The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-24
PIG IRON MARKET
LITTLE WILL BE HANDLED DuarNG
 WEEK.
Indications Are That Little Work VIII Be Done tm Emtire BtrminRham
 District Daring the lfsl. .fs fdmy season.

] The general belief in the B.rminghan, ; distict is that less pig iron, steel, cok< and other products win be handled by
 thu railroads duriuS the present week even overlooking the week when rain fell almost necessarily and tratie was almost entirely of.
 The furnace companies in the Birni- ingham district are several weeks be-
 hind in their deiieyries and are ons
 hoping that they are going to be given relief after the turn Of tho year. There Is sas good demand still for pig iron de- livery during the third quarter of the year and already some business has bchn booked.
 All trading has ceased now, and ln- dicetions are there will be nothing do-
 ing until about the 5th of January. If by then. The probable make for the first two quarters of the coming year has been covered already. The inquiry and the demand for third quarter iron 5 is such that there Is nd doubt but thal every ton that can be manufactured ! will be needed.
 | It is not believed there win be any Improvement in the production until the winter weather Is over. now. The railroads will hardly be in much better shape than they have been for the past seven or eight weeks before April or May and if the conditions are no bet ter in the raw material fields, the fur mace companies will suffer as much as has the delivery oi pig iron. TheI wards at furnaces are beginning tuI show signs similar 10 those which ex- isted three years age when there was a great amount of accumulated iron to be seen. As to quotations there has been no change.
 f The maximum price for the product. delivery during the Efiird quarter of the year, is given at sl9 per ton, No. foundry. It Is stated on good author ity that no iron is selling under SIT per ton, No. 2 foundry. delivery at any time next year. At this price there Is a Satisfactory profit.
 The shipments of iron from the Birm- inghAn1 district during the past four weeks has not been equal to the make. The deliveries during the week just starting in promises to be less than half of the make. WttH tbe exception of Tuesday efforts are to be made to keep up the traffic on the railroads asl
 With more than one road in this dis triet the great trouble appears to be in the matter of locomotive power. No; alone are the iron ana steel nanufec- turers. the coal and coke producers complaining. but the lumber Tnanufao- tnrers are just as bad of in the want ef ears with which to move their pro- duct and are to be heard making loud complaint.
 A little visit out into the coal and timber districts during the past week located a large number of cars on side tracks, but a close investigation showed some of these ears either ouS of repairs or there was not enou@t locomotive power t0 move the cars az promptly as might have bee ndeslred.
 As far as can be learned 1t IS not yet settled whether the advance in freight rates on pig iron announced for F.ebruary will carry on the Iron which ls delayed in delivery by reason of the car or locomotive power or not. The uianutacturers still contend that the railroads should not hold them to blame for not getting out the product and tt is possible that ali iron manufactured prior to February 1 will escape the l advance in freight rates.
 The letter received from John W. ! Gates, the great fnanoier and industrial ! nnsRrate of New York. fin which he. states that not alone ten millions of dollars will be spent in Alabama in de- velorinR property but that three times that amount Is intended to be eTpend- ed before the plans of the directors had all been carried out. has given
 much encouragement again to the Err minghani district An interview re- gently given out by Mfr. Gates in which | he said that there was great future fof Birmingham and that the industrial nnasIbliit,es had never been stated piainly and that there was more iron ore in sight here than ct any other point in the United States, had wonder fui effect.
 Property prices went up The letter just received from Mfr. Gates will have much weight also. Tn his letter he re- cognizes wisdom in purchasing prop eYtv and states that if his finances were siish as to be handy he might make liie personal investment. It has long heen shown that John W. Gates has not been paying compliments fooIishly Or | has been giving but interviews just for the purpose of hearing himself talk or seeing his name in the papers. but he states that he is in earnest and each time has consulted with other members of the directory of the big corporation.
 Anent the statements of Mfr. Gates az to the immense amount of money thai his company will spend in Alabama 1t Is known that arrangements have been made and expenditures have al- ready been authorized which will pro- vide for several million dollars outlay The big steel plant in the caurse os eonstruction the purchase Of the Birm- lngham Southern Railroad and the ex- tension of said railroad, the opening of new mines, the rebuilding of blast lrun furnaces. improvement Of old prop. erty and other work in the district has all heen provided for. That the company intenda building another plan, for the manufacture of steel Into mer- cnantabIe shape is believed Co be part Of the plan.
 The work being done In the mattei Of inducing immigration to the state Ia most encouraging. The several local concerns at work are all accomplishing something while the state and Southern are both in the saddle and will bring about some good in the desired end conference in the next few days in Montgomery in reference to immigration. at which delegates from the various immigration and in- dustrial Associations in the state will attend, promises to have results. A biil :. on the question Of immigration to he q sked from the legislature ext month will be prepared. It will provide among other things fer an immigration bu, It