and steel as cheaply as the south. Take Western Pennsylvania, the greatest iron center in the world, it's fuels and fuxes are shipped from 90 to 100 miles while Its ores practically all come from Mesaba, more than one thou sand miles rail and water haul The lake cities and Youngstown. which consti- tute the second largest district. ship their fuels either from Pennsylvania or West Virginia. while their ores all come from the Vernillon. Gogebic or Mesaba ranges, The most favorable district in the south can assemble all the raw materials, coke, ore and limestone. an average rail haul of less than ten miles. It's manga nese ore less than one hundred miles.
 These great natural advantages can never be overcome. So far as the known deposits of coal and iron have been de- veloped. the south has no rival as to cost of assembling raw material This fact taken in connection with the further fact that basic open hearth steel is the coming product for all purposes, rails included, gives the south an advantage that will tell in the near future.
 Want of money, lack of technical knowledge and the fact that all the fin- ishing plants are in the north has very much retarded the iron industry in south- ern states. That day has passed. You can now get money to develop and finish in this section as cheaply as anywhere in the country for the reason that the laws of the various southern states pro- tect an investor well as in any other section of this country. This being true the south will no longer have to send It's pig iron north to be finished and shipped back to consumers. Instead of sending out as we do today 75 per cent Of our pig iron to be finished and returned to us, we will erect finishing mills and de- liver finished products to the consumer. And this is the beginning of the dawn of new era in the iron and steel bus mess in the south. Experience has estab- lished the fact that the mills Of the south can be worked a greater number or days in the year than in the north. While the summers are longer the heat is not so enervating on account of lack or hu- midity. The winters are short and mild, and frost and cold are serious factors to be considered as is the case in the north. These facts in connection with the fact that all of the materials required to make keg of nails, can be dug from the ground, assembled and converted within a radius of ten miles in less than sev- enty-two hours, are factors in the iron