The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-03
IRON STILL
 HOLDING UP Positive Announcement by Manufacturers. NO SHORTAGE OF COAL YET Furnaces in Blast Are Doing
 We'll.
  Railroad omcinIs watching Iron and Steel Market and Promise Ne Delay in Csrs--Fuei Ar engagements Satisfactory.

| Birmingham, Aug. 2.--(Specisl.1-- Positive announcement is made by the l Alabama pig iron manufacturers that 1 the output at furnaces is being kept up. l despite the coal miners strike and that
 little more iron is being produced I than is in demand. The shipments of | iron from this district are quite steady 1 while improvement is noted in the
 home consumption. The railroads are | giving every attention to the iron pro- l ducers and there Is no reason to com. | plain as far as production and steady moving out of the product is concern | ed. The furnaces in blast are doing I we'll. A record run was made at the four furnaces of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at Ensley
 during the past week, something over | 1,500 tons of good iron being turned out in twenty-four hours. The grade | of iron that Is being produced in the | Birmingham district Is most satisfac- | tory right now and some of the fur l naces are selling their product by ari- | aIysis this class of iron receiving from l 50 to 75 cents advance over the regu- | lar quotations.
 l As to iron price SIP per ton, No 2 | foundry, appears to be the strong quo- l tation now in this district There IS very little, if any. iron now selling l in this district. Even the smaller con | CernQ | and better. There Is some iron to be l seen on furnace yards in the immediate l district, but the statement Is made that | this iron has been sold and only awaits l instructions on the part of the con- | sumers that 1t be shipped. Cars will l be placed on an hours notice, say the railroad officials when the product is needed and prompt delivery Is being guaranteed by all.
 Inquiry is being received right along | for iron. Reports as to the coal min I CTS strike affecting the iron produc- 1 ton appears to be quite general and | the positive assurance on the part of | tha fnanufacturers that there has beer l no change in the daily production Is | quite reassuring
 we will be able to get all the coal l and coke needed from the outside l said prominent iron man, and atten- | tion was called to the fact that sotite-
 coke alone will De brought Into the 1 district by two of the larger conpa. l nies from Tennessee. There will be no cessation of operations at blast iron furnaces. rolling mills, steel plants and l other industries which were In opera tion before the miners strike began, | 1t Is asserted. Afid the interests appear | to be determined. The organization among the coal operators, represent | ing 90 per cent. of the entire coal out
 put of the district. promises to care | for all needs on the part of the iron l manufacturers and other interests in
 the district which require a large torn- | age of coal daily.
 The location of a branch ofice of | one of the largest pig iron brokerage l firms in the country. today in Firm | ingham Is taken as a most signihcant I event. This firm has had represent I ative from time to time in the city or | agents have been on visit to this sec tion constantly, but it has been sev- 1 eral years since an ofifce has been 1 maintained here. Birmingham is regu- Iating iron and steel prices some, 1t Is
 admitted. and the probable growth Of | the industry is looked at already by some of the larger firms dealing exten- | sIvely in these products and so to get 1t on the ground floor ofnces are being l set up now.
 | Several brokerage firms and individu- als have already established agencies in Birmingham while manufacturing concerns have given commissions out in Birmingham in order to be right | with the producers and either pick up
 or sell bargains as they might be of- fered
 As has been stated befote. efforts are still being made to get Birmingham l on A hasinR point for iron and steel.
 At present iPttsburg has the advantage in that regard, notwithstanding the fact that the proeHcts can be gotten out at less than in the northern section or the
 county.
 the iron and steel market, this ship ment being great part of the trafio that promises to fnn- | prove the general conditions. No de- iay is to be noted in delivery of pig iron It is not necessary to give second order to the railroads for emp Z sIf FAfc
 The first order Is obeyed promptly ana
 the switch engines can be seen working l around the furnace yards shortly after
 an order is placed.
 While large amount of iron is leav-
 ing the Birmingham district in all d.
 rections. there Is a heavy tonnage be-
 ing melted right at home. The cast | iron pipe concerns as we'll as the soil l plants appear to have some urgent | business on the books, and there is not
 the slightest interruption of operations.
 little concern Is said to exist at
 some of the places as to the supply or
 fuel. but the coal companies have prom
 ised to do the best they can under the
 circumstances, and arrangements have
 been made for steady supply. Good | nrices obtain in the cast iron pipe nelo. 1 There is a steady inquiry also being
 received for this product and the tndi-
 cations are that the demand will be l steady all through the year.
 Steady operations are reported from
 an authoritative source at the steel | plant at Ensley. Opposition to the | companies announce that the supply of | coal and coke has been curtailed 1 enough to cause slack operations at the | steel plant There appears to be
 steady outward movement of the prod
 ucts of the big plant Alabama steel
 rail is still in demand and the rolls are
 running regularly on the product.
 The Bessemer rolling mills (Tennes-
 see Coal. Iron and Railroad Company.
 Is the only plant of the kind that Is in 1 operation in the district. Between 1 three and four hundred men are being
 given employment in and around the
 mills and there is a fairly good ship
 ment of the products of the plant
 There Is some accumulation, but not
 enough to warrant any uneasiness.
 Foundrymen and machine shop men l still report some valuable Improvement | in conditions with them There is any l amount of labor to be had by tne foun- l dries and machine shops, and the
 business picks up. 1t is being put on.
 A report which comes from an offi-
 cial source shows that the production 1 at the big steel plant of the Tennessee l Coal Iron and Railroad Company for
 The month just over was greater than l it has been any month since the plant l was constructed. In March, which was | heretofore the banner month, the pro- | duction was 39, 29s tons of ingots. Dur l ing June. it is announced the prodHe- l tnuS There xlYae