The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-05
LORENCE- SHEFFIELD
 MINERAL DISTRICT
Second in the State in the Production of Iron Brown Henatite Ores of the
 Finest Quality.

years, making four or five tons a day.
 In 1880 1t was leased to the Napier Iron
 Company, remodeled and It's capacity
 increased to twelve tons a day. This
 furnace made cold blast car wheel iron
 and was operated three years. The
 furnace was rebuilt and is now q scoko,
 furnace, with 2 capacity of fifty tons per
 day. It is connected with the N. F. and
 s. Railroad by the branch railroad seven
 and half miles long. The forty-eieht
 mile furnace and forge was built on Forty-eight Mile Creek in Wayne County
 in 1843 by Mir. Fargason, and was operat-
 ed up to 1858 Marion furnace, located
 two miles above Clifton. was built in 18lS
 by Mir. Walker and operated eight years.
 Van Lear furnace on Shoal Creek in
 Lawrence County was built if 1Sl6 and
 abandoned In 1858. Shannon furnace In
 Decatur County on the Tennessee River
 was built by Cheatham and Goliday in
 1858. Brownport furnace was operated
 from 1s4S to 1880 and in 1887 1t was re-
 modelled by Mir. Young of Cincinnati, and
 operated as a hot blast furnace up to
 1880. La Grange furnace in Stewart
 County was built in 1854 by Cranford and
 Matthews and operated until the war.
 In 1867 Gladden. and Garrett of Hanging
 Rock, Ohio, remodeied this furnace and
 made sixteen tons a. day with hot blast,
 operating it until 1880. The Southern Iron Company, afterwards operated this furnace, but it is now idle. Tho Clarke, Eclipse and Cedar furnaces in Stewart and Perry Counties were operated at this time as well as several furnaces further down the river in Kentucky. So much for the early history of iron mak- ing in the Tennessee Valley, long since abandoned The old plants remain as relics in striking contrast to the growth of the iron industry of today. These crude furnaces were successfully operat- ed up to the panic of 1873 and all opera tions from that time to 1880. when they were finally abandoned, was disastrous to the owners as they could not compiets with the modern furnaces then being built in the North.
 One Generation of Iron Makers
 It has been truly said that 1t takes q generation to educate and develop a country of iron makers. Birmingham has reached her majority and has long since become a postmaster in the art of iron making and today dictates the price of iron in the markets of the world. If you would know the price of iron in Japan or Russia. first ascertain the price of iron in Birmingham and add the freight and you have 1t. The Florence Sheffield district while not dictating the price Of iron.4 yet plays an important part in the production of pig iron and the. furnaces at Florence and Sheffield ship direct to all parts of the world. Last
 month the sloss-shefield Company ship
 ped ten thousand tons from their yards
 in Florence and an equal amount from
 Shefiie1d. large part of which was ship
 ped via the Gulf and Atlantic ports for
 foreign export. ss 1A
 Tennessee Ore Mines.
 The Tennessee ore comes from the smith mines, new bank sopaned last, year which Is owned by the United be one of the richest and largest deposits in the Tennessee district. It isr located on a spur of the N. F. and s. R. R. known as the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad, seven and half miles long. The United States Iron Company also owns the property known as the old West Point Mining Company, which is. miles north of Florence. These minss are very rich in high grade brown ore which averages from f to 52 per cent. mstallic iron. J. w. Bledsoe is manager interests of the United States Iron Com pany in this district. The capacity of these mines is from 12.000 to l5.0Oo tons per month.
 The Pinkney Mining Company at Pink ney. Tenn., several miles north of West Point. is owned and operated by Messrs. H. B. and Vance Mccormick, Pennsyl-& & finally owned by J. c. Mccianahan and has been operated for the past twelve years most successfully. The steam shovels are now digging on the third exhaustible. at least for years to come. Daniel King, an old Pennsylvania iron man who came south in 1890 to put the Philadelphia furnace ip blast. is in which Is 12,O00 to 15.000 tons per month. The ore of these three mines is shipped to Florence and Sheffield and to the El-sl FNzw. NIr.sf vile, Tenn. The mines use up-to-date and most modern improvement in ma- chinery in mining and washing the ore, and the result is a splendid high grade ron, which is unusually free from sul> phur. This district is capable of supply Ing much larger quantities of ore when additional machinery Is added. and new banks are opened The United States Iron Company has in the past few years bought extensive properties In the Rus sellville district and a valuable tract of , 're land in Colbert County, twelve miles east of Tuscumbia. which may reason- ably be expected to be developed at some lime in the near future. if reports are j true The company, recently considered he a Sadyisability of erecting two furnaces 1t Sheffield or Florence, and went so far IS to decide on the location of the plants. The United States Iron Com pany Is new competitor of the Sloss- apd Railway Companies. It's president. dr. Eidenbaum, is a director of the American Steel Company, He Is an old and experienced iron man. and Is de- .ermined to enter the Alabama field and las selected the North Alabama district IS the most favorable for the production )f high grade iron at the lowest cost.
 RusseAville Ore District
 The Russellyille ore district is eighteen niles south of Sheffield. and is consid- cred by experts more extensive and in arger pockets than the Tennessee ores AS an illustration we mention the mines low owned and being operated by the 'kirts of Russellviile. and in sight of the ailroad depdts The company is now mining ore in a hill that Is a mile long, ind 1t is variously estimated to cSntain rom 500OO.1o to 100.000,tQ0 tons Of orc, which will last the lifetime of the pres ield Company has the largest brown ,re mines in the world at Russellville and turing the month of October mined 21 GOO ons of ore. The company, employs bout 800 men. and uses four washers. even steam shovels to dig ore, eight linkey engines and innumerable ore lump cars for hauling the ore from the hovels to the washers. The mines arc operated from various. radiating drifts md the little net work of tracks reminds me of the intramural railroad at the Worlds Fair with its constant stream of trains of empty and loaded ars. switching and shifting from place O place, A visit to these brown ore hines Is an interesting and wonderful fight, and is a revelation to a laymau nd we'll worth the trip. The employees rom the chief engineer and supertntend- mt, including the office force and day aborers, is as large as regiment, and i've In all styles of comfort from the ompany's quarters to the huunbiest cot- ages of tnessdollar a day hands Ina