The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-03
IRON AND STEEL
PLANTS RUN AGAIN
Work Resumed in Flooded
Districts
RAILROADS BUYING
RAILROADS
Many Bridges Lost by Floods Must
Be Rebuit-24, 900 Tons
Taken by Ensley
Mills

New York. April 2.-Cspecial)-T Iron
Age will say tomorrow: Resumption at
the flooded iron and steel plants in Ohio,
western Pennsylvania and west Virginia
have come sooner than was predicted
and estimates of the cutting off of pro-
duetion can be considerably reduced. The
loss in blast furnace output may be 25o,-
600 tons or more.
Much depends on the ability of the rail-
roads to furnish a normal supply of coke
as many as So furnaces we're banked when
the floods were at the worst About 40
of these are now in blast and probably
10 more will be going by the end of the
week. The flood represents a loss of ESQ.,
900 to 300,O0 ton in steel output and brings
down upon the mills emergency calls that
will only add to the difficulties In deliv-
cries.
One railroad system will need 100
bridges. large and small. Property loss to
iron and steel works by the floods is
lot yet heavy when compared with the
loss of business so far as foundry iron
is concerned. The flood has apparently
cut down output more than it has re-
duced the consumption. Apart from what
the railroads are already figuring Oh
the largest new buying in bars. one Pitts
burg interest closed about 100000 tons in
rails The chief business reported is pa
600 tons taken by the Ensley mills
Pig iron markets in the central west
have been practically at a standstill for a
week. In the east few sales of foundry
iron have developed some weak spots.
Southern forge at s12 and No. at $i2.25.
Birmingham are the reported basis OF
pipe foundry purchases.
Cleveland, April 2.-(SpeciaD-The Iron
Trade Review tomorrow will say: The
iron trade is emerging cheerfully from
the chaotic condition into which it was
plunged by the floods of the past week,
although so blast furnaces and many
large steel plants were compelled to sus-
pend temporarily only two furnaces in
the valleys and two in Cleveland found
it necessary to blow out. Nearly all of
the other furnaces are already at work
and steel plants and finishing mills are
rapidly being placed in condition to re-
sumo
The property loss to these industries
will not be very large, but some foun-
dries and machine shops in the flooded
districts will suffer severely. Selling In
the central west was almost completely
stopped for a week, but is now being
slowly resumed. Some requests for sus-
pension of shipments are being made
and Indulgence in settling bills is asked
by some customers in the flood zone, but
IL is expected that the demand for struc-
tural shapes, reinforcing bars and other
material will soon be active.
The union bridge company has not re-
Gently promised deliveries in less than
six months on structural material and
few Independent makers will do better
than this except upon the payment of
large premiums. hence the question,
where structural material will be OBJ
taired for replacing buildings and bridges
destroyed by recent high waters is a
very important one.
1t was fully expected that March
would make new record in production
of pig iron, but owing to the banking
of so many furnaces. the production
will show a sharp decline as compared
with the proceeding month. Indications
are that the melt of pig iron by foun-