The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-22
PIG IRON MARKET
ALABAMA FURNACES ARE ENJOY. ING GREAT PROSPERITY.
Sales Made h Delivery During Flint Six Months of 1907 50 Healthy that Price
 Goes UD.

all the iron they possibly can make during the first six months of the com- ing year at least and already some inquiry Is being made as to the prob- able conditions longer than that.
 Sales made for delivery during the first six months of 1907 aggregate so healthy that the quotations have begun to advance and No. 2 foundry Is being held for $1e.60 and even $17, and some sales are reported to have been made at the last named price
 The production is being improved but little. Furnaces in operation are do- ing very nicely and others not in com mission are being improved just as quickly as men can do the work. Noth- ing, in fact, Is being left undone to improve the capacities in iron making A little iron is accommodating on the yards as furnace companies fall behind in deliveries. brought about by a scar city of cars with which to handle the product.
 More than ono furnace company Is naming the car shortage as the cause for delay in making prompt deliv- cries.
 Representatives of some of the larger consumers of iron have been in the Birmingham district recently investi- gating tho conditions of the iron mart right at home and making an esti-
 
 coming six or eight months.
 These men have been buying iron in large quantities in the Southern terri tory and they have been looking over tho held to see what there Is back of the stiff market for the first six months of the coming year.
 Spot iron can command any price imaginable. report has 1t that small lot of iron. less than 100 tons. was sold in the last few days at $1s.6o and $19 per ton. No. foundry. in thirty ton lots, immediate delivery. has been bringing $17 right along and even more. but $fs.60 and s19 per ton sounds like runaway market Furnacemen in this district do not enjoy a runaway market. despite the fact that fancy prices are obtained therein, as there is bound to be re- action and then the manufacturers suf- fer.
 The home consumption of iron is very healthy with prospects of a continual tion of these conditions for many months to come. Foundries and ma chine shops, mills and factories em- ploying iron in their daily work are needing large quantities of the product. Steel Is in strong demand and every industry in this line has orders on hand which will keep them busy for many months to come.
 The larger iron companies in Ala bama are fortifying themselves in the way of future raw material supplies. Deals have been closed recently for large tracts of ore lands. Better prices have been paid for this kind of prop erty than ever before in Alabama. The recent purchase of large body of ore lands by the Tennessee Republic Com pany from M. L. Potter placed that company in a better position than ever before.
 The property purchased is located on Red Mountain in a close proximity to property already owned by the com pany. The Southern Steel Company re- gently purchased the properties of the Georgia Coal and Iron Company. which included a large quantity of ore and | the future raw material of that com pany was nicely protected in the deal | The Sloss- Sheffeld Steel and Iron Com pany. the second largest ron-produc- ing factory in the Southern territory
 today. has a large quantity of ore lands undeveloped an dit Is stated on the best authority tha tsteps will be taken shortly to get at this ore Mines at Irondale belonging to the Sloss- Sheffield Company were recently re- opened and good run of ore Is being | secured.
 The Alabama Coonsolidated Coal and Iron Company recently took up the | work of opening up some ore mines in the vicinity of Irondale. also. Tbe
 Woodward Iron Company is developing
 some limestone beds near their fur.
 naces. Other companies in this terri.
 tory have been looking after their raw
 material supplies.
 | The future iron mart looks exceed
 ingly bright and there are no reasons
 why the iron manufacturers should not
 have busy time for long time in the
 future.
 The labor question shows up with
 but little improvement this week There Is need of labor at all furnaces
 at the mines and around the coke
 ovens. The foreign labor being brough
 in Is working slowly towards the goa
 the manufacturers have fixed for 1t
 The old negro labor remains shiftles!
 as 1t became during the last two ol
 three years, notwithstanding efforts | were made to show the blacks that tht
 importation of foreign laborers nigh
 be the handwriting on the wall fol | them and thus get them to think tho
 matter over and become more steady
 in the boat There Is need for laboi
 in almost every department of mining iron making and steel producing, not | to mention the finished articles.
 Coal operations in Alabama are most l healthy. The production in this State is larger now than 1t has been in many | a day and would be much better if the transportation facilities were any thing like being adequate The rail- roads claim that the cotton moveme l is now on in great force and that hurting the iron and coal movements Good prices obtain for coal in this State. Coke Is also in strong demand | with a healthy price prevailing. More labor is needed al the mines. notwith- standing that many of the union men l who were out on strike for more than | two years have about all returned to