The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-02-25

was completed several months ago, and has been published previously, was filed With the board for consideration along with the testimony submitted orally at the hearing.
 BIRMINGHAM'S CLAIMS
 Among the reasons given in the
 brief for the desIrabIIity of Bfr-
 mtngham as the plant location are:
 It's protected inland location; its
 unlimited supply of suitable and
 cheap material for the manufac-
 ture of armor plate and munitions,
 it's good rail and water facilities
 for distribution of n finished prod
 uct; its nearness to southeastern
 Atlantic ports, gulf ports, Panama
 canal and Pacific coast ports; its
 splendid labor conditions, as evi-
 denced by the successful operation
 of steel mills, blast furnaces, ma-
 chine shops, mines, lumber mills
 and the like, it's climate, peculiar
 ly free from extremes of heat and
 cold, and its economical living con-
 ditions.
 MT. Bush also submitted report of J. w. Richards, expert metallurgist, with regard to BirmIngham's ability to manufacture armor plate The re- port of MT. Richards declares positive
 
 dephosph orize Birmingham pig iron, with it's O.e to 10 per cent of phos phorus to the limit of 0.03 per cent of phosphorus allowable in armor plate steel. It goes almost without saying" says MT. Richards in the report, that this requires experienced melters and competent metallurgical supervision to attain it regularly.
 CAN MAKE ARMOR PLATE
 Making armor plate steel is no proper task to set the indifferent metallurgist or the careless melter; but granted the same metallurgica1 skill as is used in the private armor plate plants, or as is used in Germany in making armor plate steel from similar pig iron, there is no doubt at all that the quality of steel required can be produced from Birmingham pig iron"
 In concluding his report MT. Rich ards says:
 '"The writer is convinced that by the utilization of the metallurgical skill available in the Birmingham district. employing melters experienced in mak ing armor plate steel, and with com petent expert metallurgical advice, a plant for manufacturing armor plate steel can be operated on Birmingham pig iron with every assurance of meet ing the governments requirements as to quality and cost"
 The report has been published in form, and was distributed among the members of the board, and filed with the clerk.
 Among those who testified before the board were James Bowron, Theodore Swann of the Alabama Power company, James Mitchell, president of the Ala bama Power company; J. H. Doughty, general agent of the Frisco; Judge B. M Allen, Henry DeBardeleben and H. H. Horner.
 STEEL MEETS REQUIREMENTS
 James Bowron was the first witness called upon. MT. Bowron said that in the elimination of carbon in pig iron the phosporus goes out Of it's own accord
 "Frequently in our wire work it is necessary to rephosphorize steel, he said.
 And I can go on record to the effect that out of 1S,74S tons of ingots manufac- tured 70 per cent of the total was under .03 phosphorus and 2S per cent under .02 per cent without any effort on our part to do away with the phosphorus.
 Our steel answers every possible phy- sical test necessary. We are now shipping more than 1000 bars per month to Japan for ship building purposes, every bar of which has to be submitted to the severest inspection and never have we had single bar rejected.
 In answer to question from MT. Bush, Mr. Bowron declared that Birmingham would be able to produce efficient and adequate skilled labor to work in the armor plate plant
 He declared the armor plate made from steel has all necessary strength, elongation and elasticity for any war purposes.
 He told the board that there is in Bir- mingham ugh raw material to wear out the patIe.lce of every German sub marine.
 Speaking of the interior location of Birmingham, Mr. Bowron said that the lesson of the present war has been that the 5000 miles of the Atlantic ocean does not give isolation when all the intuition plants of the country are erected in the centers of the east and west.
 Birmingham is a strategic center in every sense of the word so far as the location of the armor plant is concerned" he said.
 But it is not only question of the vcIn me of the ore, nor of the quality of tt ron and steel. If the United States aasernment desires to buy pig iron for the purpose of making armor plate, it wants to buy it at the cheapest pos sible price. This is the place to. do it.
 Tt has been within my duty to sell the product of 20 blast furnaces. And we shipped Birmingham pig iron to every state in the country and to every in the world where ships could go to carry it. For 25 years prices of pig iron have set prices for the entire North American coun- try.
 We have every factor in this dis trict--climate, materials, brains and and everything wanted. that is nec sssary for the maintenance of the ,tssaor plate piants@This district is self ;lzs1asNaa Nc have commodity Tor tAe IpaY are of arm ir R3at< excN9t ntangare&1s and this we ss sakhlIs feN miles on each side lrefs kA@ C1lHersvifle, Ga, district on yHe stee, 4sskNnce oI lRa miles, or from AIisas.s4a on ths 3thef nand.
 The only thing that is necessary for the location of teh plant now is for the to tell us that it has heard the presentation of our claims, that is approves, and is ready to build the plant here."
 MT. Bowron declared that there is made in this district steel suitable for ship building, projectiles. shells and every other purpose.
 ELECTRICALLY MADE STEEL
 Theodore Swann of the Alabama Pow ar company testified as to the added strength of electrically made steel.
 He said it was only question of time before there would be an electric plant in Alabama using graphite from Clay county.
 ssThere is no question that from
 viewpoint of power and every