The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-15
A NEED FOR IRON.
PRODUCERS LOOK FOR MUCH HrGH-
 FIR PRICES.
Alabama Coal Preduetisn h rsrs.,., Than Ever Bef0re--Revtew or Conditions Tn the Mineral
 District.

as they are new,
 The outward movement is decidedly strong right now and officials of the railroad assert that they are going to be able to keep up the work for some time to come. With the outward ton. the iron market is about to gath CT in some strength and it Is believed that within forty or sixty days the spot iron prices will either descend or the quotations on last quarter iron will go up from fifty cents to one dollar per ton.
 Already the furnace companies are holding their product for $19 per ton. No. 2 foundry. delivery during the latter part of the year. The only thing worrying the manufacturers in Ala bama right now is the production and there appears to be no prospects of an immediate improvement. The new Woodstock Iron Company is said to be getting a furnace at Anniston ready for the torch and will shortly be mak- ing iron with two furnaces.
 Furnaces in the immediate district which have been under repairing for some time are still without the pale and iron-makers which should have been in blast now are still a few weeks off trom being ready for operation.
 There is need for all the iron that can be manufactured and no doubt is expressed as to the ability to dispose of the make through the balance of the, year, at least, no matter If there Is a five per cent increase in the pro- duction.
 Prominent iron men in this district are authority for the statement that if there is not a reduction in the spot iron prices that the regular quotations will Thara difforanna between the two phases of iron. Fur mace companies cannot stand for the spot iron bringing between $21.50 and $25 per ton, No. 2 foundry iron and then sells on six months delivery at $I9 per ton. There is an inducement to hold the product for the spot prices. The furnace companies are beginning to wear off contracts which were taken when prices were down as low as s1e.- 50 per ton and shortly the $17, SIS and even better priced iron will be going our from the district.
 The spot iron deals are fin small lots but the profit Is handsome and for that reason the manufacturers an- nounce that there will be some change. It was intimated a few weeks ago that there would likely be an advance in iron quotations but as yet the intima- ton was not realized. The furance companies are not in a position to save back from regular deliveries in order to accept some of the business for spot iron. Even the very small companies who were inclined to deal in nothing but the spot business have taken on some of the orders carrying with them delivery of three and six months time. As expressed by a manufacturer, ''$l9 per ton iron, No. 9 foundry, Is good enough for any manufacturer" The trading in iron is steady and slowly but surely the books are filling up with orders and 1t will not be longfi any how before the end of the second quar- ter of the year, when announcements will be made that there Is not much more iron to be had for delivery even during the last three months of the year. This Is one reason, also, for ex- pressing the opinion that quotations are likely to advance in the near fu- ture.
 The make in Alabama during the first half of the year is likely to show decided falling off in comparison with the make during either of the halves of last year. The productiop in April is going to be under that or March by considerable also.
 It Is announced that the Shelby Iron Company and the Williamson Iron Company. the first named with two furnaces, one of them on charcoal lron' and the Williamson Company with one small stack in operation, are interested in the purchase of tract of ore lana and the formation of an ore mining company in the immediate Birmingham district; in fact, the ore beds are TO- cated but a short distance from the city limits in the vicinity of Lakeview. The mining company will be gettlnS out ore within the next few weeks, railroad extensions now being put III. The Williamson Company has been buying most of its raw material here- l tofore and the formation of the mining company Is quite little extension )n the part of this concern. Since the | little furnace has been in operation. | every ton of it's iron has been sold at 1 a good profit and contracts have been taken on at good figures, warranting l quite a little earning for the concern. Frederick k. Dimmick, who Is at 1 the head of the Dimmick Pipe Com pany, is at the head of the Williamson | Company, while Col. T. G. Bush is Pres | ident of the Shelby Iron Company.
 Considerable development is on in the ore fields of Alabama and the pros poets are bright for at least five per cent more ore being mined before the middle of summer. All the ore that can be mined is in demand.
 | 1OuA Ahu SOA~s
 The Alabama coal production right | now is better than it ever was in the history of the industry. Assistant State Mine Inspector James Hillhouse, who recently made a trip through the more active section of the coal fields | of Alabama states that the production | right now Is very big and the develop | ment in hand is beginning to arrive at | that stage that results will be forth 1 coming.I He asserts that if there Is no | interruption, and there are no reasons for expecting any the annual produc- | ton for 1907 will go above 14,000,O00 l or 15.O00,000 tons. One wild guess has
 been made placing the coal production l for the year at Is, ,000, 900 tons. but 1t is | hardly believed that it will go to that.
 The railroad officials say that noth- | ing will be left undone to handle as much coal as the operators can produce, and if this intention prevails and the
 mines are kept in steady operation. the
 results will indeed be large. There Is a demand for all the coal that Is being
 mined right now, and as far as can be
 learned there are no prospects for can | cellation of orders on the approach of
 the warm weather.
 According to MT. Hillhouse, the Ten
 nessee Coal. Iron and Railroad Com
 pany will mine more coal in the Pratt l division than ever bore, while the Pratt | Consolidated Coal Company, whose out
 put will shortly be 10000 tons daily | will be a factor in the aggregate for
 the year. Another company that Is | coming to the front in coal production | is the Alabama Fuel and Steel Com
 pany while In a few months the Bir-
 minghamt Iron Company. which IS
 owned by the Atlanta, Birmingham and | Atlantic Railroad, now building into