The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-10
PIG IRON MARKET
RAILROAD CAR SHORTAGE HOLDS
 DOWN PRODUCTION.
Furnace Men Declare There h No Use In Turning Out Product When Transportation Companies
 won't Deliver It.


 Birmingham, Dec. 9.--(Speoial)- )--The railroad car shortage in the industrial section of Alabama was never as bad as it is at present and as consequence all furnace companies are from one to six weeks behind in deliveries on orr ders and coal mines are capable or working a little less than half time
 There is an accumulation of pig iron on the furnace yards and consumers are clamoring loudly for their product Mine operators state openly that they are losing money because they cannot get a steady operation at the mines
 There appears to be no relief in sight In the near future either: Much equip nent of some of the railroads is being epaired. 4 shortage of locomotive bower is noted in other circles.
 On top of the railroad car shortage is the announcement that four furnaces have been shut down in this section for repairs. The raw material supplies be- ing so short has bought about cur tailment at furnaces which are in con dition to be operated. Indications point to the smallest output of iron for a month during December for the year about to come to a close It IS not improbable that the poor showing to be made for the month will anect the output for the year and instead of an increase of few hundred thou sand tons in a comparison with the production in 1906, there is likely to be a reduction shown.
 Orders are still being booked for de- livery during the coming year. All iron wanted during the first three months of the coming year is considered the to ninety days time only from one to two dollars per ton is allowed in the price. In other words, iron wanted be- fore April Is now quoted at more than S21 per ton, No 2 foundry, while iron to be delivered during the second quar- ter of the year is quoted at from $17.5O to $19 per ton. No 2 foundry.
 Positively no fears are expressed that there will be need for ail the iron that can possible be produced during the first half of the coming year and in- quiries already in hand for iron to be delivered during the second half of the year indicate that there will be no ac- cumulation because of failure to sell through the entire coming year. There Is a general worry and fret on account of the railroad car situation in the city. Questions splied for information con corning conditions of the iron mart are invariably answered these days. mo use of talking about the mart, We can't deliver iron we sold weeks and weeks ago and whats the use of mak- ing effort to get further business-itI Is something fearful and disgusting"
 While the railroad officials as well as the manufacturers say there will be but little time lost during the month on account of the holidays there can be no doubt but that the work will not be as steady as during other months. Heads of departments at the furnaces and steel plants of the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company at EnsIey at a little meeting held few days ago determined to make efforts to have a larger nrndIgrfi0n nT month than during any month this year.
 For the first week the previous rec ords in output have been maintained. However the third week promises to be the rub and there Is no telling how many men will lay off and what the conditions will be as to supply of raw material and the amount of labor to handle that on hand. Inasmuch as much foreign labor is being used at the furnaces and steel plant, it is pos sible there will not be such an exten- sive celebration of the holiday season as heretofore and the work can be kept up nicely.
 Consumers of pig iron recently au- | thorized general sales agents in this city to offer bribes to railroad men to switch cars and as much as ten dol | lars a car was offered. The local men would not attempt the thing asked | for though every other kind of a re- l quest is being made of the railroad em- ployes to give every possible relief in the situation.
 Inquiries are being received in this district for iron during the whole or next year. Positively the indications point to strong demand for months and months to come.
 ... As to Coal and Coke.
 The coal mines in Alabama are able to work about half time; in some sec tions less than that There is need for every ton of coal that can be mined. but there is no way of handling the | coal after it is mined, and so all ope- rations have to shut down until the | railroads can furnish the cars with which to move the product
 There is much alarm as to what will | happen as the holiday season sets in l The railroad officials claim that they | will be able to hold up their operations right through the happy season. but l those depending on the transportation | facilities assert that indications point 1 to worse accumulation of traffic than at present. Reports gained at offices | of the larger coal and iron concerns in ] this district elicited the information | that the wretched transportation facili-
 ties had thrown the production behind and at the same time had played havoc ] with the operation of the mines. , The statement is made that at several l places less than half time can be got ten in at mines. This hardly pays for the operations at mines. The Southern | Railway will divide up the divisions
 in the Birmingham district with the | belief that the service can be inn | proved and some relief given to the | situation.
 RumOrS of Rail Pool. Rumors have been heard in this sec
 tion that the rail pool has been broken. l different are not reporting to one another as
 they did up to a short time since. The | Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Com | pany has sold almost all of its probable 1 make for the entire coming year as | far as steel rail roes, so that the an l nouncements made now do not cause
 much concern.
 It is believed. however. that if the | rumors are true that those companies in position to sell rail during the com Ing year will place large quantity of the product on the mart. All re-
 ports which come to this section in re-