The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-17
COAL IRON ANDSTEEL
WEEKS REVIEW OF MINERAL
 DISTRICT CONDITIONS.
Good Prices Are E---g Received for All Alabama Products--Liftle Iron Is Now in the Bir-
 mingham Yards.

by Alabama pig iron manufacturers. and they are not out hunting business, either.
 The prices being received for iron to be delivered during the second quar- ter of ne- year. or nearly year off yet. are equal to those at which iron is being sold for delivery during the vrst quarter of 1906 Selling agen- cies in Birmingham during the first part fthe past week sent out circu- lars offering iron for the first half of the coming year. fixing the price at $1S.50 per ton. No 2 foundry.
 A prominent iron man in discussing the iron mart situation said:
 The market is most satisfactory at the present. We are not forcing busi- ness, but orders are coming in stead fly of their own volition The con- sumers are urging delivery on orders placed some we--s ago. The future demand is going to be good. all in dications being that the consumers have not by a good deal yet placed their orders for needs on their busi- ness in hand and in sight"
 There is no iron on the yards here, and the consumers are anxious to get the product ordered some weeks ago. Some of the fur..&1e companies an nounce that they are behind in their orders because furnaces which they expected to be in blast now are still under repairs, and 1t may be several wee:-j before they are ready for the torch.
 The home consumption is extremely heavy, the cast iron pipe makers in particular using large quantities of the product. The soil pipe manufac- turers and the foundrymen are melt ing much iron also. The strike in the Sheffield district at stove foundries has reduced the melt in that line a little, though trade is going to other stove foundries in this section of the country The cast iron pipe manufac- turers in this district assert that their melt for this year will be greater than it ever was before. and they say fur ther that prospects for the coming year are as bright as they possibly could be.
 Furnaces in Alabama are taking care of all regular customers nd are re- ceiving orders to be delivered just as quickly as they can. In cases of urg- ent need, the regular customers are being accommodated some. The rail- roads continue to give good service and the producH of the furnaces and mills is being handled as promptly as could be wished for. The railroads are being urged to give good service by both the consumers and the produc- CTS. the one anxious to get their prod uct and the other to accommodate their customers and make delivery on orders received some time ago.
 While preparations are being made to increase the output of iron atten- tion Is being given to the raw mate rial supplies. The ore beds in Jeffer- son. Bibb and Franklin counties are being developed on an even larger scale than ever before contemplated The ore proposition is the only one that is giving the least interference in a large production of pig iron. The Tennessee Company. the largest pro- oSuth, has contracts with several small ore mining companies for their product in addition to operating ex- tensive ore mines themselves
 Every ton of ore is needed and the extra development is not giving any apprehension that there might be an oyerproduction. Coal and coke in and all demands.
 All iron making companies in Ala bama report conditions favorable. The iron being delivered now is above the $17 per ton price and no little is above the SIS quotation. At these figures there is good profit
 The Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron Company still point the figures of the last three months in the way of earn
 
 three months than ever before for like period in the history of the com pany. The furnaces in blast are pro- ducing a most satisfactory amount of iron. All furnaces which have been repaired more or less in the last two years are turning out not only a larger quantity of iron but a better quality of the product.
 In the face of no efforts being made to secure business and waiting for cus- toners to come in by themselves, the trading being lively, there is no req son why the manufacturers should not say that the market Is in a most sat- isfactory condition. It is now believed that the buying is going to rock along, without any excitement until fall. by which time 1t is not improbable that the probable make for the fl st half of the coming year will have been cov- cred Then when activity again picks up the buying will go into the last half with a rush and the entire year will be as well covered as was this year before the first half was over.
 The Alabama manufacturers have been taught a lesson also, that is, they will not permit their furnaces to run down and at the first indications of need for repairing work will be done so that the same can be completed in a short while.
 Good prices prevail for cast iron pipe and the demand Is strong and steady. The soil pipe market Is not as active as 1t has been at times this year.
 Steel. in all shapes, commands a good price and there is a strong de- mand therefor. Rail is being shipped from this district just as fast as it can be manufactured.
 All coal mines in this state are in full operation and the railroads are fur nishing almost all the cars that are needed Three is no accumulation of coal to amount to anything, which means that the consumption is keep ing up, even in warm weather
 Much development is under way in the coal fields in this State, Tn Walk CT county two large coal companies were incorporated during the past week. one with a capitalization of $50.- GOO and the other at $10,000 Both companIes have started to work open ing mines and before fall will be get ting out coal. The Birmingham Iron Company is making preparations to have the largest mining camp in the State at Mulgay, in Jefferson county Large shafts are being sunk and the mines will be equipped with not only the latest and most improved machin- ery but electricity throughout. The coal production at this point will be no less than Iwenty-fiv hundred tons,
 The Atlanta, Birmingham and Allan tic Railroad is behind the Birmin gham Iron Company and ther- can be none too large a production of coal coke or