The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-13
IRON TRADE BETTER
CONDITIONS AROUND BTRMING-
 HAM ARE IMPROVED.
Stocks are Reduced in Yards by Better Demand and Blowing In of Ad- ditional Furnaces is
 Coed signl

| "hOAc many OA0Ch b HI HlfA1ti lOtH aEC w
 ing received here for immediate de-
 livery at between s12.25 and sI2.5o. | The indications are for an imme-
 diate improvement in the demand and | preparations are being made to meet | all orders promptly. There Is not a l great quantity of iron on the furnace | yards in this immediate district. though | some little iron is to be found just out
 side this section and in the State. namely. around Florence and Sheffield. l There is not enough iron in the State, however, to affect the market.
 l The Woodward Iron Company will have their third furnace at Woodward | in full. operation by. the middle or end l of this week. This company Is deliv- ering on q healthy basic order and two l of the furnaces will be kept on foundry | iron with a vim. The Republic Iron | and Steel Company has its third fur | be started up shortly. It was intended two weeks ago to blow in this furnace. but for reasons best known to the management, this was delayed. Two other furnaces are ready for the torch at any time.
 There will be no trouble experienced
 In improving the make when needed
 save, probably, in the coal and coke
 line. The strike of the union miners.
 who are dragging some of the non-
 union men with them, may affect the
 striking up of additional furnaces.
 The furnace and commercial coal op-
 orators assert with positiveness that
 they will not recognize the union any
 more. and that they are still getting
 out enough coal to meet all demands. The orders for iron on the books of the various companies in this district will require considerable of the product during the last half of the year, even if there is no new business received. However, there Is little new bushes coming in almost every day. The product is being shipped in all direc- tions. There Is an improved home con- sumption also so that there will be no tion being greater than, the demand, bringing about an accumulation of iron.
 The make in June in Alabama showed an increase as to the outputNof furnace for May. The output of the furnaces
 in this State last month is given at
 1143I9 against IO1,s63 for May. The
 production in July will be greater than
 it was the previous month, it Ia believed,
 the start being favorable in that direc-
 ton. The blowing in of one furnace
 this week and the possibility of two
 more being started up before the end
 of the month. no matter how few days
 the increase is on, will mean some
 thing for the aggregate production.
 The furnaces in operation are doing
 well in fact, the furnace masters are being congratulated not only on the quantity of iron that is coming out. but the quality. Much iron that Is being
 sold in this district Is by grade, the properties of the iron being much above
 former averages. The raw material supplies so far have been adequate and "a aAa tArna ant Ia TaadA that khara ra no apprehension that any change will be experienced Reports that large quan-
 titles of coke are being brought into
 the Birmingham district from Virginia
 are not verified with ease, though rail-
 road authorities say that they are
 handling some coke this wey. There is a large number of coke ovens in opera ton and the make issheavy. but the furnaces have big requirernents and all stock that might have been accunu- lated is soon reduced when the iron making begins to pick up. .---'
 All bins at furnaces are we'll stocked with coal. coke, ore and limestone, and the railroad service to the various fields for this supply is the best that could be expected. If the coal miners strike should grow, it would take sev- eral weeks to deplete ept4relY the coal and coke supplies that are in hand or in sight. The convict mines are pro- duclng a large quantity of coal that would supply the steel-naklng furnaces and the non-union mines which were not affected by the strike would keep the foundry iron furnaces. going. The ore miners appear not to be concerned in the troubles of their brethren in the coal fields. There is a steady and in- creasIng output in the ore fields. There is but little change In the coke supplies while the limestone quarries are com 4a oM fat rrytkt koF product. s
 The home consumption of pig iron improves as the cast iron and soil pipe plants add more departments and start up various departments. There is a strong demand for pipe and the pro- duct Is being shipped about as quickly as 1t can be produced. From the va rious pipe centers. including North Birmingham. Bessemer. Shefield, Gads- den, Anniston and elsewhere the re- port is that there is a better demand for pipe and the plants in operation are doing nicely. The Bessemer soil pipe plant which resumed operations been made Is doing well and the pro- duction promises to be greater than ever before in a little while now.
 At the big steel plant of the Tennes- see Coal Iron and Railroad Company at Ensley. the activity continues with out the least hesitation. More labor is being put on from time to time and the production is growing right along. There Is but little steel being placed in the stock houses or on the yards. The Bessemer rolling mills, also prop erty of the Tennessee Company, is re- duiring quite a little amount of steel and its products are finding a ready demand. The shipments from Ensley and Bessemer are in all directions, the North West and Southwest getting much of the goods. with some ship ments directed towards the Southeast. Steel rail production Is most satisfac- torily, and the product is meeting all requirements, the tests showing the rail to be first class in all particulars.
 The first pay day at the steel plant since the resumption three weeks ago brought about considerable rejoicing not only among the men employed in the big plant but among the merchants and citizens of Ensley. The next pay day in July promises to be a more healthy one than the first as a larger number of men are being employed at this place and the tonnage has been larger. No small number of men em- pIoyed in this plant work on the tonn- age basis and their earnings are based on what they do.
 The arrival of a large number of foreign Iaborers is now looked for, many of the men who worked here before the depression came on and who went back to their native lands to wait for the improvement in condi- tions to return to the district. There are yet many people waiting for em- ployment but just as soon as the in- dustries of the Southern Steel Com