The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-28
AN OBJECT LESSON
IN WILLS VALLEY
Great Modern Iron Blast Fur
mace at Battelle
IDEAL PLACE FOR THE PLANT
Human Labor Gives Way to crsvlta-
ton and Compressed Alr-coal and
Iron Ore Close Together.
Some Reflections.
BY FRANK V. EVANS.

ton and careful study of the great natur-
al wealth of Wills valley disclose won
derful conditions in this highly favored
section of Alabama. for it does seem that
Providence bestowed more wealth upon
this peculiar spot than was allotted to
most of the other parts of the inhabita-
BILE globe. The salubrious atmosphere,
the gorgeous mountin scenery upon each
side, and the fertile soil have been mem
toned In previous letters, and now l shall
write briefly but especially of the min
eral resources and Of some of the great
mining and manufacturing concerns
which are making a busy hive of indus
try from Alfalfa to the Georgia line.
At Battelle.
Your correspondent finds himself at
Battelle. about one hundred and eight
miles northeast from Birmingham on the
Alabama Great Southern railroad, and
near the head of Little Wills valley,
where It narrows down toward sharper
point and where Lookout mountain on
the east and Sand mountain on the west
cast their shadows upon a valley scene
forming an ideal spot for the very use
to which It has been recently applied
the site of a modern iron belt furnace
which within few weeks will be ship
ping its product to the markets of the
world.
This is the work of the Lookout Noun
tain Iron company, an association of
wealthy and practical iron manufacture
ers, who fully appreciate the value of
location and whose experience has taught
them how to minimize the cost of produce
ton. This company capitalized at 81 Co.,
000 has for its president John G. Bat
telle of New York; vice presidents, Frs
kline Ramsay and G. B. Mccormack of
Birmingham, who are large stockholders.
Also James Bowron of your city Is one
of the prime movers and largely in
terested director In the enterprise
Charles E. Bowron is the general super
intendent and Joseph F. Stems secretary
and treasurer. These men are we'll known
to the industrial world as developers, and
their wisdom led them to this place as
an ideal locality for the most economical
manufacture of iron.
Strong Position.
With vast mountain of red iron ore
to the west, brown ore nearby, and with
a rich vein of coal on top of Lookout
mountain to the east; with bold steam
of water passing through the valley,
with forests OF timber upon each side,
and with limestone on the hillsides, all In
juxtaposition, making no nau;age of raw
material necessary, 1t will be seen how
well the choice has been made of a loca-
ton for blast furnaces. This coal is said
to contain 70 per cent of pure carbon and
Is adjudged to be in quality ror coking
equal to that of any in the whole coun-
try. The iron is said to contain a
sufficient quantity of lime to render I'M
necessary the application of limestone for
fuxing
1reat Plant.
| The furnace has capacity of 200 tons
| per day. 1t Is of the most modern make
| The furnace stack Is Sc feet, has four
| stoves 2xS0. and a cast house 70x24O feet
| 1t is complete in all parts. and the auto
matte arrangements Of the whole will
| n ini!nize the cost of labor to degree
nsver before seen In this section. Your
'rrespondent is told that only three men
are to be used in charging the furnace on
e0ch shift, and that there will be a saw
| ing of the labor of about fifty men at
| this plant below the usual number en-
| polyed at the furnace of the district less
modern in construction.
| The superintendent explains that the
| large size of the covered cast house 70x240
| feet. Is for the purpose of sheltering the
| pig iron until itsgradualy cools, and that
| in this manner the product becomes a
| grade CT more lighter than 1t is In the
usual yard or outdoor storage.
| From this cast house the iron Is to be
placed directly upon the railroad cars, as
the house is well above the tracks and
well supported by a substantial stone
wall. This arrangement saves the expense
OF handling the iron more than once which
will prove quite an item of saving.
Laborsaving Devices.
But the most novel and, to the layman,
| the most wonderful arrangement about
| this great plant and its operation is the
! APPLICATION of compressed air and the util-
izatfon of gravitation power, also the
| almost total disuse of steam. From the
iron mountain side the cars rush I'M
manned down through a seven-hundred
| foot tunnel across a high trestle and
4 dump themselves into the stockhouse
From the coal mines on the east In like
| manner run the coal cars to the Triple
at the coke ovens and there deliver the
product unaided by any force save gravi-
! tation.
A great power house. where motors are
hourly generating the electric current is
special feature of the plant The old
| time mule is hardly in evidence here and
! 1t would seem that his days as a factor
| In manufacturing industries are number
! ed and that he must soon return to his
! natural place in the cotton and the corn
| fields. Here electricity lights the way
furnishes the power by trolley for the
dump cars, and congresses the air which
forces the empty cars back to the
| mouths OF the mines. runs the drills, and