The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-26
COAL AND IRON
 PLANTS IMPROVED Coke Ovens Are Completed at
 Short Creek
  NEW ORE WASHER READY Birming ham Coal and Iron Company Is Rushing Work Provided for in Re- cent Appropriation of $1 ,5OO,-
 OOO-Atkinson Coming
NEW ORE WASHER READY

A portion of the Birmingham Coal and Iron company work for which an appro- priation of s1,5oooOo was made has beef completed. The appropriation in full was for work to be done at Short Creek, Van- derbiit furnaces and Tucumsah ore mines
 It was given out yesterday that the SC coke ovens at Short Creek which have been under construction for the past four months have been finished and will be ready for lighting within short time. The work at Tecumsah mines which includes a new ore washer has been completed. The washer will be in- spected by the officials of the company during the present week.
 The furnace work at Vanderbilt will be completed in the next 60 days It was expected that this would have been com pleted by this time but some delay in the delivery of a blowing engine prolonged the work
 The battery of coke ovens at Short Creek Is located at No. mines and Is said to be among the most modern in the Bir- IIlnBndIl QlStT1cI. ln6 ONenS are sup piled with the latest patented pulling and loading process which eliminates delay in operation caused in the past by bad weather or shortage of help. The pro- cess is so constructed that one man takes the place of about 20. The coke is taken from the ovens loaded onto a patented pulley belt, carried to the top of the oven thence to the cars and loaded. And never in all this time does the hand of man assist in the unloading and dumping AS to charging the same modern methods are employed. The same machinery charges the ovens. The process has also been supplied for the additional ovens which were constructed some time ago.
 The ore washer built by the Birming- ham Coal and Iron company at their principal red ore mine is according to the latest models and held to be one of the best in the Birmingham district. The washer will be placed In operation with in a few days. This item in the appro- priation amounts to several thousand dol lars
 The work at Vanderbilt furnaces in- cludes the extension of the blowing house and the installation of two new blowing engines. This improvement was one of the most expensive of the entire work of repairs. The addition of the two engines to the plant at Vanderbilt will enable the Birmingham Coal and Iron company to operate two furnaces at one tune, which will be achievement never
 before realized at that plant.
 With the increased coking capacity al Short Creek, the increased efficiency oi the ore mines and more power at the furnaces at Vanderbilt it Is expected that the Birmingham Coal and Iron company will begin some-very extensive operations Harry M. Atkinson, president of the Bir- mingham Coal and Iron company is, If possible, more interested in his coal prop critics here than any other of his many holdings. He states that this winter will find the money market easy and that in- dustrial progress will go on with renew ed activity. He will be in Birmingham during the course of the next few weeks for the purpose of seeing the practical completion of one of the largest appro- priations for repairs made by the smaller companies this year.