The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-04
INQUIRY FOR IRON
REVIEW OF MINERAL DISTRICT
 CONDITIONS.
Prices are Strong and Operators are Happy--Railroads Striving to Meet the Demands for
 Shipping.

!
 | Prosperous conditions are plainly to be seen in the Industrial section of Ala bama. The iron manufacturers are 1 happy.
 A casual inspection of conditions | show that there is an inquiry for large quantity of iron, the demand IS | splendid. several nice orders being l placed on the books in the last few | days, and then on the top of IL all the
 advance of 25 cents per ton on iron and | kindred products from the Southern I territory to the Ohio River which was l to have gone into effect today has been l postponed for thirty days. Ninety thousand oons of pig iron and cast Iron | pipe delayed in shipments for three l months and longer are to be rusnea | out.
 While 1t is estimated that not more l than 10000 to t2,o00 tons of Iron and 1 pipe were moved out, that is the ac- | cumulated product. during the past
 month, the transportation facilities are | going to be better in March and not l less than 25.000 to 1000 tons will go l from this section. The railroads are l giving reasonable demonstrations that | they intend doing all they can to i'm l prove the conditions in this section. The Southern Railway has named a | car distributor for the Birmingham | district, the official to have duties al-
  | lie will work under the general super 1 intendent of car service of the system. E The Central of Georgia Railroad has named a trainmaster to have head i quarters in Birmingham, the only rep
 resentative of the operating depart ! ment of this railroad in this district. ! The Louisville and Nashville Railroad
 announces tho purchase of a number 1 of engines and the arrival already of | two big ones for this district. The Alabama Great Southern Railroad | Queen and Crescent) is making re- | pairs along the lines and adding to it's equipment The Seaboard Air Line is
 bringing more equipment to this end
 of the line; the Frisco has placed large l orders for coal and coke cars and cars | with which to move pig iron and kin | dred products. Other lines are doing something to show that they mean | business i'll carrying out their promises to give better transportation facilities to the iron manufacturers in this sec- | tion.
 Iron prices are strong. The furnace companies are in a position, as shown, to command good prices for their prod uct. No. foundry, is bringing $lS.50
 to S19 per ton, delivery during the last
 half of the year. As far as can be learned, there is no iron being sold in this district under $1S.50 per ton, No. foundry, rumors to the contrary not withstanding. The cast iron pipe
 manufacturers are going to melt more iron this year, according to indications
 than ever before. It is admitted that there arc orders on hand for a large
 tonnage of pipe with the brightest prospects for a steady demand through the year.
 There will be no furnace to blow in during the next week in this district though several iron makers are fast getting into shape. The Sloss-Shef- field Steel and Iron Company announced that their Florence furnace will be ready for the torch by the middle of April. A skip hoist has been added to this furnace and other Improvements made so that there will be labor saved, the cost of production reduced and the output increased. The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company will In the next fortnight have two or three fur uaces ready for the torch and they will be blown in at once. Contracts are still being made by the larger produc- CTS of pig iron for raw material, such as ore, coal, coke, limestone and other product. Several mining companies are in position to make fong contracts and the furnace companies, realizing that It will be some time yet before they will be able to supply all Of their own de- mands are accepting the opportunity to get raw material.
 There are no indications that there need be any interruption of operation It the furnaces at any time this year. Every ton of iron that can be manufac- tured will be in demand. The profits this year will be greater than ever be- fore. not forgetting that the cost of production has been increasing right along. The labcr proposition is still one that gives much concern. There have been no further arrests of for eigners who came to the district on transportation furnished and then re- fuse to work for the companies bring ing them here. There has not been much importation lately either of for egn labor. The equipment of furnaces with skip hoists and other improved machinery cuts down the amount of labor needed about furnaces consider ably. However. the mining of coal, orc, the quarrying of limestone and the manufacture of coke and loading of coke calls for much labor and there fore the iron industry will always give employment to| large amount of la bor.
 The cast iron pipe industry in Ala bama looms up as strongly as does the pig iron. There is no denying the fact that thousands and thousands of tons of pipe have accumulated on the yards because of the inability of the railroads  turers are satisfied to keep on produc- ing the goods knowing that there will be q demand for every ton thereof. Good prices have prevailed right along for cast iron pipe and orders are in hand or in sight which show an absolute necessity for the purchase of raw mate rial iron, for melt this year. The Uni ted States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company. one of the largest producers of pipe in the United States, have three large factories in the South and all of them are working hard. Recently high officials of the company were in this section of the country. visiting the plants located at Bessemer. Anniston and Chattanooga. They made an in- quiry as to the condition of the iron mart and sounded the future prospects. They did not deny that they would be in the market for a large tonnage and spoke plainly on the subject. So far no orders of any consequence has resulted by reason of this visit though it Is learned on good authority that nego- ttations are now on for a large quan-