The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-04-22
First Half of Year Marks New Industries Beginning Opera tions Which Will Add Tre- mendousIy to Prestige Of
 Great Industrial Field
CEMENT AND MERCHANT BAR MILLS ARE LEADERS
NaphthaIene Products Will
 Open New Field-Expansion
 Of Pressure and Soil Pipe Industries Put Birmingham Still Further in the Lead

The first half of 1923 will be mo- table Tn the character as well as number of new industries beginning operations In that period. Among the notable ones are these:
 New and modern steel foundry of the Tennessee Coal. Iron and Rail- road company at Fairfield, which be- gan operations last week.
 Sanitary pipe foundry of the Bir- mingham Machine and Foundry com pany, which began operations last week
 Pressure pipe factory of the Mo Wane Cast Iron Pipe company in East Birmingham, which began op- erations March l.
 Mill of the Naptha1ene Products company at Tarrant City
 The 1,500, ,0oobarel plant of the Phoenix Portland Cement company, which will start early In May.
 The 10 and 12-ineh merchant bar mill of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company 1t Fairfield. which will start going about May 1.
 The 1,59o ,000-barrel cement plant of the Lehigh Portland Cement com panY, which will follow the Phoenix plant shortly in beginning operations.
 The De Levaud pressure pipe foun- dry of the National Cast Iron Pipe building at it's Tarrant City shop.
 These eight new plants represent many millions of dollars and the ce- ment and merchant bar mills will demand for their products In the south, there being also large out let for bars for exports.
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 Started Last Week.
 The Tennessee Company's steel foundry began operations last week It will be devoted largely to the ex- tensive demands of the company it. self for steel castings In the several mills. notably the car works at Fair- field, but it will also be open Tor gen eral merchant trade,
 The new sanitary pipe shop of the Birmingham Machine and Foundry company is che of the largest ana most modern in the district and has 12 floors with a daily capacity of 45 tons.
 Important Industry.
 Among the most important Of the new industries is the merchant par mill at Fairfield. That has capac- itv of 10000 tons per month of round, sduare and deformed bars and will make a speciality of reinforced con crete steel to meet growing oe- mand in the south and for export. The mill is much needed in the south and will help fill an acute Voio'
 Tho nantbalene products factory is significant in that it marks a new use of the by-products of the cIosed coke ovens in this district. IL Will take the crude naphthalene rom the ovens and convert it into finished naphthalene products used prlncipai- ly in the dyeing trades, w. T. and II. [, Radham and associates have built ftcory Tor that purpose at Tarrant City and closed arrangements With local ovens for the raw materlal. New Cement Mills.
 The Phoenix Portland Cement plant near the Sloss- s-Sheffield by- product plant is the last word In cement manufacture. It expects te begin grinding cement by May 1o probably earlier. The demand for rement in the southeastern states supplied bv Birmingham is far in eX- cess of the maximum capacity or present mills and southern mills, which had record year In tszz, are making a still higher one this year.
 The I.ehigh Portland cement fac tory will soon begin operations. It also Is the last word in cement mill construction. This and the other new mill will serve to prac. tlcally double the manufacture or cement in Alabama.
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 New Pipe Works.
 The National Cast Iron Pipe com nany. which has been one Of Bir- mingham's most successful factories increased capital from S50o-o0eo to s1 GOO .o00 in December and is build ing a foundry for manufacture of pressure pipe by the De LaNaud or centrifugal process ThiSi process was tried out in the Birmingham plant of the United States Pipe com pany last fall and has already De- come a standard in the trade. The present equipment for making this pipe is being more than doubled to Accommodate the demand and the National company is building the new foundry for manufacture of this pipe. a,- many manufactures special sizes and l classes of pressure pipe, making sizes as small as A inches. It has been a busy plant since il started. The two cement plants alone rep resent an investment of approXt mately S500000o. The Tennessee company mill and foundry represent { more millions. The outstanding fea- tIre of these industries is not how ever. the amount of money invested, say industrial experts, but the na- ture of the investments. They are all In consonance with tho districts raw material resources and represent more money placed where success has already attended.
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