The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-03-10
ANNUAL REPORT OF
 SHEFFIELD President Maben Submits Some
 Interesting Data. 1909 WAS HEAVY YEAR Only One Previous Year in History of Company Exceeded Production
 of That Which Has Re-
 gently Closed.
1909 WAS HEAVY YEAR

New York, March 9,-(Special.) )-The an. nual meeting of the stockholders of the Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company was held in Jersey City today. Presi. dent J. c. Maben submitted his annual report, which had been previously ap. proved by the board of directors.
 Two new directors were elected to fill vacancies, w. B. Clyde and H. Brenner in place respectively of F. B. Olcott and Joseph Bryan, deceased.
 Presidents Report.
 The full text of MT. Mabens report follows:
 To the Stockholders of the Sloss-Shef-
 field Steel and Iron Company:
 From the standpoint of production the year 1909 was the banner year in the iron and steel trade of the country, the pro
 duction exceeding even the record of 1907, which exceeded that of the first half
 by B. 3750,000 tons. The selling price of iron, however, remained comparatively low for nearly two-thirds of your fiscal year. and
 very little iron which was sold at the bet ter prices which obtained during the
 last three months was delivered during
 the year, it having been sold for future delivery, so that your average delivery
 price for the year was below the average
 for the last 10 years, while the cost was increased a little over the previous year, owing to the greater demand for and consequently less efficient, labor. So that
 taking the year through the profit per ton on iron was somewhat less than in l90S
 Your plants have been well maintained and are all in efficient working order ex- cept No. furnace which is now under going repairs. The output of pig iron
 during the year was the largest in the life
 of the company, except in one year-1904- when the make was only 19000 tons great CT. The production of iron of all kinds In
 the state of Alabama in 1909 exceeded the
 make of 1907 by 76943 tons. Of this in- crease a little over 60000 tons were con- tributed by your company, leaving only 1000 tons increase for all other furnaces In the state, and of the increase from 1905 to 1909, inclusive, your company con | tributed about 40 per cent. Your output of
 coal In 1909 was also the largest in any year since the organization of the com
 pany except one, while the production of
 coke was by far the largest in any one year, showing an increase of 66,000 tons as compared with 1907, while the entire
 state, for the same period showed a fall- ing off in production of 224 600 tons and the production of iron ore exceeded by 1000 tons the best previous years rec ord. Your Flat Top mine has the credit of
 having been the largest producer of coal in the state during tie year. These facts
 are the best evidence which can be ad-
 duced that the efficiency of your plants
 has been fully maintained
 The statements annexed will show that after deducting for depreciation, renewal
 funds, etc, and paying the full dividends
 on the preferred and common stocks there
 was credit balance of $l57,947. The com. pany has no floating debt, borrowed noth- | ing during the year and offered none o1 | it's bills receivable for discount. Blast Furnaces.
 | During the year No. furnace at North | Birmingham was thoroughly refitted with
 new hearth, tuyer and bosh Jackets, the
 stack was refined and three large Whit well stoves erected. It was put into blast September 1T, since which time il
 has been in successful operation We
 were able to supply the furnaces which
 were in blast during the year with all the ore and coke required from the com pany's plants, buying none. Since the | close of the fiscal year an appropriation has been made for refitting No 1 fur | mace, which had been in blast on the | same lining for five years and the work | is now progressing. In addition to the
 ordinary repairs horsepower Sterling boilers will be installed, replacing certain
 old boilers, which have done service fol
 some years. The Philadelphia furnace which Is not in commission, is in good | condition. since it was in blast for only
 a little over a year since some S220, COG
 was spent on it in 1907 and 19oS It was blown out In April. 190S during the de- pression following the panic of October, | 1907, as referred to in our last annual re-
 port, and we have not felt justified since
 In starting it up. | The Hattie Ensley furnace is now on
 its seventh year of blast on practically
 the same lining and while 1t is still pro
 ducing well we cannot reasonably ex-
 pect it to continue work very much
 longer The Philadelphia furnace will | take It's place when 1t goes out of | blast.
 Coal Mines.
 The coal trade was very dull for the
 greater part of the year. and your mines
 having a capacity considerably in ex- cess of the company's requirements for coking and steam purposes, as well as | filling its contracts with railroads for | fuel coal, some of your smaller mines were closed down for a considerable DOT | tion of the year. and were worked only when a market could be found for the coal, but your three prlnclpal mines,
 with a capacity in excess of 4o00 tons a day were operated steadily during the year. No large expenditures at the coal
 mines were found to be necessary dur | ing the year, and the cost of such re- pairs and improvements as were made was charged directly to the cost of coal, except about $10,000 for new and addi- tonal machinery and live stock, which are depreciated monthly
 Ore Mines.
 During the year another mine was opened and equipped at Ruffnef, which is producing most satisfactory results. The results of the operations of the two
 mines in the field were so encouraging, both as to cost and quality of the ore, that an appropriation was asked toward the close of the year for opening a third
 mine, which was granted, and the rail- road-half of a mie-has been completed and all necessary nachnery has been received and is being installed as rapid ly as possible, and we expect to be ship ping ore in about 30 days consider able expenditure was necessary at Sloss mines during the year in providing addi- tional boilers, air compressor, pumps. etc., to take care of the water which broke in No. l slope early last spring, but before the installation of this equip ment had been completed the water had