The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-30
TX. GLENN TELLS OF. RESOURCES.
Most of Output Sold in Form
 of Pig Iron
HOME MARKETNEEDED
South Is Using Hardly Fifth Of What It Ought, He Says-Cost of Production in Birming-
 ham District

l The Modern Development nf the Iron and Steel Industry in the South" was the subject handled by Thomas K. Glenn. president Atlanta Steel company, Atlanta. at the Steel institute meeting yesterday afternoon. It was one of the best and most constructive papers of the meeting. Mir. Glenn had happy stage presence that made him popular and his reading was at times seasoned with n little wit and humor. His paper in part was as follows:
 l "The states south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. with their 5o0ooo square
 miles of area, contain wealth great enough for q continent-a wealth so vast, so varied in its elements and character. so advantageously placed for develop ment, that these states alone can sustain population far greater than the pop ulation of the United States today . It was the building of an empire in the west that relieved and enriched the east az well as the west The enormous en- ergies, the plant used in that task un- paralleled in the magnitude of the work and the greatness of the reward to all, Is now seeking new field for investment. and there is no spot on earth sufficient l for 1t and within it's reach but the south l do not consider that there ever existed in the west, great as Its wealth is, nor any other portion of the country. anything like the natural wealth of the south. A very large part of the south Is blessed with a climate unexcelled, if equalled, elsewhere in the world As to the mountainous region of the south. 1t c ghAP f. f,,.. u. tages for tho development of that wealth | 1t has finer climate, better water and higher condition of health than any region l of which I have any knowledge, and is, withal, one of the most beautiful regions | in the world
 "(Extracts from letter by the late lion. William D. Pig Iron) Kelley of i'ennsylvania to Richard H. Edmonds.) "lf what Mir Kelley has stated Is true. We will consider for short while what we have done with these wonderful nat ural advantages Nearly POO years ago, l in 1I32, we find MT. Washington no doubt the father of George, mining and selling Iron ore in Virginia at 20 shillings 1 per ton. little later. 1t is said that Thomas Jefferson was making nails at the rate of about ton per month at con- | siderable profit.
 Raw Material of South Those who are supposed to be in po- sition to know say that the southern states have almost an inexhaustible sup | ply of good cooking coal that will prob ably outlive the supply of iron ore, and that the lack of this can in no wise hinder | the future iron and steel development of | this section. While there is no way of de- termining, yet it is given as an estimate by the United States geological survey that the coal fields of the south probably | Pn tot Aalf l United States. and more than twice the coal of the whole of Europe.
 In 1880 the south was producing about 1 10 per cent of the coal mined in the United States In 1890 the south was producing about 15 per cent of the coal mined in the United States. In 1900 the south was pro- ducing about 20 per cent of the coal mined in the United States. In 1910 the south was producing about 24 per cent of the coal mined in the United States l So the south has more than kept pace with the balance of the country in this | respect.
 Iron and Steel Development l 'In considering the south's commer- cial development in iron and steel. if might be view from five standpoints: l Il. That until very recently all of the souths output had to be marketed in the form of pig iron, and that even now most of 1t is sold in that form. "2. That the bulk of the output is marketed at points for from the fur naces and is subject to heavy freight charges.
 "3. That the market price of south ern pig iron Is always lower, and usually much lower, than that of sim- liar grades at northern and eastern furnaces.
 A. That the production of iron in the nat Vao ha af,,x same, while that of the country at large has shown a marked increase. The south's production of pig iron has remained about the same for the past 10 years, while the United States has made an increase of over 70 per cent and that the south's percentage of the production of the whole has. dur ing the same period. fallen from IT per cent to 10 per cent. a reduction of ' | per cent.
 Tn nine years manufactured products have shown an increase of 69 per cent. agricultural products 110 per cent, and in 12 years national Bank resources l 19S per cent. and in each instance the percentage of increase has been great CT in the south than other sections of the country.
 Although the start was late as com pared to other sections of the country, the south can give a little better ac- count of herself in the production of steel than in pig iron. The first open hearth steel was made in the Birming : ham district in 1888 by the Henderson Steel and Manufacturing company. Col. J. w. Bush, in giving an account of same. says: After many tedious de- lays the furnace was fired, and in three hours and 40 minutes tho first ton of Alabama steel was molded into
 ingots on the 9th day of March, 1888. When this ton of steel was made the stock of the company scared skyward; 1900 for 100 was given in some in- stances. While we had steel we had no furnce left Our furnace lining was of fire brick and dolomite. The heat was so intense that the lining and
 brick fused and went out with the steel
 In our enthusiasm we overlooked this
 important difficulty and proceeded at once to organize another and larger company.'
 Need of Home Market
 ''The reason why the development in iron has not been faster and In keep li ing with other sections of the United sufficient demand for 1t at home due to the woeful lack of manufacturing in-
 dustries that use pig iron. The con-
 sumption of pig iron in the United States is about $50 pounds (per capital,
 while in the south estimate that 1t | Is not over 150 pounds. The difference represents the backwardness of the south in the manufacture of finished forms of iron and steel. The present approximate consumption of pig iron in the south is 1.s0O.000 tons. If the l south manufactured all the finished iron and steel that itsnow uses 1t would khAx =