The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-12-31
by RICHARD f. JOHNSTON

There has been no hiatus in Bir-
mingham Industrial operations in
preparation for 1928. Demand for
product is 50 strong and bookings so
heavy that mill, furnace and fin
ished product operators resumed for
the most part Tuesday morning and
all were in full swing by the mid
die of the week.
The feature of entrance into 1928
is the tremendous business booked
for future delivery. Alabama blast
furnaces have booked approximately
100000 tons of iron The wire mills
have all they can stagger under for
three months. The car works, the tie
plate mills and rail mills have or
ders calling fer capacity operations
for six months.
Price schedules were whipped out
in the fall and the new year starts
with the same sobriety as he marked
the prosperous last half of 1922.
Steel Works Busy
The Tennessee company continues
its full turn this week. all the Bes-
semer mills being on double turn. as
Is the case with those at Ensley and
the tie-plate and structural steel
mills at Fairfield.
The Gulf States Steel has gone on
'oupit ldiii ~ iiiiloltiii6 MINIS ~
care for press of business The Con-
ners Steel company's hoop and band
mills are busy. The Vulcan Bolt and
Rivet works is among the busy
plants The structural steel works. of
the ingalls, Iron company and the
Virginia Bridge Iron company enter
the year with well-f filled order books.
Miscellaneous industries make the
same report.
Soil Pipe Lively
Outstanding feature of the recent
past was the sudden entrance into
the soil pipe market of the pipe job
bers who had held aloof for several
weeks. Pressure of demand from the
building trades compelled them to
place orders for 1928 and they came
into the market like an avalanche.
Pipe rose from a base of $50 to $50
and then to SEQ.
Several soil pipe makers went out
of the market after selling as far
ahead as they cared to. Another adj
vance at an early date is probable.
New Pipe Orders
The United States Pipe company
has booked 1000 tons CT 4S-inch pipe
for Cleveland and the Hammond Byrd
Iron company has booked $40 tons of
pipe for Akron, o. Pressure pipe still
rests at s42 to SAB base and plants
have much untitled tonnage. 1t is
stated that Porto Riean agent for
Belgian pipe maker has been
awarded the contract for 10000 tons
of pipe for san Juan. on which the
United States Pipe was low bidder. It
is a $1.000,0C0 job.
Iron At s23
The iron market seems to have
settled at SEA with some firmness and
less and less is heard of shading
that price for large consumers. All
blast furnace operators are so we'll
sold into 1928 as to feel easy as to
the future and are not so inclined
to make concessions.
The National Cast Iron Pipe COM
pany increased its capital from $780,
900 to $1,000,000 last week and an
nounces immediate construction of
new foundry for the manufacture of
DeLavaud pressure pipe.
HarbOr Board Meets
The state harbor board met last
week and prepared the tentative
draft of the bill to be presented to
the legislature asking for initial APP
plication of state aid to Improvement
of the port Mobile has recently been
made port of entry for importations
of French potash. for bauxite i'm
ported from Guinea by the Aluminium
Company of America and for the
Barber Asphalt company. large i'm
porters of Trinidad and South Amer
lean asphalt.
All financial reports have been
good ones. The clearing house record
for the year is over billion dollars
and a % per cent increase over the
previous year as well as a 1914 per
cent increase over 1920. which made
the prior high record.
More Furnaces Resume
Blast furnace activity will increase
with the entrance of the new year,
the Woodward Iron company blowing
in a large furnace at Woodward to-
morrow and the Tennessee company
blowing in fourth stack on feun-
dry at Bessemer. January 8. Tn.