The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-01

mess conditions, development will take the place of stagnation and everywhere people will prosper.
 Birmingham better half" as the peo- 1 pie of Ensley love to refer to their in- | dustrial section, in the belief of the business men and leaders, is standing at the dawn of a new cycle of progress and development
 All six furnaces of the Tennessee Coal. ! Iron and Railroad company are in full i blast and the great steel rolling mill of 1 the same company is working full capac- i ity, day and night shiftsi Is there any wonder that spirit of optimism has oVertaken Ensley after many months of dull times? Already some of the ore mines have resumed; and within a few days, it is stated, additional ore mines Will be again placed in operation in order to supply food" for the six great fur mace mouths that are devouring hundreds of tons of 1t now per day.
 Authoritative information is thai enough orders are at hand and in pros pect for steel shapes and billets to keep ei.g LiisifA y mills ln fun double-turn op- eration for seven months Orders for plates bars, angles and other finished shapes are on hand to guarantee opera tons of the Bessemer rolling mills of the Tennessee company, now at full capac-
  This enormous local consumption of pig iron and therefore iron ore it naturally follows, will within short time demand the resumption of practically every ore mine in the district, while the necessary coke to operate the furnaces will de- mand resumption everywhere of coke ovens and this in turn will put new life into the coal industry and coal mines throughout the district will resume op- erations.
 A coal authority estimates that already an increase in consumption of coal of 5000 tons per day has been caused by in- creased furnace activities of the past 30 days. More furnaces are undergoing re- pairs and within the next 30 days the daily consumption of coal may be in5 creased another 5000 tons
 This local increase in coal consumpion can have but one result. resumption of coal mine operations throughout the district.
 The local increase in iron ore consump- tion, added to the steadily gaining in strength of the pig iron market and he heavy sales can have but one result presumption of iron ore mines throughout the district
 The two together can have but one re- sult-resumption of coke ovens through out the district.
 And all together are the result of a
 
 iron market and full capacity operations at the big industrial plants, the Fairfield wire mill, the Bessemer rolling mill, the Ensley steel mill and at the various ma chine shops and foundries throughout the city.
 That is the situation in which Ensley finds herself today, and be it said Ensley Is exceedingly thankful. Literally, thou sands of men have returned to work in the industrial sections of the city in the past month and there can be no doubt but what the enormous pay roll of the district for August will have reached normal for the first time in many, many months!
 Prospects of still further improvements in conditions are everywhere to be seen.
 Export business is one of the main con tributing causes to the awakening of industrial life at Ensley, and prospects for future export orders are good. Ocean rates within the past few days have been materially reduced and the availability of bottoms for export service between southern ports and Europe is greater than at any time since the war started. Both the lack of ships and the almost prohibi- tive ocean rates on export cargoes have contributed to the slack conditions of the past several months and now that these conditions have changed export trade all ready Is improving. The greater part of the billets now being rolled at Ensley are for export and a large portion of the finished shapes being made at the Bes- semer rolling mills are for export. Ex- port of pig iron has shown a marked improvement and has contributed largely to the advance in price and large volume of business of the Birmingham pig iron market during the past month.
 Report is that the great plant of the United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foun- dry company at Bessemer will resume operations August 15 which will place another large consumer in the field and tend to still further bolster up the pig iron market.
 The prevailing quotation on the basis of No. foundry, Birmingham, now is S10.50, and one maker on an inquiry for 1916 delivery has made a quotataion of