The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-04
Measured By Our Desires.

Our possibilities are to be measured. not so much by what we have as by what we desire. In telling the story of our possessions we unfold a tale of match less and of dazzling splendor. It Is an old old story, told often since the days of the pioneers, who with gifted vision dipped far into the future. There Is not pupil of the high school. who does not know that the mineral region of Ala bama is the only section in the world where all the essentials of pig iron mak- ing are to be found in quantities close a hand. In Pennsylvania only per cent of the pig iron produced is made from native ores. In Ohio the per cent Is less than two. In Alabama all the iron, prac- tically, Is made from Alabama ore Ex- perts tell us that the great Mesaba re- zion, the foundation of Pittsburg's for tune and the feeding trough of thou sand millionaires will be exhausted In less than thirty years. The cry is going up from all the world for lore, ore" and Alabama answers "here" Though all the furnaces now in blast throughout the world running 365 days in the year, should be forced to secure their supply from Alabama ore. generations would come and go: yea, five centuries would make their round, before their fires would slumber for want of raw material As the striving for iron ore becomes more intense under the incessant and impera- tive demand of increasing consumption, prices of iron must necessarily rise higher and. logically, the furnaces must null tiply in the proximity of the ore and fuel. Demands for iron and steel are increasing at geometrcal ratio. I have heard the saying among old iron makers that twenty-five years ago they reckoned that iron found it's way back into the furnace as scrap in fifteen years. All this is changed. The iron that goes into our bridges and buildings can no longer be counted as a possible source of supply. The growth of population, the increa SC of commerce and new inventions all call for "iron iron"
 Iron and her more cultivated sister, steel. are the belles of civilization.
 To Finished Product Stage.
 With increase of furnaces and steel mills, Birmingham will pass from the raw material to the finished product stage Not long will our manufacturers be content with turning out pig Iron at $l5 and S2o per ton and steel at $25 to $2S per ton. The time will come when in this district we will manufacture every thing from Jacks to turbine engines and from needles to armor plate. The time will come when Birmingham will be a solid community from East Lake to Bes- semer and 5000 factories will administer to the needs of the world on the one hand and to the aggrandizement of Blr- mingham on the other. The time will come when an industrial army of one and one-half millions of men will march under the banner of Birmingham; when our pay roll of $40,000,000 will be swelled to S4OO O00, 900 a year: when made Tn Birmingham stamped upon the articles of our manufacture will be legend read around the world. Our ships of com merce will be made of Birmingham iron and steel and our ships of war, If na- tions by that time shall not be entirely won to the doctrines of universal peace, will bear security in their Birmingham coat of armor and will riddle their ad- versaries with missiles from Birmingham guns. When the skyscrapers of our north ern and southern sister cities shall owe their ribs to Birmingham. When all the world will come to pay generous tribute to Birmingham's supremacy.
 Not alone is Birmingham to be famous for her manufactures of iron and steel, for If there were not ton of iron ore in Red mountain, some day she would be famous for her manufactures of clay. There will come a time when Brming- ham will be the southern center of tre- mendous clay working industry. Already her bricks, her tiles, her fire-proofing and her pipes have won recognition in com petition with the best. The most valua- ble clays to be found in the United States are in Jones valley. We are but on the threshold of the development of this in- dustry.
 Demand for Concrete.
 On account of Its durability and of the adaptability of concrete to construction purposes. the demand for this material has far outstripped the supply. The raw f, n Q