The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-03-15
Alabama Consolidated Decides
on Location for Stack
WILL MAKE 200 TONS DAILY
New Furnace viii Create More Than
100000 Tons Annual Freight In
creass for the alabama
Mineral District.

New York. March 1s-(special) 1.-THE
solldated Coal and Iron company decided
today to authorize the Immediate con-
struction of new furnace at Gadsden
as duplicate of the plant now there.
The matter has been under investigation
for some time, and was practically de-
termined upon when the control of the
Alabama Consolidated company was
bought by the International Power COM
pany.
The new furnace, which win nave every
modern labor-sayng device and cost
about $4,000, will be built as rapidly as
possible, working night and day. 1t will
be paid for out of surplus funds now in
the treasury. The low estimated cost is
due to the fact that when the last fur
mace was built, the company had In
view the construction of second stack
and many features then provided ara
equal to the needs of the two stacks.
On the basis of the average earnings
during the last three years of the Ala
bama Consolidated per ton of iron pro-
duced, this new furnace will earn the
entire fixed charges on bonds and pre-
ferred stock of the company, or an
amount equal to over per cent on the
common stock The present earnings of
the company are said to be at tle rate
Of about 20 per cent on the common stock
allowing for interest on bonds, dividend
on preferred stock, etc. In b,ilding this
new furnace the company IS simply carry
ing out the plans long ago formulated by
President Bush to develop its iron out
al 4ts.t III
sources of coal and ore.
Improvements at Gate City.
Further Improvements to be made by
the company In connection with the de-
velopment of its Gate City properties at
birmingham will be announced shortly.
The company In addition to supplying the
raw material to Its present furnaces Is a
large seller of coal, coke, iron ore and
limestone In the open market, and IL has
sufficiently developed its output of these
to provide for all the requirements OF
the new furnace. With this furnace COM
pleted the Alabama Consolidated COM
pany's output of iron will. II is claimed,
exceed the production of the southern end
of the Republic Iron and Steel company.
Owing to the fact that so large a propor-
tion of the iron output of Alabama now
goes Into steel making and kindred indus
tries at home that state now .-as less
Iounury iron Tor the open market than
five years ago and with the enormous
growth Of the iron industry :. IS abso-
lutely necessary to greatly increase the
production TO supply the ever-growing de-
mand.
The Importance to the railroads of the
development of the iron interests in the
south Is shown in the fact that count
ing the coke, ore, limestone and iron
handled, this new furnace will create an
nj lalt tu af afoh
and increase the freight traffic of the
Alabama Consolidated company to nearly
100000 tons year, as compared with
100000 tons for 12,O00000 bales OF cotton.
The entire Alabama coal ane iron district
now furnishes about 900 tons year
of mineral traffic, which Is rearly seven
times as much as 100000 tales & cotton.
though, OF course, the haul on the min
eral traffic Is much shorter than on cot
ton.