The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-08
Assistant to President Corey of the Steel Corporation Is
 in the Party
YEARS AGO HAD CHARGE
 OF FURNACE PLANT HERE
John Refs, M. A. Neeland and Charles K. Winslow Visit Ensley-The Dis -trict's Great Advantages
 Over the North.

John Refs, M. A. Neeland and Charles K. Winslow, officials of the United States
 Steel corporation, arrived in Birmingham yesterday morning and will remain sev-
 eral days for the purpose of looking over
 the properties of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company, recently ac-
 quired by the Steel corporation. The
 party left east Monday before the details
 of the trade were agreed upon.
 Mr. Refs is assistant to President w. E.
 Corey of the Steel corporation. Mr. Nee
 land is an engineer of the corporation and
 Mir Winslow is the corporations statlstl-
 elan. These officials visited F. H. Crock
 ard, vice president and general manager
 of the Tennessee company, at the latter's
 office in the Woodward building, and &C.,
 companied by MT. Crockard proceeded to
 Ensley, where they spent the greater part
 of the afternoon inspecting the furnace
 plant and the steel works. The visitors dined with MT. Crockard at the Southern
 club last night They are stopping at
 the Hillman.
 Was Superintendent at Alice. Although MT. Refs is a youngish look
 ing man heF was superintendent of che Tennessee companys Alice furnaces in Birmingham i'll the sos. He is known as a blast furnace expert and in recent
 years has filled several important posi-
 tions with concerns owned by the Steel
 corporation. He was general manager of the National Steel company and after
 wards general superintendent of the plant at Newcastle.
 In alluding to his residence in Bir- mingham in the early days MT. Refs spoke pleasantly of many of the men who were prominent here then Some that he knew well 20 years ago are still in Birmingham, W. H. Hassnger among them, but some have passed away. Asked
 what he thought of the Tennessee com
 panys big plants at Ensley, MT. Refs said: "I have just come and am, there fore, not prepared to give out an inter view. Before leave l may possibly have something to say"
 Absorbing Topic.
 The deal by which the control of the
 Tennessee company passed to the Steel corporation is still the chief topic of conversation in Blrmingham's business circles. Everybody says it means great things for the Birmingham district. Many people seem to assume that the Steel corporation will eventually buy the Bir- mingham end of the Republic company;
 butP men officially connected with the Republic say that the interests now in | control of the company will never sell any part of its property When the l Schley-Gates syndicate acquired the Re- public and the Tennessee in 1905 they did not merge the two companies but l as the executive officials of the two are the same the Alabama division of the 1 Republic have for practical and economic purposes been operated as a part of the l Tennessee. How they will be separated without confusion remains to be seen. Among the industrial leaders here who | speak enthusiastically of the United | States Steel-Tennessee deal is MT. Has singer who was formerly a vice presl- l dent of the Republic company and for l years manager of the companys Ala bama properties. He said yesterday that
 while he wished to give full credit to the men who had preceded the new own CTS and to the officials who are now de- veloping the properties he was glad to see the Tennessee at last on the strong est shoulders in the industrial realm. Final Era.
 "Soon," said MT. Hassinger, "Birming- ham will be entering upon that final era in her history such as has, made Pitts burg the wonder of the world, only to
 eclipse it in greatness and work out her destiny on grander scale"
 To show what advantage the Bir-
 mingham district has over the north in the way of assembling charges on raw
 material Mr. Hassinger has prepared the following table:
 hH-I- NzII -&r.o