The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-07
WALL STREET SURE OF HUGHES ELECTION Market Broadening and Opera tions Take Wider Range lNEXHAUSTIBLE IRON ORE Tennessee company's Rich Holdings in Birmingham District-John w.
 Gates and Associates More
 Than Pleased.
INExHAUSTIBLE IRON ORE
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.

BY w. G. NICHOLAS.
 New York, October 6.-The stock mar ket situation has been very greatly strengthened by the near disappearance of two disturbing features-the nearest scare and fear of grippingly tight money through the fall and winter month"; Both may reappear, but for the time beEfs> at least, they are in a state of virtual eclipse. Wall street is possessed of the conviction that MT. Hearst destroyed whatever chance he had when he became party to that unspeakable Buffalo deal committed political hari kari, as it were. and that he can safely be dismissed from calculations as a market handicap. And so far as the tendencies are revealed by contact with the masses of voters the facts seem to justify the estimate, for u is undenably true that the elbow-to- elbow Hearst enthusiasm noticably in the nayorality campaign year ago is lack ing in quarters where it was expected to be strongest.
 The groundswell signs so easily read by experienced observers are not in evl- oence at the present writing-and that a cold fact. The Buffalo trade has knocked the ideallzed Hearst from his pedestal into the ditch and he is no longer the idol of the "downtrodden." This IS mentioned because 1t is distinctly mar ket factor, and is so recognized. The bet ting odds of , to 1 on Hughes does not nearly expres the Wall street certainty as to the result at the polls.
 As for money, the proved ease with which gold can be brought from the other side and the demonstrated purpose of Secretary Shaw to keep surplus treasury funds where they can be of use instead of locking them in the vaults, have set at rest fears for the near future. There will be employment for every available dollar and borrowers will willingly pay good prices for the cash and credit but there will be enough to go around with something over for speculation. That yer dict having been reached by the trading public more genuine interest is being talk en in stocks that for many weeks. The market has perceasiAake1 qEcads and operations are extehi31 1ffg oNRf ssfiaatas range of securities. Preference is being more generally shown for the low-priced issues and commission merchants and brokers are encouraging the development. Many of the stocks which have held front place on the stage are getting into the fancy" class, and must make way for things in which people trade without the necessity of a Rockefeller bank ac- count The drift is toward the low-priced shares-Erie, Rock Island, Southern Rail- way, Steel common, Texas Pacific, and others of that class
 Ore Supplies.
 Several of the largest independent iron companies are getting their main supplies of raw material from Lake Superior mines under old leases from John D. Rocke- feller and others which leases are eXpir htrx In a the last of them will run out. ana most of the big Steel Trusts rivals and com petitors will be at the mercy of the cor poration for iron The estimates of the quantity of ore now owned and controlled by the corporation range from l,lOO,mO,WO tons to 1900 900, GOO tons. It must be borne in mind, however, that in making esti- mates the experts of the corporation have never done any guessing or calculating on what there might be below the levels actually worked. In the Lake Superior country where the bulk of the ore lies. bottom has never been reached in any of the mines operated, and some of them are down to 300 feet Deposits are as iicl at the depths as nearer the surface. The wisest and most experienced of the Steel trusts insiders feel certain that the actual ore owned and controlled exceeds two billion tons.
 Tennessee Company's Ore.
 The next largest holulng is that of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company, which In the Alabama field alone has a dC9ose of over 1,100000,00O tons. This is larger than any published official figure, but is reliable and Is based on extensive and thorough diamond drill borings under di- rection of Don Fl. Bacon when he WAS president of the company-experiment covering a period of three yeais It was knowledge of the value of this single asset that inspire. .hl NJ Gates ani his friends to buy all the stock uf ihc company they could la5- hands m. n aa- diton to the fabulously rich ore deposits, Tennessee Coal and Iron has within ten or fifteen miles of the mouths or tie mines vast beds of coal amounting to al- most as much, ton for ton, as the iron.
 On the map of the whole world there Is probably not such another instance of iron and fuel for It's manufacture found in as close association and In such quan- tity or such proxircity to market If they had imagined for minute that out siders had an inking of what their MT Bacon had learned for them, the Hanover bank crowd would not have left the prop erty out over night for MT. Gates and his iron and steel experts to grab. The 20 per cent of the stock now owned outright by the Gates syndicate is said to stand them less than par On present income 1t may not be worth above that price; on known asset value it is the most attractive thins on the list. The old owners would proh- ably jump at chance to get back the stock at 200 or better.
 ''The destiny of Tennessee Coal and Iron and Republic, owned by the same people. is seemingly the inaw of the trust and when the swallowing process is completed nothing but free trade can disturb that industrial Gibraltar" said corpora tion director who believes in the futrre Of the greatest of all industrial combination
 Some of the biggest killings in Wall street have been made a result of bet fing on the patriotism of the public. Lots cf peonle turn to the stock market as +he readiest outlet for their feelings in times of great ponnlar fervor. Thav want fo f-d a place where they can give ex- pression tc their confidence in tho old flag prd hazn-d their snhstance on the propo- e't'or They naturally turn to Wall street tt,afr hot tai ba of q