The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-01
Led by 'sUncle Joe" Butler the Members Make the
 l.. & N. Train Shed Echo With Cheers
SAW STEEL MILL
 AND FURNACES ON
 LAST EXCURSION
Big Engine Is DeraiIed, But Accident Delays Party Only an Hour-Big Crowd Is Handled Very
 Efficiently-Talk of
 Developments

What the members of the American Iron and Steel institute saw Friday was mere- ly an introduction to what they saw yes terday
 The excursion train to Thomas and the Ensley industrial district left at s:l5 in the morning, and in spite of train wreck" got back to Birmingham on time at o'clock.
 There. assembled under the train sheds of the Louisville and Nashville railroad station. the members of the institute gath cred about Uncle Joe" Butler of Youngs- town, who had mounted upon a baggage truck, and gave three cheers for the Ten nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company, President George Gordon Crawford. thirdly the ladies (as Uncle Joe put iD and fourthly every person in the city of Birmingham, white or black.''
 Those iron and steel men gave three cheers that drove the smoke out from e--tier the train sheds for the first time in many years. T have attended every meeting of the institute since it has been organized shouted Uncle Joe," as he started the cheering "but this has been the best one yet. Therefore, I'm going to make a motion and second 1t myself that we give three cheers"
 Crawford Forced to Speak
 A cry went up for President Crawford. He was seized by his comrades and boost ed onto the baggage wagon. q wish had known l was to be called upon for a speech here" he said, land I would have tried to prepare some words which could have fittingly expressed the appreciation l and the people of Birmingham feel for the good will and the spirit you have shown us while you have been here. With out 1t and your cooperation 1t would have been Impossible for us to have made your visit as pleasant you have been kind enough to say 1t has peen."
 Three cheers for Crawford," yelled Uncle Joe," and the response was even more lusty than before This ended the 1914 meeting of the American Iron and Steel institute. EHs2
 The first place visited yesterday was the Thomas furnace plant of the Repub- lie Iron and Steel company
 From there the train started for Ens- ley, but just this side Of Pratt City the big mogul engine of the Birmingham Southern as 1t passed over a frog Jumped the outside rail on curve and started out across the fields for St. Louis. Chi cago ana points north. The engineer stopped 1t in plenty of time to eliminate any particular damage. But with that big engine off the rails 1t was a real man s job to put 1t back on. After an hour s work the train was detoured over the Louisville and Nashville tracks out through Pratt City and back to the Ens- ley plants.
 At Ensley the hour was soon made up by the remarkable skill in which the crowd was handled and sent through the furnace yards, the open hearth, rail mill and all departments. white line had been chalked off through the entire plant from the place where the crowd left the train to the point where they were to get back on. This eliminated all confusion, the crowd speedily passing through the immense plant and saw all tho operations amidst expressions of surprise and con- gratulations from all of the visitors
 Development in Future
 The future of the Birmingham district is assured, but the speed with which greater developments will materialize will depend upon the development of the south's iron and steel consumption" said James A. Campbell. president of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube company yesterday on board the train coming back to Birmingham.
 Tt has been 12 years since I have been here" he continued, 'and as everybody else says. the improvements are won derful. It was wonderful thing for the city, the district. the state and the south. when the Steel corporation came in here and took over the Tennessee company. Their organization Is good and they have put here in charge of the property some of the best talent in the entire world, to say nothing of the millions and mill lions of dollars they have spent. All this money which the corporation has expend- ed in improving and developing the Bir- mingham district does not show to the casual observer. But it is permanent. and 1t is the basis of greater and more costly Improvements in the future finish ing and by-product plants of all descrip- tions I believe The wonderful advantage of this district lies largely in the pe- culiar location of the raw materials in relation one to the other.
 But the capacity of the south to con- sume the product of the Birmingham dis trict will limit always, believe, the growth of development here. You can't ship your pig iron to the north sn>. east and compete with northern makers; they can't compete with you down here. don't believe this any other district will ever become much of an export cen- ter. 1 don't believe the United States
 
 and steel products Therefore, you will have to consume this iron here. As fast as that consumption grows. the ste<' cor poration will build new finishing pants here; in time this district will be using up it's own pig iron and then 1t will have come into its own. Every ton of pig iron shipped away from Birmingham Is wrong. It should be kept here and made into finished product.
 Export Business
 The Steel corporation does some ex- port business But from a standpoint of profit there is nothing in 1t. The cor poration does the export business n good times in order to hold the customers and then be able to do the business in bad timess which always affords them con- venient and much needed outlet
 But American labor never can com pete with European labor. Therefore I don't agree with the present national ad- ministration. The Underwood tariff bill is outrageous. America needs her own market and she needs 1t protected. Not high tariff. I don't believe in that. But we should have enough tariff to en- able us to pay labor what American la . bor must have above the cheaper Euro pean labor. We had better Shave free trade than the present tariff bill This country never will be prosperous without