The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-11
PIG IRON MARKET
ALABAMA PRODUCERS NOT OFFER.
 INC; ANY CONCESSIONS.
Ii i. Publicly Announced In several ON.ee, of the Birmingham Dis- trfct That the Sales Equal
 the Make.

in fact, there VIII De iafseT soutput this month than was noted In Aprll. The blowing in of two furnaces, the new furnace of the Birmingham Coal and Iron Company, at Vanderbilt, and city furnace No. 1 of the Sloss-Shemeld Steel and Iron Company was tea- ture of this month In the Iron indus try. The Birmingham Coal and Iron Company blew out their old furnace for repairs but the new furnace IS so much larger and such a modern TUT mace that 1t is the same as new furT mace being blown in altogether The two furnaces will add mo- less than. $50 tons of iron to the daily make In this State. h1s
 It is announced in several ofices that the sales just now are equal to the make. The amount of iron on the yards does not give great concern There Is still a denial that any slash- ing of prices has been intended or was put into effect. Clippings and full ar ticles from trades papers and Northern newspapers are being received In this district by iron men which go to show that the statement was very freely circulated throughout the iron centers other than the Southern. that some or the manufacturers in this section of the country proposed placing many thousand tons of iron on the open mar ket at a price at least s2 under that which prevailed.
 q wish you would say for me-" said one of the prominent Iron men Tn this district that the accusation that tnere was a war to be made on Northern iron producers by the Southerners Is with out truth. The Southern iron men are going to do nothing that will tend to demoralize the iron market. The South produces about one-hfteenth Of the entire make of the country and 1t could not be expected that prices will be regulated here"
 There is no delay whatever in the delivery of iron from this section. The railroads are giving every service that could be asked for. The furnaces in operation are doing splendidly, in fact the furnace masters appear to giving the industry better attention than while times are very active. Some of the furnaces are maintaining record breaker outputs, the North Birmingham Iron maker one day during the past week producing no less than 22T tons of iron.
 As to quotations the Southern prices appear to range between SIP and Si2.5o | per ton, No foundry. There is posi- | lively no iron selling in this state al | S10 per ton, No 2 foundry basis. There | have been rumors that some Iron has | been sold in this district at $ll.2b per | ton. but no acknowledgment Of this product is obtainable. There are indi- : Cations that consumers are stfll hold ] ing off in the belief that there is some | truth in cheaper iron or will be at no | distant date. The cast iron pipe in- | terests appear to be enjoying a little | better trade. The various plants in'the | immediate Birmingham district are do- | ing better. It is announced on good authority that cast iron pipe makers l t. al fcph nFhArQ that | will keep the industries in full opera l tion for some time to come The Uni
 ted States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry | Company recently booked an order | from a Western city that was healthy
 and 1t Is now announced that another
 order is about to be captured that VIII
 warrant a general resumption at ootn 1 the Anniston and Bessemer. Ala. pipe
 plants. The Sheffield Cast Iron Pipe
 and Foundry Company. located in the | Shefleld section of the State. has re- | stunned operations though with i'm | lied force of hands However. the | sight of smoke, no matter how small an | amount, coming from the chimneys. IS | most interesting.
 l The announcement by President George Crawford of the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company, that the
 steel plant at Ensley and the rolling
 mills at Bessemer would resume opera
 ton by June 15, and that there would
 he a steady operation for some time, | was interesting information, notwith-
 standing there was some dlsappolnt-
 ment because of the months delay. IL
 is learned on the best of authority that
 the Tennessee Company has sold a
 large quantity of steel rail. but the
 railroads have instructed that delivery
 be held up pending some improvement
 in the conditions of the times Just
 as soon as there are better times fell | all around, there are no doubts but tnai
 both the steel plant and rolling mills
 will be called on to keep In full and
 steady operation for some time In or
 der to meet the demand. There has
 been no cut made in steel or steel raj
 to induce business. The United States
 Steel Corporation, according to indi' cations, has done nothing as to bring about a war against them, either on the
 part of the pig iron or the steel produc CTS. The big repairs and improvement
 at the steel plant of the Tennessee Coal
 Iron and Railroad Company at Ensley are about completed. and more thar 300 men will be idle for few weeks It is given out that some work VII be done repairing blast iron furnaces ] in the vicinity of Bessemer. twelv' miles south of Birmingham. but ther' will be no employment of skilled labo } in doing this work.
 Coal and Coke-Two coal mines re sumed operation during the past weel
 and on the last day fire destroyed th'
 tipple at one mine and will throw i
 idle for a few weeks. The demand fo
 coal is holding up fairly we'll Th' home consumption being at low ebb because of furnaces and mills ana
 other industries experiencing dull times
 the production is far from being wha
 it should be. One of the assistant Stat' mine inspectors estimates that the pro
 duction is of 40 per cent at least al
 compared to what 1t was a year ago
 large number of coal miners art
 without work. especially in Pratt Mines
 division of the Tennessee Coal. Iron anC
 Railroad Company. The mines ope
 rated with convict labor are in full op eration. This recently called forth ar article from the dean of the Catholic clergy in North Alabama, who ex
 pressed himself against convicts being
 used in mines. especially when theI
 come in direct opposition with fre'
 labor and bring about considerable dis tress as has been the case lately. Tn,
 coal producers in this State have mad, no big reduction in coal prices.
 It is believed that the view of tn, operators Is that 1t is better to suspend
 operations, and save the coal. than tt keep the mines going and selling tn \ "a rat T