The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-12
STEEL CORPORATION WINS BY PURCHASE 
 Edmonds Points Out Value of
 the Properties WORLD TURNING TO BASIC Abraham S. Hewitt Said Ten Years Ago That Alabama Would Dom-
 mate Basic Steel Industry
 Within 25 Years.

In discussing the purchase by the uhi-
 ted States Steel corporation of the Ten
 nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company
 Mr. Richard H. Edmonds, editor oi the
 Manufacturers Record, is quoted as say
 ing:
 About 10 years ago the late Abram ,.
 Hewitt universally recognized as one Of
 the worlds greatest metallurgists' gave
 me for publication an interview Tn WHICH
 he said that Alabama would within :"
 years from that time dominate the oasic
 steel industry of the world just as P'l's-
 burg and the lake region dominated the
 Ressemer steel industry" All experts fa-
 miliar with the vast supplies of ore III
 Alabania and their proximity 10 codi
 aave recognized that this sltuatloh' ds
 clearly seen by Mir. Hewitt, is one or
 the greatest assets of America; and that
 in the general rounding out of American
 development there would come time when these resources could be utilized on
 such a large scale as to bring about full
 dllment of MT. Hewitt's prophecy.
 Alabama Chief Competitor
 take it that the long-headed people
 who have managed the steel corporation
 have recognized this strategic importance
 of the Alabama field just as fully as MT. Hewitt, Mr. Carnegie and others nave done in the past; for like MT. Hewitt MT Carnegie once wrote me to the effect that ne looked to Alabama as the chief competi- tor in the iron trade with Pennsylvania. Rut the conditions of their own opera tions necessarily caused the managers or inc Irnited States Steel corporation to concentrate all of their energies upon the rounding out and completion of the vast Dlans for the fullest development of ti1elr Pennsylvania and Lake Superior interests. The carrying out of these plans has been on a scale of such magnitude as to fully tax the activities of the men who have been leaders of the vast steel interests or
 that corporation. Moreover, the people who three years ago secured control or the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company had a full realization of the great extent and future value Of these properties, and it is quite certain that hut for the present financial situation they would not have parted with the control of that property for even three or four times what present necessities have coHl- pelled them to accept. However much 1t is regretted that the men who owned the Tennessee, and who knew it's almost im- measurable possibilities, have been com | pelled to part with it, the steel corpora tion is the chief beneficiary of the deal. When the steel corporation was organ
 ized it claimed ownership of about 700,Oo0,- GOO tons of iron ore This has since been
 increased by securing the Hill properties,
 but it has been fully demonstrated that
 the Tennessee owns not less than 7OO,0o,00
 tons of ore, or as much the steel cor
 poration owned when it was first organ ized. and at least 20O,000.O00 tons more
 than the highest estimate put upon tie
 amount owned by the Hill interests. In addition to this the Tennessee company
 owns far more coal than the steel corpor- aton has ever owned before, estimated at 2O00. 100000 tons. If the Tennessee com- pany did not have a single furnace or d l single mine it's properties would be worth | far more than the cost to the steel cor poration. The fact is, while the steel cor | poration has estimated its iron ores in
 the ground as worth $1 ton, 1t would 1 have to put an estimate of only cents Il l ton on the ore in the ground in Alabama 1 and count it's cost at only cents a ton
 to make total valuation of slS5,0o0,0 ,00o' or more than four times the cost of the property to the corporation. The increas- l ing scarcity of iron ores throughout the world makes a valuation of s1 a ton really | very low price to put on ores in the | ground.