The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-01
Steel and Iron AdUance And Production Increases
 h Response To Demand
SlossSheffield Blow in Another North Birmingham Stack by May 15-Higher Prices for Iron and
 Pipe-Large Coast Movements

, Foundry company, Anniston and Bessemer soil pipe makers, have ac- quired the pressure pipe plant Of the Lynchburg Foundry company at Anniston and will make pressure pipe there after June 1 or before Considerable southwestern tonnage has been booked Hammond Byrd Iron company will handle sales for the production.
 Pacimic Coast Movements
 Ship is loading at Mobile with 1900 tons of pressure pipe for Cali fornia points and a vessel is putting in to load 4,000 tons of pressure and sanitary pipe for the west coast. Counting this ship load total pipe movements from Birmingham in past six weeks to Pacific coast will have been over 5000 tons. Three-fourths of tonnage has been pressure pipe It has gone to all Pacific ports and to Honolulu and as far inland as Nebraska.
 Bank CIenrings
 Rejort of bank clearings for first four months of the year shows total of S307,592,000, which is an increase over the same period in 1921 of SEA- 969, 900 and is S24,236,000 under the total for the same period in 1920, which marked the record high lev els. Monthly average increase this year over last has been over $6,000,- 900.
 Big Ones Coming
 Interest is felt on the coming of the heads of the Lackawanna, Brief field, Republic Iron and Steel and other of the large corporations fig uring in tho new steel merger. They will be here soon to inspect the prop critics of the Republic Iron and steel company. In case the merger is formed as being the nucleus for de- veloping steel industries here to riv- al the Steel Corporation in the south, southeast, southwest, on Pacific coast and for export. All this is very far in the future, the merger not having been perfected yet.
 Freight Rate Decisions
 Shippers were elated over victory of the traffic bureau in securing or- der of the interstate commerce com mission which will make rates from Memphis to Birmingham same as from Birmingham to Memphis. This will be a considerable reduction on all classes of freight and will amount te great savings on food and food stuffs. grain and grain products from Chicago, Kansas City, Des Moines. and all western points of which Memphis is the gateway
 Another substantial freight rate victory was that ordering rates on black strap molasses from Mobile and New Orleans reduced from 42 to 20 and 25 cents. This Is import ant to all makers of mixed feeds. Incidentally the Western Grain com pany secured S6,000 of reparation for over charges in the past two years.
 Right of Routing
 A third rate decision of interest is that by the Alabama public ser vice commission ordering railroads to accept routings of freight made by shippers. Commits sson declared this was a common law right. Un- der this decision shippers may origi- nate a shipment in the Meridian rate territory over Southern or Alabama Great Southern and route delivery via connections with, say L. and N. The l.. and N. is not under the Me rfdian rate decision hence the through rate will be the old intra- state rate instead of the Meridian rate, which is generaly much higher.