The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-15
WOODBRIDGE AFTER
 DATA ON IRON ORE Will Be Used in Compiling
 Government Book EXPLAINS HIS WORK
States That Federal Bureau of Mines Is Preparing Data for Publica- tiOn on Iron Ore Districts
 of United States

One of Birmingham interesting visitors at present is Dwight F.. Woodbridge, con sulting engineer of the United States bu- reau of mines, who is in this district to gather material for a volume treating ot the practical phase of mining red and brown ore. This is to be one of a nun Der of federal publications covering the mining the metallurgica industries of thls country to be distributed by the govern ment It is national in scope.
 Tn speaking of his mission to Birming- ham and the general outlook for his DOT ton of the work of securing information for the bureau of mines, MT Woodbridge said yesterday:
 "The assignment that l have from the bureau of mines embraces the iron ore industry as a whole. l shall endeavor ,c describe as fully as possible, so that any mining man can understand 1t, al methods of mining red ore that are in us' in the United States. All other methods that seem to be of interest and value whether they are in general use or not will also be taken up. In this connec- tion 1 wish to give the average district oosts-not costs for any one mine nor costs for any one company-but the ex- penses covering individual and separate districts averaged from data received from different operators and mines.
 'fT also plan to give some idea of the distribution methods of mining costs as will be of value to operators elsewhere am anxious to cover the various methods of mining exploration for iron ore, whatever they be. l want to include a description of whatever there may bt of interest in the various districts, in SC far as appliances. machinery and devices are concerned, particularly with refer ence to new means of generating and ap plying power. The financial consideration and means of transportation in conveying the iron ore from the mines to the fur naces will probably form an import ant item in the resume of each section
 "The conservation of iron ore at rht mines is to be studied with a view tc covering quite fully and amply this very important feature of mining. l believe that this is one of most interesting as vel as necessary matters to come within the scope of this inquiry.
 "Furthermore, all possible will be said of the efforts of the various mining coni- panies for the welfare of their men, sani- tation, the general ethics of the profes- lsion including pensions and the basis on which they are established, and many other things are concluded in this enumer- ation. These matters, which have been outlined in a general way, are not to be applied only to the Birmingham district hut to the entire United States, and to such ores as are mined outside of the United States and marketed in competi- tion with American ores.
 "This is not to interfere in any way, however. with the very splendid work being done by the United States geoloS- jcal survey but is rather to take up the subject where the survey leaves off. Two wears have been estimated as the time limit for the collection of data for the iron ore volume, but the period actually reousite yet remains to be seen,
 .The Birmingham district with New York state and the great lakes region are the most important red ore sections oi this country. The reading matter, con- seouentlv. relative to the Birmingham district promises to be of unusual concesi and instructive to a large degree to those seeking knowledge of the iron ore indus try of ahe United States.