The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-17
IRON IS IMPROVING
SOUTHERN FURNACES HOLDING
 FIRM AT eis.5o.
Wees--Cnst. iron Pipe Makers Rushed With Od-

Birmingham. Feb. Ie.--(Special.)--- | The Alabaf1a pig iron market Is in a most satisfactory condition, everything considered. This statement is made after inquiry at several general of- | fees of iron makers in this section. Iron quotations are firm. Notwith- standing statements to the contrary l coming from Cleveland and other iron centers in the North, the Southern manufacturers are sholding their pro- duct firmly for 313.50 per ton, No. foundry, with possibly one or two of the smaller companies accepting busi- ness at fifty cents reduction. There is no iron being sold in this district as low as s12.50 per ton, No. foundry. as far as can be learned
 The Sloss-Shefiefd Steel and Iron Com pany will blow in heir No. { furnace at North Birmingham Tuesday. It is admitted that this acompany has re- gently been. booking large number of orders for local brand iron which brings about the necessity of starting up some of sthe Sloss furnaces. It is not SimpfobaBle that one of the Florence-Shefiaelds furnaces will short. ly go--out.. The furnace at Holt, in Tuscaloosa county is being refined, preparatory tos being blown in at an early date. Repairs are being made on other furnaces in this district and pTQ6V0cAat improvement in the production.
 There issa healthy melt of iron with the cast iron pipe makers. This pro- duct appears to be in good demand de- spite the sconditiOnss throughout the country. There fisA plenty of room for Improvement among the machine shops and foundries. the forces employed be- ing decidedly curtailed.
 All Iron orders are being filled promptly. There lis no such thing as spot iron any more. The furnace com- panies in this district can fill orders promptly, the railroads giving what ever service is desired.
 The 'annouficefnent' that meeting of the board of directors of the Sloss- be held Monday in New York and the regular quarterly dividend of one and a quarter per cent on the common stock of the. company declared. was in- teresting news. The stock in this com pany has been selling as low as thirty eight recently and with five per cent interest per anhurn, the story is easi- the company, is now on his way to New York and after the meeting will set sail for Rome, Italy, where his daughter Is quite III.
 The rolling mills of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (Steel corporationl. at Bessemer, are doing nicely. The labor after an idle spell of several weeks has taken up tools in earnest sand is handling a large quantity of steel and iron. There is a good . demand for the products of this mill, 1t is stated. Operations at the steel plants att Ensley continue brisk, the proposed Improvements at the steeb rail mill being worked on without a complete shut down of that portion of the plant as yet. There Is no accumulation of steel to amount to anything, none whatsoever as far as rail~is concerned.
 It Is not believed that there is going to be a decided change in the iron market for some time as yet, the Presidential campaign holding this branch of the tradeI down some. In- Quiries being received in this district as to iron, the output and capacity for prompt delivery gives great en- couragement.
 The meeting of the scrap iron and pig iron committees of the United States Steel Corporation during the past week was of some significance 1t is figured, inasmuch as these offi- cials. after the inspection of properties in this section, for the first time on the part of some of the members, will make excellent reports to the main off, fees. The members of. these commit tees of the big corporation visited all ipon and steel plants and some of the mines and quarries of the steel cor poration during their stay in this dis trict.
 J. W. Mcqueen. vice president of the SIoss- -Sh efheld Steel and Iron Company, who returned just a few days since from New York where he went on business for the company, states that the future is looking up brighter than 1t has been for. some time and that he looks for good business in the iron and steel trades-at no distant day. He says that confidence is coming back to the people rapidly and that there will be great activity displayed on all sides just as soon as the campaign is well in hand.
 , Many reports are heard in regard to the Southern Steel Company, the concern which was adjudicated bank rupt few weeks since in the Federal court here. A reorganization commit tee has been named by the stockholders in the company and steps are now be- ing taken looking to general rehab- ilitation. Many of the old employees of the company are looking forward to an early resumption of work at the va rious plants. though so far there have been no definite arrangements made in that direction. There will be some expenditures necessary to get all the plants in shape for immediate opera ton but the greater portion of the machinery can be started up without much loss of time if desired. l
 Coal and Coke.
 Announcement of resumption Of work at several of the coal mines in the immediate Birmingham district were features of the past week. The l larger consumers. however. are still | holding off in their buying. the rail- roads. However. there are prospects | of better conditions on the railroad | lines which will mean a better de- mand for coal. Even with a poor | start for the year the prospects are | that Alabama will produce in 1908 | more than fifteen million tons of steel, | as compared to 14,sss,74s tons in 1907.
 Coke is still slow. both in demand | and In production. The prospects are | not bright as long as there is a cur | tailed pig iron production in this dis trict. A large number of coke pullers | in this district are now seeking other employment, with the understanding that when the coke business picks up again they will return to their line of work.