The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-11
BoWron's Address.

Mir. Bowrons a 1'.css on the vdriou5s features of the district, delivered just be- fore the trip to Shades muontain, is re- garded as singular, ableiand illuminative. It was discussed throughout the journey to Shades mountai.
 Introducing Charles Carroll Brown of Indianapolis, Mir. Bowron said in part:
 MT. l3owron opened his remarks by saying that 1t was always a pleasure to speak lc men accustomed t1 think.
 a"Birmineham 7" he saio. 'Is as well ad- vertised as any city in the country. Other cities are advertised for their specialties, but these speciilties are liable to change in location, and that is not true of the specialres of Birmingham. This district is fixed by nature as the seat of manu- facture of pig iron. This Is not due to us who live here, others have greater skill and capital. They cannot. however, get what the Lord mas given us It has been calculated that the average ton mileage in the northern pig iron district is 150 miles. Here you caH see places where pig iron can be made with a ton mileage of from six to twenty-five miles. At Besse- mer you can stand on a hill and throw rock into the ere mines and from the same spot ,throw another to the furnace.
 "At Ensley l can show you within rifle shot or eacn other cOHl IlllneS, cohe ovens. casting plants, furnaces. rod mills and wira drawing plants. The examina- ton of ,his lies in the fact that the ores of this district are not the magnetic ores. The great ore of this district is the red fossil ore, a blanket ore. found througho ut the entire Appalachian chain. In Ken 'ucky and Tennessee this ore Is from one to two miles below the surface. However, in thisf district there are nat urally hree strata, the lowest the ore, next the limestone and on top the coal. One of he great seismic upheavals has thrown the iron ore from the bottom 10 top. and we haze long range of hills and d grea. valley naturally perfectly adapted for the mining and manufacturing of the iron ore There is no carrying Of ore the length of the g cat lakes and then by rail the distance to Pittsburg. Railroad frelghts cut a great figure in the success of all lants according to their loca- tion'
 Referring to his previous residence in England and The north. he said his only regret vas that he did not come to the south thirty years before he did.
 "The people here don't ask what man has or who his people were they ask what ne has done. That is what estab- fishes his position in this community Thirty-seven years ago the first house was built in Birmingham: today we have a great street car population of 150,0iG people,
 Tn its infancy the iron manufacturing business in this district was certainly very primitive. For a time our iron was somewhat of a joke and the first steel -ails in the south at Chattanoga were so brittle az to break in unloading. We could not sell iron in the foreign mar kets However. I have lived long enough lc shin Birmingham ron to every coun- try of the world Think of the condi tons that enable us to make iron, ship if o6O miles to a port uand then compete with manufactories that are located on tie tide water. This proves the fallacy of rhe theory that a great manufacturing n,y cannot exist except upon navigable saters.
 Navigation Needed.
 "However, let me tell you this city is going to have navigation. The government is slowly rendering the Warrior river ns vigabl,, and this work has been con- pieted to point that touches Jefferson county and in three years we will send GIT product down the river by barge at cost of 25 ce1ts a ton. Even now we obtain lower iailroad rates than would he possible if it were not for the fall in stade that occurs between here ana the .:t If port.
 "Too much credit cannot be given the ;.ouisvie z and Nashville he Queer. and Crescent and the Southern for ther part '1 the development nf the district. They have hardied freight 1t "'ite which tave them no profit, and low they are 'edp- ing well deserved reward"
 Going aack 70 the lnanEfsc ilre cs E on, he said at one time the product of the strict had brought dcllarSa ard more a ton less than others. Finally It came into greater popularity and though equal Lr'ces.
 "rhe g:owth of steel and the yer | has crowded iron out is one of tn wo1d- CTS Of ;he age' said he. Last year 2, r coo tons of Jig iron were made in this country. Twenty million tons of steel were made. Eleven million tons of tnis | as Ressemer steel and 5000. 100 toIs were | cLen he.Ith. The gerius of A 1Viean | recha1ics has rendered it possible for | nen hearth steel to be of general use. | The invention of the Tobert method rem d red th's possible MT. Bowron then entered into a techni- | cal description of the process of steel l