The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-02

cate which controls the Tennessee Coal,
Iron and Railroad company anG the re-
public Iron and Steel company, is oat in
a dictated interview concerning the Bir-
mingham district that is considered far
reaching Importance. 1t appears In the
Manufacturers Record of November 20.
Mr. Gates predicts that Birmingham VIII
be by 1920 the largest inland city in the
United States:
The interview follows
In what is known as the Birmingham
district. the Tennessee and Republic COLL
panies have approximately LOCO, 100000 ions
of iron ore. The United States Steel cor
poration has, in my opinion, about 1.5oo-
100000 tons, this including the recent Hill
purchase. At the present rate of consGnlp-
ton of iron ore by the Tennessee and
Republic companies in the south they
probably have 400 years supply but as
they are going to increase this produce
ton very largely in the next twelve
months they will have probably $50 years
supply, assuming that they add 80 to 10
per cent to the present yearly output.
In coal these companies have, perhaps.
2,200 100000 tons, of which 15O0.OOV,OO0 10
1.750 000,O 600 is coking coal. The average
railroad haul on ton of ore, coal or coke
would be, perhaps. 171a to 20 cents per
corporations average haul on ton Of
COAL coke and ore of $l.5O to Sis a ton.
The southern freight on limestone or
dolomite will. perhaps, average lot to
exceed 10 cents a ton, while the steel
companys cost on limestone or dolo-
mite will. perhaps, average 40 to 90 cents
a ton. Therefore. a ton of pig iron can
be produced in the Birmingham district.
with modern furnaces, such as we Will
ba fN- fl
$3.50 to $3.50 per ton less than it can be
manufactured anywhere in America out
side of the Birmingham district, and
I believe for 81 per ton less than 1t can
be made anywhere else in the world.
Past Troubles.
"There have been three serious troubles
in the Birmingham dstri$ which have
prevented it from making the proper
showing of progress in the past. The first
Is the want of sufficient capital TO manu-
facture iron cheaply second. the proper
ability to spend the money that has Leon
spent to obtain the best results; third,
the lack of diversity of product prae-
ticaly 10 per cent of the total pig iron
production in the Birmingham district
having been sold in the shap> of pig iron
instead of the more highly finished prod
ucts.
I'VE must consider the fixed charges
on a ton of pig iron as a basis to az
rive at what the proper results should DC
in the iron and steel business; so, If we
were to assume that the Tennessee and
Republic companies should sell their Iron
and steel in the shape of finished frod-
ucts, as the United States Steel COM
pany is now doing, that based on an
output of 10000 tons of finished products
per month, or 100000 tons per year,
would show for these companies at the
ANA apaA ton IN ba N d
uct that the United States Steel com
pany obtains, with the product properly
diversified, earnings of $24000,0c) per an
mum net, our fixed charges being only 10
ce.lts per ton against a Steel corporation
fixed charge of 81 a ton.
I'm boom times in the iron and steel
business like the present the fixed charges
do not cut great figure, but when times
get close like they were in 1897 and 1885,
when steel rails sold at SIS at the makers
MILL then the fixed charge of 81 ton alb
solutely prohibits any profit and makes
large loss certain. 1t will take several
years to improve the Birmingham proper
ties to a state of efficiency that will pro-
duce the above results, but, with intelli-
gent management, such as | believe now
exists in the Republic and Tennessee prop
critics, there is reason why, within
three or four years from this date, that
we cannot sell every pound of iron manu-
featured by the two companies in the
shape of finished product
Will Get Rates.
I'VE have as low a rate, or lower, to
tldewater for export business as the
United States Steel, but other sea ports
which we would naturally reach are not
today of the same Importance as New
York, Baltimore and Philadelphia, and
therefore, we cannot expect quite as low
rates to foreign ports. Still, with the
large shipments of cotton from Mobile
and Pensacola, we shall be able to obtain
fairly low rates on cotton laden vessels
by giving them a small tonnage on each
vessel as ballast; and IL the ship subsidy
bill should pass Congress- as | believe 1t
should, it would make Mobile or Pensa-
cola the ideal spot for a large shipbulding
enterprise, as the northern bodybuilding
concerns are greatly handicapped from
November to April on account OF cold
weather, while the south occupies "a pecu-
larly advantageous position The south
ern ports above mentioned are wholly
free from this handicap. and in addition,
there is the stimulus of the Panama canal
construction which | am sure will be
completed within the next ten or twenty
years, and which will give the south an
ideal outlet to the Orient, as well as to
both coasts of South America, the Pacific
coast of the United States and of Cam
ada.
There have been two great drawbacks
in the south to the expansion of the iron
and steel industry. one of which is the
want of skilled labor and the other
scarcity of houses for workingmen to live
in. We have built ordered built ap-
proximate1y 1000 houses for our employees,
and will probably need In the next two
three years 1900 to $500 more. There should
be a more general appreciation of the
necessities for house construction to meet
this demand, and southern commercial
organizations might well give the subject
their effective consideration 1t ought to
be possible to attract the best skilled labor
of the north to the Birmingham district
and If the physical conditions are made
as attractive as possible the supply of
skilled labor should be drawn from the
north in largely Increased quantities
When the skilled laborer realizes that as
an all-year-round proposition Birmng-
ham has better climate than Chicago
or Pittsburg it being practically no warm
er in the summer and from 10 to 20 de-
grees warmer In the winter than the
northern steel centers, a very strong
incentive Is provided for the immigra-
ton of skilled labor TO the Birmingham
district
Another and very important reason
why Birmingham has not grown faster In
the past IL the fact that the railroads
centering In Birmingham have, with one
exception, been very short of rolling
stock This feature Is being rapidly i'm
proved. and good results for the iron and
steel business are sure to follow.
Mistake Rcmedied