The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-04
SHOWS CONFIDENCE
 IN FUTURE OF IRON
Resources Are Almost Exhaustless and Will Protect Industry for Years-Banks Offering to
 Discount Paper
By HOLLAND

identify the rich iron deposits in | the eastern part of Cuba. But there is | one reason which of itself would be suffi- cient. That is preparation for whatever
 demands may be made upon these indus tries in the future MT. Schweb had al- ready secured control of valuable iron deposits in Chile and the ores obtained | therefrom are to be shipped in specially I constructed steamships from Chile, by | way of the Panama canal, to some con- venient point of the Delaware river or Chesapeake bay, where the ores may be smelted. Now, he finds it expedient to l secure control of the widely known but l little developed iron properties in eastern Cuba.
 l These mines will furnish adequate sup l plies for Mr. Schwab, whatever may be the production of the other ore properties which he controls. They will also, if the common understanding be correct, furnish MT. Corey for his industries a supply sufficient to last for 10 or 15 years, per- haps more.
 PREDICTED DEVELOPMENT Were Sir William Van Horne now living he would be able to call attention to a prediction he made when he shifted his railroad building activities from sub-arc-
 tic Canada to tropical Cuba. On his latest visit to New York before lle died, Sir William Spoke with confidence of the effect upon Cuban industries of his rail- road properties, having especially m mind agricultural development. But he was also convinced that within few years American capital would exploit upon a large scale the enormous iron deposits in eastern Cuba and that work was likely
 to be facilitated by the transportation his railroad system offered.
 The iron mines of eastern Cuba, al- though occasionally considered by Amer- lcan capital, were not exploited to any
 extent until about 90 years ago. American capital was exclusively invested in this
 development, and the United States had taken up to the time the Spanish war began a little more th1n 3,000,0O0 tons of the ore. It was found to be of excellent quality for the manufacture of Bessemer steel. and this undoubtedly is one of the
 reasons why MT. Schwab and also MT. | Corey have considered it expedient to work these mines.
 The Spanish war and the slow recon struction of Cuba as republic delayed the development of these mines. It may be, also, that the enormous development of the mines of northern Michigan and Minnesota caused American capital to pay little heed to these properties. Pre-
 sumably, the ore, which will easily be mined will be shipped to some point con- venient to the Bethlehem and Midvale steel properties. It is not expedient at present to smelt the ore in Cuba. As the distance from these mines to the United states IS very much less than the dis tance from the mines of Chiie, the cost including transportation, of these ores as compared with those of Chile will be con- siderably less.
 THE REAL MEANING
 For the country at large there is meaning of much importance in the in- vestment of American capital in the ex- ploitation of the Cuban iron mines. It indicates that the great masters of the steel and iron industry are persuaded that the pre-eminence the United States
 has obtained in this industry will be maintained and increased even though the end of the war in Europe be followed by heavy reduction in orders for war munitions MT. Schwab has already spok-
 en with confidence of the growth in the pig iron industry of the United States, believing that it would within a year or two aggregate 4O,0Oo,OOO tons. l If the steel and iron industry is to be | maintained upon such a scale as Mr. | Schwab and Judge Gary deem probable
 
 | persuaded that industry of all kinds in
 the United States will be maintained and 1 increased so that within two or three i years it will be recognized as both ab- solutely and relatively the most prosper ous era the United States has ever | known.
 CUBA'S PROGRESS
 Business men from Cuba who nave oeen
 in New York recently speak with en-
 thusiasm of the prosperity of that re-
 public. They confess themselves greatly 1 pleased with the demonstration of the
 business statesmanship of the late Henry | M. Flagler, which was revealed when he caused the greatest railroad ferryboat ill
 the world to be built for the purpose of
 transporting freight cars from Key West 1 to Havana or vice versa. The experi- ! ment has proved a greater success, or 1 at least a greater success within the | time fixed by MT. Flagler before his death, than he expected would be at ! first secured. He thought at least five i years might be required to develop this | unbroken freight service between Cuba and the United States so highly that it would be recognized as a great success. Yet already the giant ocean ferryboat is to be duplicated as soon as possible l Cubas prosperity is leading not only | to extensive expansion in sugar cultiva- | ton, but also in the development of oth- CT agricultural industries. Supplementng l this is to be the exploitation upon a large scale of the practically inexhausti- ble iron products in the mines of San | tiago.
 l ANXIOUS TO LEND MONEY l A better proof even than the statistics which tell of the plethora of money in | the banks of New York is the somewhat unusual canvassing-so to call it-by rep | resentatives of some of the banks for
 the purpose of lending money to mer- l chants and manufacturing industries