The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-28

Average yearly production of the rail mill is 2600o tons per month. Rate of production this and last week is at the rate of S6,000 tons per month, and compares with recent rate of 24,000 tons per month, 5000 tons per week.
 Ten Cars n Day The new works at Fairfield which began operations in June and turned out first complete standard steel freight car month later. has worked up to a speed of 10 cars day. That is the number of pressed steel cars turned out on Friday of last week. This marks the speedins-up process that has been going on out there since the plant, which is the most modern car works in the country, began op- erations.
 Open Hearth Speeds Up
 Not only has the rail mill speeded i, up, as well as the car works. but six ief; the nine open hearth furnaces in the. steel mill at Ensiey were in op- eration last week and will be in op- eration this week. That is two- thirds of the capacity of that depart ment which makes the steel ingots to be rolled into biliets, blooms and rails.
 The Bessemer plate mill will oper- ate this week as 1t did last.
 The tie-plate plant, which recently doubled production through the in stallation of additional equipment. also continues going.
 The Fairfield structural steel mill, which resumed last week, will re- main in operation this week. All structural steel mills have become more active, especially in the manu- facture of shapes for buildings.
 Thus the Big Ben" of the district continues to blaze the way of the re- turn of normal conditions in the steel market. There is plenty of unhitched activity remaining, but the unhitched is growing beautifully less.
 Building Steel Active
 Johnson & Thompson Steel com pany, makers of steel tanks and fab rcators of structural steel. report better conditions In the structural steel business. especially with regard to steel for buildings. A lot of steel for buildings is being fabricated by the Ingalls, Iron works. the list in- cluding Crane company. business building, and Knights of Pythias tem- pie at New Orleans; office building at Miami; Masonic temple in Bir- minghan. and the like.
 Unit Stove and Furnace company
  hot air furnaces, both the pipe using and the pipeless, and will soon have a specimen on exhibition at the Cham Der of Commerce. These furnaces are for the smallest and largest of residences
 Stove works are running four and five days week, an activity which is noted by iron makers, who report re- cent purchases of metal by this class of foundrymen.
 Running st Capacity
 Face brick plants are running at about capacity. and have been doing Clay Products company has been shipping it's make and has been sell ing more than the make.
 The iron market has stiffened to $1s to the extent that this base is not departed from by any maker. Stocks are more and more ill-assorted and growing beautifully less. For the first time in many weeks both the St. Louis and Cincinnati competitive fields took small quantities of Bir- mingham iron the past week And seemed glad to be able to get 1t at $19 base, with the differentials of 50 cents for higher silicons.
 Blast furnaces will not rush into resumption. October 1 , Is the date that the most optimistic of makers appear to have set, that being the date for the lower ore and limestone rates to go in effect Incidentally, the reductions were not as great al at first thought. They arc only 2e per cent In the first zone and much less In some zones. while in one zone the rate on limestone actually in creased. There were no changes in the rates on coal and coke.
 Woodward Iron company is getting one of it's idle stacks into shape foi resumption when that is decided on At close of week no assumptions were scheduled for fixed date.
 Cast iron pipe market is fairly ac: five. and melt is increasing. Large Shipments to Pacific coast, approxi- 0aeing 1000 tons in the past three weeks, was feature of the month now drawing to close.
 Wire drawing mills report contin- uous better state of business with some orders for wire fencing, whicf for a long time was not ordered at al by the very economical farmers. The latter are in much better condition than they thought they would be ane } this condition Is reflected by the wire mills.
 Makers of cotton ties and stee hoops are operating for the fifth con tinuous week. after intermittent op' erations over several months.