The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-23


 Record is from the pen of Edwin c. Eckel of Washington, D. C., who until recently was on the United States Geo. logical Survey as chief of the division of iron ores and structural materials:
 In a former article Manufacturers Re cord, August 22 19OO the writer pointed out that the Southern iron industry had failed to keep pace with the recent enor- nous development of iron manufacture in the North and middle West. and stat ed several conditions which seemed to have been instrumental in retarding southern progress along that line. Inci- dental mention was made of the fact that the relatively disappointing result was not due to any lack of iron ores, of fuels, or of other natural advantages, but rather to industrial and financial condi- tions which 1t Is within the power of man to rectify. Having in this previous article discussed the unpleasant side of the situation in some detail, 1t would seem proper to review the features which give us hope for a brilliant future-the undoubted material resources of the South which must soon make her a more eoiAS ldGlOE III lut AHtIItdl llOu industry.
 The great strength of the Southern iron situation lies In the quantity, quality and advantageous location of its supplies of fuels and iron ores. Everyone realizes the importance of the first and third Of these advantages, but the existence of the second-quality of ores-is usually denied Few appear to realize that south ern iron ores are comparatively much richer than they were ten years ago, owing to the general decrease in richness of other American ores. This point will be returned to later. In the present arti- cle the location and character of South ern fuel supplies will be briefly noted, after which the various present or possi- ble sources of iron-ore supply will be de- scribed. The industrial conditions which are due to these natural advantages can then be summarized
 Southern Fuel Supplies.
 Beginning near Tuscaloosa. Ala. and running northwestward to the Pennsyl- vania line, a series of great coal beds crosses the states of alabama, Georgia, Tennesseee, Kentucky, the Virginias and Maryland. Of the southeastern states, Mississippi, Florida and the Carolinas are alone absolutely devoid of important coal beds, though even here the Triassic coals of North Carolina require mention.
 Throughout this great extent of coal ter ritory there is hardly a field where good coking coals cannot be obtained. In some parts of the range the cokes are not m any way inferior to the standard Con- nellsville product; fin other areas their grade depends largely on methods or preparation and treatment. But there is no locality in the south, otherwise suit-t able for an iron n-manufacturing center. which cannot obtain a supply of cheap and satisfactory fuel. It is this feature which distinguishes the southern ore fields from those of the Lake Superior district or of the western states.
 The Southern Ore Fields.
 The south Is peculiarly fortunate in the extent. the character and the location of it's iron ore supplies. Parallel to, and Just east of the great coal field above noted, lie three ranges or belts or iron ore. These three are absolutely distinct in origin, character grade and uses, but taken together they form an unsurpassed basis for an iron industry. Reckoning from the west the first of these belts in- cludes the Clinton red hemattes fossil ores). which fringe the eastern edge of the coal fields. Next eastward are the great series of brown hematite deposits, which outcrop in the Allegheny foothills and In the great limestone valley. rin- ally, the third and eastermost range ln- dudes the magnetites and hard hematites of the Blue Ridge and it's southern con tnuations.
 l. The Clinton red hematites. Undouol cdly the most impressive series or ilon ore deposits known to exist anywhere in the world so far as extent continuity and total available tonnage are concerned, are the Clinton hematites of the eastern Uni ted States. From central New YorX 70 Alabama their outcrop can be traced al- most continuously, and almost every where throughout this vast extent the Clinton series will be found to contain one or more beds of red hematite, The deposits, moreover, are true beds, depos tied at the same time as tA TocH9 which now enclose them. and extending under cover for great distances away from the actual outcrop In this respect they differ from the brown hematites to be considered later
 Though the Clinton ores occur Tn the states of Maryland. West Virginia, Vir- ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, they are not everywhere of equal importance. In Maryland and the Virgnias, for example, the beds are usu- ally few and thin, and the ores often very high in silica. In Kentucky and Georgia. though the ores are good enough when found, the Clinton formation does not cover sufficiently large areas to make them of the first importance. In Tennes- see and Alabama, on the other hand, the Clinton ores are present in great quantity and are otherwise well adapted to serve as the basis of an extensive iron incus- try.
 The typical Clinton ores as at present mined carry from S4 to 40 per cent iron, and at first glance would be considered distinctly low grade materials. It must be remembered, however, that the 'm- purities present are not only silica and alumina, as usual in magnetics and hem atites, but also large percentages of lime carbonate. Many of the Clinton ores are almost or quite self-huxing. When a ton of Clinton ore is mined or bought the furnaceman obtains 40 unites or less of