The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-02
IR0N,C0AL ANDSTEEL
WEEKS REVIEW OF MINERAL DIS
 TRICT SITUATION.
Decfdee Imprevemsnt la Prices h Ex- pected. and Producers Are Hold-
 ing Their stun for the


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 Birmingham, March 1--(epecial.)-- The Alabama pig iron market has many bright spots on the horizon of the fu- ture.
 There appears to be no doubt that when the Presidential campaign begins to right itself that there will be a decided improvement In the conditions and that the manufacturers will be able to start up all their furnaces in shape and find a ready demand for the pro- duct. The demand right now Is about taking the production. The least he's itation, however, in the demand will cause some accumulation. This is not anticipated. notwithstanding the fact that the home consumption Is off again. in fact the amount of iron being melted In this territory Is down to as low an ebb as 1t ever was.
 The Tennessee Coal. Iron and Rail- road Company has shut down the roll ing mills at Bessemer again, but as with the big cast iron pipe plants at that place. the shut down is tempor- ary. The furnaces in blast are pro- ducing a splendid amount of iron. The railroads are giving the best of service and there Is no trouble In filling every order as promptly as might be desired.
 There is nothing tn the way of a happy condition save the slow demand. All orders being received are still in small lots. showing that the consum- CTS are buying the product from hand to mouth.
 The consensus of opinion is that the manufacturers are holding their pro- duct firmly so far as quotations go. The statement given out is that iron Is being held for SIS .50 per ton. No. 2 foundry and a report was current the last of the past week to the effect that one producer has sold his iron as high as si4 per ton, No. foundry.
 There is some talk heard though that iron has been sold in this district un- der the sls.5o per ton rate. and that quite an amount of business was book ed. Js,,smuch as both the smaller and larger furnace companies give out the $i3.50 per ton price that quotation Is looked upon as the common one. The shelby Iron Company. manufact- urers of charcoal iron, have no fur mace in operation. The company has considerable iron stacked on the yards, and until there has been reduction of stock 1t Is not believed there will be any attempt to start up furnaces
 At the Ensley furnaces. Tennessee Company, where basic iron Is produced. the iron-makers are breaking records as to production. Five furnaces are exclusively almost in the steel plant near by. The sixth furnace at this place Is undergoing some repairing.
 Announcement is made that two fur naces will be blown in in this State before the goth inst. The new furnace of the Birmingham Iron and Coal Com pany at Vanderbilt. few miles north of Birmingham. will shortly be com pleted. It is understood that there will be no delay in starting 1t up.. The furnace of this company now in blast has a daily capacity of not more than 125 tons. The new furnace of this company is not included in the furnaces said to be in readiness and will be blown in before March 20.
 With one of the big cast iron pipe plants at Anniston In operation, or soon to be, the soil pipe plants at Gadsden, Bessemer and other points in the State foundries and machine shops through out the South working on little more than half time and giving about half their regular force work, the melt right now Ia not as &eads as 1t might be. though it cannot be denied that 1t Is. down to the lowest ebb at the present.
 The steel plant of the Tennessee, Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at Ensley continues to do well and there appears to be no accumulation of the product. Steel rail manufactured in this district has been sold ahead for some time. The Pittsburg Construction Company, which concern has contracts | for considerable construction work about the big steel plant at Ensley. has been adding to its forces of labor recently and will not only push the work on the raw material bins At the blast iron furnaces but will finish up as quickly as possible the additional open hearth furnaces being placed In the steel mills.
 There is no denying the fact that the United States Steel Corporation IS car rying out the plans and attentions of the Tennessee Company, whose proper ties were acquired a few months ago. In addition to this there are many ru- mors as to the further development so often heretofore written about. Dur ing the past week engineers were at work estimating the cost of bringing water in large quantities from verious running streams In this section of the State to Bessemer and Ensley. Lines have been run, with this end in view. to both the Cahaba and the Warrior Rivers, and an estimate has been sub mitted as to the cost of the same.
 The matter of water. "a large quap- tity of same at & cheap price, has been under consideration by the indus trial folks for some time. and the statement Is made at Bessemer that the problem is about to be solved and that plans have been drawn up to get the desired supply. Following the running of these lines and the estimate as to water. there is a renewal of the talk that large manufacturing plants are to be built in the district, including an in. dustry for the manufacture of structur- al iron and steel.
 Coal and coke are in better demand in Alabama. There are many mines though which are idla and a large number of miners and mine workers without work just now The product ion will have to be improved some in the near future to meet the increasing demand. The fact that so many fur naces rolling mills pipe plants and