The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-26
RYAN COMMENTS
 ON CONTROVERSY Cost of Early Experiments in
 Steel Making RAILROADS PAID MONEY Corona Company official Says This Is Feature Overlooked in the
 Recent steiner-Sevier
 Controversy
PAID MONEY
By CLYDE W. ENNIS

In a formal interview given here yes terday J. R. Ryan, vice president or the Corona Coal and Coke company, pointed out a fact which he considers the most important work of the railroads
 in the development of the Birmingham
 district MT. Ryan referred to the con troyersy between B. Steiner and L. Sevier, general agent of the Southern railway,
 and said the Southern and the Louisville
 and Nashville according to the accepted version, had actually contributed large
 sums of money to demonstrate that steel
 could be made In Birmingham, and from tEese demonstrations has been born the
 present greatness and yet, future richness of this district.
 He said many years ago the most dis tnguished members of the American ln- stitute of Mining Engineers met here, and their most celebrated and most technical
 members said steel could not be made
 here with the ores of the Birmingham
 district
 However, in opposition to these almost
 fatal views, the Louisville and Nash vile and Southern spent huge sums in the
 Alabama Steel and Shipbuilding company, while that concern was carrying forward
 the demonstrations that proved the value
 of this district.
 MT Ryan has been long and actively
 identified with the industrial advancement
 of the Birmingham district, he is widely informed on practically all industrial his
 tory of the district, so his pronunciation
 of this fact as being the most important contribution by the railroads to Birming- ham will be received with more than the average interest.
 His entrance into the Steiner-Southern railway controversy was only made to
 place credit with the great railroads for
 the initiative they assumed and additional
 advancement of Birmingham.
 The formal statement of MT. Ryan fol- lows:
 'Referring to the matter in controversy between MT. Sevier and MT. Steiner, 1t oc- CUTS to me that MT. Sevier, in defense or the Southern railway, has lost sight Of
 what I consider the most important
 work done by the railroads for the de- velopment of the mineral resources of the
 district in which Birmingham is located Tn the early development of the iron and coal industry of this section the com panies in control at that time were In a state of impecuniosity, and without some
 help the development of the Birmingham district would have been retarded to the l extent of years. Without market Tor l the product, like the development of all
 other things, pig iron and coal had to | be sold at prices which yielded no pront. I I.<xtx. fka a n.
 erals, came to the, rescue of these com
 eaoffeHlh 'aiiu YeiEiffI etndagtfa l6fe N and coal | at less than cost to enable them to make pig iron which they could at all sell. They not only did haul the coal at loss. but had to accept notes in payment for this service, and the only possible
 benefit that they could expect to get out
 of it was the growth of Birmingham into a large city, and in which they aided in every possible way
 T can remember, when the American
 Institute of Mining Engineers convened in Birmingham years ago it was the ex- pressed opinion of their most distin-
 guished members that steel could not be
 made from these ores: and I have always
 understood that the Southern railway, in connection with the Louisville and Nash vile railroad, furnished large sums of
 money to the concern at Ensey which was called the Alabama Steel and Ship building company, and through their con- tribution and effort the making of steel from these ores has been determined years earlier than it would have been possible to have done otherwise. These were not acts of generosity but
 from the far-sighted and broad-gauged
 policy of those who were in control of
 the railroads in which they could see the
 development of large city through this
 means which would eventually bring them large revenues"