The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24
Rail Mil VIII Have Capacity of One Thousand
 Tons Per Day
| U MABEN
 TALKS ABOUT THE PLANS
Ground Will Probably Be Broken at North Birmingham for Steel Plant and Furnaces to
 Cost $2,oooooo.

The unprecedented prosperity of the Birmingham district will 1t is said. re- suit in one or more new steel plants be- ing erected here within the next few months.
 Fully three years ago the Sloss-Shef- field Steel and Iron company began to consider the question of building large steel plant at North Birmingham. The company has been growing financially stronger ever since MT. J. c. Maben took the presidency and 1t Is probable that ground for a steel rail mill with capacity of 1000 tons day will be broken some time during the coming year
 The Wall Street Journal says;
 New York End
 within another year the Sloss-Shef- field Steel and Iron company may bo ready to make steel rails by the open hearth process from the Alabama ores. Informal discussion of the expediency of entering this field of the industry has not gone far enough to develop the gen eral feeling, but it is certain the matter will later be taken up formally
 "One plan suggested Is the concentra- ton at North Birmingham of the four local blast furnaces of Sloss- Sheffield and the construction of a steel rail mill to be operated conjointly. This would insure economy of operation and would proba- bly, bring the net profits from rails above s14 per ton.
 ''The strongest argument advanced by tho advocates of the rail mill Is that IL would enable Sloss- Sheffield to turn prac- tically all it's pig iron production into finished material. This would insure to the company the additional profit from conversion.
 ..lt has been demonstrated to the satis- faction of the iron and steel makers or the south that their former policy or sending away their Iron and steel in a partly finished state is not good one. It gives to outsiders the greatest per centage of profit and prevents the rapid development of the southern field
 .'The sloss-Sheffield is likely to follow the example set by it's competitor, Ten nc ssee Coal and Iron, and enter the rail trade next year"
 Mir. Maben Talks. Mir Maben's attention was called to the Wall Street Journal article yesterday. lie said: Tt is true that the Sloss-Snef- field company intends to build steel rail plant at North Birmingham some day and this enterprise is probably not far in the future. The Journal is wrong if it thinks we are going to move our two city furnaces to North Birmingham. We intend to let furnaces No and No. 2 remain on First avenue but when we build the steel mill we will erect two ad- ditional blast furnaces at North Birming- ham,"
 Estimates have been made for steel rail plant, such as the Soss-Sheffield is protecting, to cost $1, ,275,O The company Is now able to build such a plant with out borrowing a dollar The two new furnaces would cost about SO0,000. Tn most cases the development of additional coal and ore mines necessary to supply a modern blast furnace is counted as a big part of the cost, but the Sloss-Shef- field has new coal properties already deyeloped It's Bessie mines in the northern part of Jefferson county recent 1y opened will soon be turning out 200O tons a day.
 The Sloss- s-Sheffield company now owns six furnaces and another at Sheffield which it controls makes seven. With two new stacks at North Birmingham the company would operate nine furnaces.