The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-11
GOOD SHOWING MADE FOR YEAR OF PANIC Annual Meeting Of SIoss Com pany In Jersey City THE PRESIDENTS REPORT Had Four Furnaces Shut Down But Iron Production Was Within
 15,ooo Tons of Pre-
 vious Year.

New York. March 10.-(Speeial)-Th annual meeting of the stockholders of the sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company was held in Jersey City today. The old board of directors was reelected. Pres ident J. c. Maben's report was submitted It Is as follows:
 To the Stockholders of the Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company:
 The last fiscal year of your company, which ended November 30, 1908, opened with discouraging, gloomy outlook. fol- lowing close upon the heels of the acute panic of the preceding October, and se- rious fears were entertained of a demor- alization in the steel and iron trade that might prove disastrous to many. The reaction from the prosperity which it had enjoyed was speedy and most violent, and so great was the cancellation and postponement of orders for the shipment of iron previously bought, with no new business offering, that furnaces were put out of the blast and very soon the pro- duction of iron was reduced over 50 per cent. As emphasizing the great depres- sion in the iron trade, it may be stated that so far as can be recalled this was
 
 predecessor. the Sloss Iron and Steel company, in a period of 20 years, had ever felt it best to put furnace out of blast, owing to the state of the iron market.
 We began the year with an accumula- tion of over 10000 tons of iron on our furnace yards, and. notwithstanding that four of the seven furnaces were idle our make for the first quarter exceeded our shipments by over 33, 3,OO0 tons.
 In pursuance of tAe policy adopted gen. erally by the furnace companies through out the country to endeavor to limit pro- duction to about the consumptive demand your company closed down three of it's furnaces the last of November, 1s07 to be followed by a fourth a little later and they remained idle for about six months. Notwithstanding that such a large percentage of our furnace capacity was idle for so long a period we pro- dueed within less than 15,000 tons as much iron as our output in the previous year, which is accounted for by the i'm proved railroad transportation of raw material, more efficient labor, which had become greatly demoralized prior to the panic, and the good condition of the furnaces. The production of the coun- try shows a falling off of over 100000 tons as compared with 1907. or. in round figures, of about 10 per cent of the pre- vious years make while your company showed decrease of less than per cent
 Cut Coal Sales.
 The railroads very quickly felt the fall ing off of business and promptly reduced the number of both passenger and freight trains, which. of course. curtailed very materially the consumption of coal. caus- ing reduction in revenue to your com pany from that source.
 During the latter part of the second quarter there was some improvement in the demand for iron, and the fires were lighted in the fourth furnace. but it was well into the fourth quarter before we felt justified by the prospects ahead of us in starting up a fifth furnace. The year closed with T per cent of your fur mace capacity at work, one furnace still remaining idle, while another was under going extensive repairs.
 Considering how discouraging the out look for business and consequent earnings at the beginning of the year, and for some months afterward we have reason to be gratified at the financial results of operation for the year. The net profits showed a marked increase each quarter over the preceding one and after provid- ing for your bond interest full per cent on preferred stock and at rate of per cent for the first quarter, and per cent for the remaining three quarters on the common stock, making a liberal al lowance for depreciation and charging off considerable sum which had accrued at the idle furnaces and mines for sal aries, repairs, etc., while they were pro- ducing nothing against which it could be charged, there was a surplus left of s69,- 96O, with the company entirely free from floating debt.
 The average price at which iron was delivered during the year was $3.93 per ton lower than in 1907, which alone caused reduction in profits of over. s1, 250,000.
 Working capital, with all inventories