Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-31
LIGHT STEEL TRADE
HUNS IN ENGLAND
Birmingham, Manchester and
Midland Cities Show Pros
perity Signs.
BY JOHN GUNTHER.
Ccrrespondence OF The Star and the Chicago
Daily News.

frrTpEDODiPnCe OF The star ana the SuiSoeS
Daily News.
LONDON, England. January 20
The heavy steel trades and coal have
borne the brunt of the English IN
dustrial depression. Nevertheless they
face 1926 with sound hope and con
tidence. In the same way the heh.
steel trades look forward TO soou
year.
Indeed. in England light steel and
allied trades, like engineering, machlh-
cry and the nonferreous metals nay
not slumped as badly as did their pig
brother. Great steel cities like VOL
verhampton, Leeds. Manchester, Stoke
and especially Birmingham. are as
PROSPEROUS as ever. Engines are num-
ming. streets are crowded notes are
TANNED. Any ne who THINKS h!,s
land : done "A uld walk lhto INC
Midland Hotel, Manchester. and try 10
squeeze into the dining room TO get
dinner ut Is sh.lEngS tS3.5ol-
EXCEPT in Sheffield, the heavy steer
CITY, not even the most 1aunolced Cd
server could find genuine signs OF I'M
pending industrial collapse in any OF
the steel cities Of the midlands.
Birmingham Producing Actively.
Birmingh<Ayl Is the center of the
British metal trade. Birmingham
manufactures everything from print
ing presses TO cold Cnisels, from rail-
road rolling stock to doorknobs, from
giant dvnamos to hooks and eyes.
And Birmingham is far out OF the
worst of the depression. 1t IS 1alrlE
thriving again. It's great firms. ike
Dunlops, the General Electric ana the
small arms companies, are making
money. Birmingham is productive.
What is more it is producing.
Within the last few months, IN the
Birmingham district, j. Blakeboroush
& Sons. Ltd, accepted contract Tor
full electrical equipment for the Hume
dam in South Wales and the Arapuni
hvdro-eleCtriC scheme in New zealand
William Beardmore & Co.. Ltd. con-
trectad for the supply of locomotives
and rails for Latvia to the total value
of 100000.
Ramsomes & Rapier. Ltd, undertook
10 supply steam cranes, locomotive
turntables. electric HOSTS and mobile
sIerricks for railways in Turkey, Bra
ziI. Manchuria Argentine, Blroda
flor the gaekwar's private railway
and Chile.
Observation-Disclosures accepted re-
peat order for II freight locomotives
worth about $3.50 ,000--for the Glen
coe- Pietermaritz railroad IN Natal.
1t also undertook to supply 4o'voo
kilowatt turbo-alternator set Tor the
Amagasaki power station, Japan, and
for two $4,000 kilowatt sets for the
Tsurmi station.
Dorman Long Co. took contract
70 build a steel railway bridge-at
cost of fl39. 000-at Dessouk, EsFpt
William Raine & Co. Ltd, took con-
tracts II electrifv tie Bombay, Boroda
& Central India Railway.
One of the curious paradoxes In the
English industrial Situa ton. especially
In the BirminCh m district Is an acute
shortage of skilled labor. Some metal
manufacturing concerns. having
booked orders after a lean time, DO
not know where to obtain the ex-
per,enced labor they now require.
EspeciaIlv in Coventry, the labor
shortage has serious implications. In
Birmingham. for the first time since
1919 there is no need Of Winter un-
EMPLOYMENT distress fund. unemploy-
ment having decreased from 90,o0o 10
20 900 in two years.
The secretary of the chamber or
commerce of Birmingham, In Saving
that his city had never experienced a
real depression added
I'VE do not fear American compe-
tftion, except in very Few hlgnly
gpecialized lines of machine tools IN
no other branch of he metal trades
has American competition aPpedfeo "
an active degree.
\.kevase. BIRMINGHAM copper. bass
and steel engineering is now under
selling the German and promising pet
ter deliveries.
In general the slump is over and
new and prosperous era is oestnnlne:
30 far as most of the metal tfades OF
the midlands are ccnce~ned.
Copyright. 1896. by Chicago Daily news eo''