The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-09
SOUTH AMERICA
 AND EUROPE LOOK
 TO UNITED STATES
Only Thing Needed Is Ships in Which to Transport Products-Local Ex- perts Believe That They
 Will Be Available in
 Short Time
By CLYDE W. ENNIS

and iron men in this city yesterday re- vealed the opinion held by all of them that the European war will cause, before Christmas. one of the most substantial increases in local industrial business that this section has known in some years. The suggestion yesterday morning in The Age-Herald that the iron market was expected to take an upward trend during the next few days brought an expression entirely in accord with that view.
 The local men base their opinion upon the inevitable ruin which will follow. to the worlds intense regret, in the path of the armies. The principal iron works of France and Germany are located on the border between those countries and on the Russian frontier Before the armies can engage in any very great bat tie it is believed that the works located there will be blown up or destroyed other wise. In addition there is located in Belgium immense coal fields now idle. There are also a number of furnaces m that section. In all of the countries of Europe there will be for some weeks complete paralysis of business, especially in the creative lines.
 American Producers
 American producers feared that under the Underwood tariff bill there would be an immense importation of iron to this country, as ballast, and placed on the seaboard as well as inland in com petition with the American product. There
 is wide difference of opinion as to that Granting, however, that such is the case,
 local iron markets are extremely san guine over what they confidently believe will come about and that is the utter elimination of imports and a consequent demand on iron districts for all they can produce The opinion is that even if the local makers do not profit by actual exportations abroad there will be higher prices by reason of the elimination of the imports that were expected.
 The iron men here do not fear inn ported iron and believe that the whole of Europe will be asking for American iron not long hence If this comes true, 1t will be an exact reversal of what was expected some weeks ago by those less optimistic. During the time when the belief was held that imported iron would play havoc with local iron, the opera tions were 90 per cent normal, off and on. It is believed that the iron makers will start soon to run up their tonnages to the maximum in the belief that there will be demands from abroad. It is safe to assume that the forts, the plants and the other industrial concerns which will go down in the devastation of war must be rebuilt and the iron and steel necessary can comesfrom no nearer point than the United States.
 There Is great optimism here. The steel and iron conditions are so much better than were believed and the outlook is so much more rosy that good cheer and smiles are to be found with every opera tor of the district
 Another Reason for Optimism
 Another reason for optimism was given by P. c. Shook yesterday. It was stated by MT Shook that he had been informed that this state could sell 100000 tons of coal to South American ports if the ships or ''bottoms'' were available. That opin- ion was also vouchsafed by no less an ob- servant paper than the New York Times. MT. Shook asked the opinion of Erskine Ramsey on the possibility of getting the bottoms Mir Ramsay said they were not available, and that this company now had 1500 cars of coal at New Orleans, Mo- bile and Pensacola awaiting bunkers That condition. 1t was asserted, cannot last long. It is recalled that the 1000. .000-ton inquiry from sales agents to r. A. Grider that caused such optimism here lately was based upon the probability of transferring some boats from transatlantic to South American trade temporarily. That would result in the boats needing 100000 tons which would be- in addition to the re- qLirements of South America, which ac- quires all of its coal from Wales The mines in Wales are now shut down.
 It is the. opinion that Wales will not be in the market again soon. There remains only the shortage of boats to transport the coal which stands in the way of Bir- mingham securing this immense tonnage of coal which would be absolutely new business. Birmingham cannot expect to get the order to which inquiries were made to r. A. Grider unless there are ships. It would appear, therefore. that 1t is pos sible to get the 1000, ,o00-tons usually sold by Wales if the order as to which Mir. Grider had inquiries is given here. It is believed the first tonnage will come here. And if the transatlantic boats are trans- ferred to South American traffics for while then it Is entirely probable that there will be a sufficient number of bot toms" with which to take care of the coal that Birmingham might sell in dis placement of that sold by Wales.
 In addition to this proposition of selling giant tonnages to ships In South Amer ican service and to South American coun- tries. there was announced yesterday by the Pratt Consolidated Coal and Iron com psny that there had been received from European agents requests to be in readi- event of prolongation of the European hostilites.
 Pratt Company Statement
 The Pratt Consolidated. believing the proposition was of such an encouraging