The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-03-04

ulation of Oklahoma Is increasing rap- idly and Oklahoma City is simply won- der. Notwithstanding Oklahoma Citys youth. 1t Is handsomely built up and pre- sents fine metropolitan appearance. There are several prominent business streets, and all of them are crowded Oklahoma City was not large enough to get into the last census table of cities of not less than 5000 people; but it will make big showing in the forthcoming census. Its population is supposed to be between | ing in every day"
 Politics in Winston A. J. Reilly of Blount county, who is a candidate for the state senate, spent last night in Birmingham. His senatorial dis trict consists of Blount. Cullman and Winston.
 q have just come in from Haleyville, Winston county" said MT. Reilly, where put in a day in the interest of my can- didacy The other candidates for the senate were also on hand. The people of Winston seem to be enjoying consid- erable prosperity. As to my chances Of election. I think they are quite good. l am certainly meeting with encourage ment. When it comes to the governor ship race, ONeal has Winston county. He will carry it by strong majority. The Iron Market The local iron-narlket is without spe- cial feature this week. Rogers, Brown s, Co.'S Cincinnati report says:
 '.The last few days of February showed slight Improvement in a quiet pig iron market. The effect on pig iron was brought about more as a result of con iitions in allied trades than any evidence in the pig iron market itself. There was better buying by railroads for equip ment and rolling stock and demand Tn the finished lines considerably improved the last week.
 ..several buyers in this territory made genuine inquiry and in one or two m stances closed at prices that were cer- tainly good purchases and it IS feit VIII he the forerunner of more. Generaiiy .nealsine there Is A large tonnage that y-orId he placed tomorrow if buyers were confident that figures quoted were the lowest that could be obtained. and 1t IS inc range in figures, on southern iron particularly. which is holding back prog ress
 .s,rhe outlook is favorable for buying movement during the next 60 days, which, ike the previous ones. wben 1t appears 5ill come without warning and prove ex- reed,nply active There has been of oourse. considerable iron bought for the last hall of thls year, but. compared with he present increasing consumption ana ibe consumption that will be going dur ing that period, it is only small percent age of what iron will be used. This i'm mense tonnage must be provided for and, sccordins to indications, will be before long.
 ..It is unouestionably true that the an sual winter conditions which have existed almost throughout the country, making outdoor operation difficult. has retarded movement in all lines and consequently inc selling of material for construction purposes This has reflected back down the line and delayed the activity which he opening of the year promised. Ine worl, which should have been done and would have. been accomplished have to be done some time and when this time comes will add to the pressure which IS bound to be exerted.
 "In some quarters it is felt that reac- ion jlas actually appeared. Locally. how
 yer. this Is not the case at the present the market ing of large quantities of resale south arn iron which has been thrown on the market and the sellers of 1t are content with small profits. This is hurting the legitimate furnace trade accordingly, and makes the local market one of irregu&ari- tv hut no criterion for the country in general.
 "The northern iron situs ton is much better than the southern and specialties in the norti, are in good favor. Basic and standard Beesemer are being called for and the melt is increasing. It is in | terestine to note that report on produc- | ton of all kinds of rails in the United States during 1909 showed s,0e2,ooo tons, an increase of 1l4O.oOo tons. or over bS per cent of 1908. The maximum production of all kinds of rails was reached in 1906, when 5,977,Ge0 tons were rolled.'
 Conditions Seemed Backward
 "I spent my boyhood in farming sec- tion." said Leo K. Steiner, the banker
 aand am therefore familiar with agricul- tural life.
 .It is a noteworthy and cheering fact that in some parts of Alabama farming has advanced materially and Is now con ducted on scientific, business-like lines, with excellent results. But in recent visit to Marengo county I drove seven miles through the mud and saw. instead of signs of progress, only signs or de- terioration. Hardly a single farmhouse Indicated anything but thriftlessness. In
 seven miles I did not see house that looked as if 1t had been painted within the past 20 years. Broad acres of good land were entirely neglected. It made me sad. Marenso has productive soil The farms that saw as drove along the road could be made as fertile as an, in the state.
 ."The increasing tendency of young mer
 reared on farm to move to . city and
 engage in mercantile pursuits has become
 a serious problem. Technical education
 for agriculture has been suggested as ons
 of the ways to make farming more at
 tractive to the ambitious fellow. Well
 that is good as far as 1t goes The edu
 cational work done at Auburn is in thu
 right direction, of course. It Is very
 helpful, indeed But many boys working