The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-19
Iron, Steel and Copper to Be in Enormous Demand
 After the War
STEEL TO REPLACE
 STONE IN BUILDING
Within the Past Three Weeks the Steel Corporation Has Accepted Orders for Huge Rolled
 Steel Tonnage
By HOLLAND


 New York. February E.-(Speeial) William c. seddon of Baltimore and John D. Ryan of New York, who are of ex- pert authority, agree in statements made by them a few days ago that the United States will be busily occupied till the end of the war and probably long after in the manufacturing and marketing ot the products of her mines.
 They also agree in the view that the mining, manufacturing and marketing ot metals other than the precious metals will be upon a scale unprecedented in the history of any civilized nation. MT. seddon speaks for the future of iron and steel, MT. Ryan for the future of copper. Both believe that there Is in progress now, and will be continued, a true boom in these industries. Without any arrangement between them for si- rnultaneous statements, both MT. Seddon and Mir. Ryan have at substantially the same moment made these statements and predictions.
 Whatever MT. Seddon says about the iron and steel industry commands at tention, and the reasoning which leads him to assert that the furnaces of the United States, supplemented by the TUT naces of other nations, will be m Auii blast for a long time is regarded as sound reasoning. MT. Seddon is not al all concerned about the letting up in war orders for iron and steel commodl- ties after the European war IS endeo' For while the industry will be not great ly occupied with the manufacture Of mu- nitions and equipment of war, IL IS nhe- Iv to be occupied to it's capacity in the
 hof needed in the restoration of industries and of transportation facilities wherever war has devastated any country. Bul1d- ings must be reconstructed. Bfldges must take the place of those destroyed or of temporary structures. And the ten dency is to rebuild with steel instead of using stone or br1ck.
 An estimate has been made that the necessary rebuilding of railroads ana repairs in Europe will involve the larg- est railway construction work ever un- dertaken at one time upon the European continent.
 In times of peace, England and Ger many have supplied almost all the na, tions across the sea with iron and steel commodities But all the indications point to the immediate need England and Germany will experience of taking care of themselves industrially. Presum- ably, other nations which have In the past relied upon England and Germany will be compelled to turn to the United States Furthermore the United States, AIr. Seddon says, will undoubtedly meet with very great demands from other countries for hardware.
 SOME INCIDENTAL PROOF
 Statements which have recently come from those who have knowledge of the United States Steel corporations affairs tend strongly to confirm the view taken by MT. Seddon. For there seems to be no doubt that within two weeks time, beginning with February 1, this corpora tion, through it's subsidiaries, has ac- cepted orders somewhat in excess of l. 600. 900 tons of rolled steel. Never before has this corporation accepted an oppor- tunity of this kind, for it has not had 1t. Until the beginning of the year 1917, the corporation will be operating so greatly that there will remain no capacity for increased operations This is spoken of as something unique, without any prece- dent in the history of the trade.
 It explains, perhaps, the forecast made by some who are associated with the Steel corporation that for the next two or three years that corporation will be chiefly occupied with the manufacture of iron and steel products for which the ucts are sold to the railroads will make demands.
 COPPER IS A PRINCE NOW
 If it is true that iron an steel manu- fracture is the king among American in dustries occupied with the mining and manufacturing of metals, 1t is now some times said that copper is entitled to be ranked as the prince, possibly in a fl- ture not remote becoming of equal rank with iron and steel. So far as the man. ufacture of copper is concerned, that is recent development. At the beginning of the present century much of the cop per ore taken out by the miners was turned over to those who had established smelters. Now the miners and the manu- facturers are in great measure the same persons.
 This is a consummation which reflects the ability of John D. Ryan. Daniel C.. Jaclxling and James Douglas, as well as the Guggenheims. In the autumn of last year, four or five of the great men in the copper industry were in New York for the purpose of considering plans whereby the copper manufacturing in- dustry could be strengthened, better sys- tematized and possibly more thoroughly financed.
 The coming to New York of these men gave business and banking friends oppor- tunity to learn what their opinion of the copper industry is. Without dissent all of them spoke of it with enthusiasm, say
 
 steadily increased, and that there is op- portunity' for the working to full capac- ity of the mines in Alaska and South America, since the demand is sure to be greater than the supply.
 MT. Ryan, whom many look upon as pre-eminent among those engaged in the copper industry, and who is known to be conservative in his views. has told the stockholders of one of the copper companies that the stupendous demand for copper, which is without any prece- dent, will continue no matter when the European war ends. This will be the case in spit~4 Of the fact that copper propertiessffe now being opened in other parts of ,the world than the United States, especially in South America, and also ,su spite of the fact that Alaska is expected greatly to increase it's ouput in che course of two or three years.
 The leaders in the copper industry