The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1903-05-30
BESSEMER STEEL
At BRUNSWICK
-
"Dixie" Has Interesting
Article on the
Subject
SHOWS OUR ADVANTAGES
Distance to Brunswick and Sparrow's
Point About the Same, But
It is Easier and Cheaper
to Haul Iron Here.

In the last issue of Dixie" the
we'll known commercial publication,
we clip the following, which is of gen
eral interest to the people of Bruins
wick:
No sooner had it been practically
demonstrated that the south can man
ufacture open-hearth steel at low cost
and with perfect results, enabling it
to successfully compete with the Bes-
semer steel OF Pittsbulg, the Lake cit
les and the Maryland steel mills (and
that fact has brought Birmingham
into greater prominence as a steel
center) than practical and capital en-
terprise comes along with the an
nouncement that they will manufac-
ture Bessemer steel from foreign
ores, and open-hearth steel from
Birmingham ores at the seaport of
Brunswick. Ga, and at lower cost
than at any plant in the United
States.
The idea is more than staggering
it appears unwieldly. Yet, on the
other hand, al annylsis of the situa-
ton sheds much on the subject, and
leaves the scheme within the bounds
of possibilities.
hrin inf IF nd
industry of the country shows that
it's development has been of both pro
cess and location. Up to 1861 the
iron industry centered in eastern
l.s.ia14ylyania sbut soon aftety Dis;
moved WeStSveeIvs- " .~---s--s 'ii'
trict on account of richer deposits OF
Bessemer ores bordering on the Great
Lakes. and particular on the MesaDa
ridge The Pittsburg district being
the most available point for the as
sembling Of the ores and TIE fuel, and
fuxing materials of West Virginia and
PENNSYLVANIA in a short period 1t
became the csuter uf the American
steel industry; the ores travelling a
distance of over 1000 miles and the
fuel and fluxes from 100 to 200 miles
Other plants were established on the
lakes in order to reap the benefits
of water rates for the marketing OF
their products, and many in the inter
| ior entirely abandoned their location
to obtain such advantages.
| While this evolution was occurring
| in these eastern states, the develop
| meuts in the iron industry OF the
south, centaring at Birminham, had
practically demonstrated that pig iron
| could be manufactured there at d
lower cost than at any point on the
globe: ores, fuel and tluXing mater
ial were tapping into each other, max
ling it possible for few miles OF rail-
road to assemble every product neces
;ary for the manufacture OF lron' ano
as a result Birmingham set the marx
ct price OF the worlds pig iron
But in the meantime the rapid de
tyelopment at Pittsburg in Bessemel
steel manufacture (proving that stee
could he made cheaper than iron
threw a damper over the south's iro1
industry with the mines, foundrie'
and rolling mills began to close down
rhe experiments at Chattanooga
followed by others at Birmingham
soon relieved this tension, however
It being announced that while tn
southern ores contained too mucI
4 ohosphorus for the manufacture O
steel by the Bessemer- process, ye
ne results obtained by the opeI
,earth process were entirely success
: iul practical and satisfactory for a
| commercial demands, making it poi
!, sible. to compete with the Besseme
E reel of Pittsburg. Thereupon tn
: ron and steel industry at Birmingham
a Jegan to show signs of life NO
i birmingham has open-hearth PLAN
d producing 200 to 500 ton per day, la
ear, 1902, producing over 100000 tor
The promoters of the Brunswle
,scheme believe that Brunswick
:. more adyantageously located ths
:, sparrows Point for this purpose
u hat the distance by rail from II
/, .oal fields and influx.producing re
II ions of West Virginia and PennsylV
e ala to the chesapeake Bay a
about the same as from the coal d
1t trict of Birmingham to Brunswic
1t but in the former case the rairo
i.averses two mountain ranges WI
heavy grades, creating excessive trar
portation costs while in the latter ca
s. there are no mountains instead lig