The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-25

hopeful that they will be able to get out quite an amount of iron during the week. The advance of 25 cents per ton
 from the Southern territory to the Ohio river goes into effect next Sunday, as far as can be learned. The railroads
 have given two extensions of the time
 for the advance to take effect and it
 is hardly probable that another delay will take place.
 Spot iron sold in small lots in the
 last few days at $23 per ton, No two foundry. but the amount of iron thus sold is not worthy of an extended no- tice. Charcoal iron is in good demand and Is quoted at S27 per ton. The little charcoal furnace of the Eagle Iron Com pny at Attalaa is again in operation. This furnace manufactures about eighty tons of iron day but at the present quotations the plant will be financial success if no accident hap pens It Is understood that there has been an accumulation of material for two months operation at least and con tracts have been made with charcoal throughout the country near the fur Iynace for a steady supply in the future. The Shelby furnace is making nearly one hundred and fifty tons of charcoal iron daily and there is a steady sale. Coke iron for delivery during the third and fourth quarters af the year com
 mands s1s.5o and s1s per ton still
 
 appreciable increase in this line in Ala
 bama recently. The blowing in of the little charcoal furnace Is hardly to be noticed. Hopes of a better make in
 iron have not yet been realized.
 The home consumption is large and steady. The cast iron pipe works, the rolling mills, machine shops and foun- | dries and other industries in the Birm- | ingham. Gadsden, Anniston and Shef- | field districts of Alabama appear to be 1 operating on pretty near full time and I are requiring no small amount of iron. These home consumers are given pref | erence, though prevailing prices are us- ually paid.
 The various industries named com plain almost as loudly as do the iron
 manufacturers at the poor transporta- | tion serivce in this section of the coun- l try nd especially at the pipe plants is I there large quantity of stock to be
 seen on hand. A number of rolling mill men are to be brought South shortly | to take up work in several of the idle l departments in mills in this section. l The weather lately has been most l favorable for outdoor work and as a
 consequence some headway has been made on the big. new steel plant being erected at Ensley by the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company In the ore and coal development also the weather | conditions have played an important part and much progress is reported from several sections.
 In coal operations an important move made recently Is the preparations of the
 Birmingham Iron Company to open ex- tensiye mines in the southwestern mart of Jefferson county The Atlanta, Bir- mingham and Atlantic railroad Is said \ to be interested in the Birmingham Iron Company and will build it's line to the
 properties of the concern. Experts are now at work making the soundings and testing the veins of coal to he worked
 In the section of the state mentioned
 Drills have already struck two seams
 of coal, one two hundred feet deep and ! the other between five and six hundred I feet down. The lower seam of coal ap- pears to be the better grade and in all probability shaft will be sunk and both seams worked. A considerable &C., reage has been secured by the Birming- nam Iron Company in the coal field mentioned and before the end of the ! year 1t is expected that the mining op-
 erations will have been well started though it may be towards the close of next winter before the A. B. & A. rail- road expects to handle a large nortion I or the coal, iron and steel business from the Birmingham district to Bruswick
 andt other sections of the country. | As to coal development, reports comes
 from Cullman. that the work on fhe l ciofoh lHiASs Ot Fdllroad to be built
 from that place to the coal fields will
 be rushed so that by the time the new
 mines are ready for operation. the coal mined can be handled. The coal | found in Cullman County is among the
 best in the State, particularly for long
 shipment. The coal Is hard and will stand hard travelling. It is extended
 to export almost all of the coal to be
 mined in this section of the State. Coal from the mines located a short dist
 ance from the new place is now being l used in the export trade to Mexico
 Cuba and other places.
 l In Walker County, Tuscaloosa Coun- | ty and in the extreme western part of
 Jefferson County preparations are be- | ing made for large development this | spring. There Is a demand for every
 ton of coal that is being mined now. The car shortage is holding back the
 production, though State Mine Inspector Gray states that there is much im- provement in the output as compared to the last few months of the past
 year.
 The Cement Proposition.
 The visit to Birmingham and Leeds | of l.. c. Lane, who has taken up his temporary home at Demopolis, as he works on the Government locks on the Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers, being a civil engineer, may mean some- | thing in the way of cement develop ment in this State. MT. Lane has giv- en the cement industry considerable study in the past fey years and is anx- ious to form large company to build