| The
below "letter" was printed, published and distributed in
April, 1864 |
| |
| Shelby County, Ala., April 26th, 1864 |
| |
| Hon. Charles B. Mitchell |
| of the Confederate States Senate |
| |
| Being informed by a member of
the Shelby Iron Company that you solicit information in
regard to the iron business of this region, with a view to
important measures contemplated, having reference to the
military service; and having a similar solicitation from
another source, also entitled to consideration and respect,
the undersigned, constituting the Board of Directors of the
above-named Company, while responding, as they do with
pleasure, to your solicitation, will embrace this
opportunity to set forth as succinctly as practicable the
information they possess and the knowledge they have
acquired by attention to the subject during the two last
years. They do this the more readily from the conviction
that the subject is not so fully and generally understood
and appreciated, as its great and vital importance requires. |
| The present supply of iron is
inadequate for the public service, while the people are
generally cut off from all sources of supply. The
agriculturalists are generally without iron to repair their
old and worn-out implements, new ones being out of the
question, while there is danger that railroads, on which
such vital interests depend, will lose much of their already
impaired efficiency, for want of iron to keep their
machinery in repair, and for the construction of the
additional machinery greatly needed. A large and early
increase in the production of iron must therefore be
regarded as matter of the highest necessity; and this region
probably must be mainly relied on for this increase. |
| Before undertaking to show, as
we propose to do, how this increase may be brought about, it
will be proper to take a brief survey of the past, in
connection with the natural resources of this region in the
materials for the production of iron. Probably no country on
the globe possesses superior, if equal, natural advantages
for the production of iron of superior quality on an
extensive scale. In a wide extent of country, intersected by
the Alabama & Tennessee River Railroad, commencing at the
city of Selma, on the Alabama river, and completed 135 miles
in the direction of Rome, in Georgia, iron ores and mineral
coal, both of superior quality and conveniently accessible,
exist in inexhaustible abundance. These minerals, if not in
juxtaposition, are yet in such proximity that they may be
regarded as practically lying side by side. With these
unsurpassed advantages, how is the comparative smallness of
the production of iron to be accounted for? |
| At the commencement of the
war, very little had been done to develop the mineral
resources of this section or State. There was but one small
blast furnace and a small and inferior rolling-mill in
operation in this section, and none elsewhere, that we know
of, in this State. Our people were content to draw their
supplies of iron from England and the North, while
overlooking, or perhaps ignorant of, the greatly superior
natural advantages existing in their midst, for the
production of iron of far better quality than most of that
derived from abroad. Hence, the country was without the
knowledge and skill, derived alone from experience, in the
business of manufacturing iron, as those seem to have been
to whom was committed the important duty of calling forth
and directing the capital and energies to be embarked in the
business. The mode of making iron, condemned and abandoned
by England and other countries more than a century ago, was
take up and exclusively pursued; that is, the use of
charcoal, instead of mineral coal, as fuel in the production
of pig iron. All the contracts of which we have any
knowledge, made with the Government for pig iron, call for
charcoal pig alone, giving a decided preference in prices to
that which is made by the slowest and most difficult
process: that is, the cold blast charcoal pig. And here a
brief reference may b allowed to the history of the
manufacture of iron in England, whose mighty power and
prosperity had their rise in, and are mainly sustained by,
the two minerals heretofore so neglected, not to say
despised, in the South -- coal and iron. |
| A well-informed and
intelligent writer, whose production shows that he had given
very close attention to the subject, in enumerating the
essentials for the successful prosecution of the business of
making iron, states, as the first and most important: "An
adequate supply of the requisite raw materials -- ore,
limestone and mineral coal -- for charcoal, can only be used
to an insignificant extent." In illustration of this, the
same writer states: "It surprises the inquirer, to find that
in the year 1740, the total production of iron in England
amounted to not more than 17,350 tons. The destruction of
wood caused by this insignificant product was so rapid, that
the business of making iron was likely to be extinguished,
when the evil which was dreaded gave birth to a remedy which
imparted new life to the production, and has enabled it to
reach its present gigantic proportions" -- then (1855)
estimated, or rather stated to be 3,585,906 tons. "This
remedy was the substitution of pit or mineral coal for
charcoal." This stupendous result was attained in England
with ores much more difficult to be mined, and known to be
greatly inferior in richness and other qualities to the ores
which abound in this region. The ores of England and Wales,
it is stated on good authority, yield only about 30 per cent
of iron while the ores of this region, with which we are
most familiar, yield from 50 to 60 per cent., and iron very
greatly superior to the generality of that produced in
England or Wales. |
| These facts and other similar,
which could be adduced, show clearly, we think, that we have
set out upon and are pursuing a wrong policy. Even if the
iron produced by mineral coal were not so good as that
produced by charcoal, still it would be better to have iron
not quite so good, than not to have it at all. But it has
been recently proved, by experiment made by this Company,
that iron of superior quality can be made from our ores, by
the use of the mineral coal of this region exclusively as
fuel, in the whole process from the ore to bar iron. The
result of this experiment was every way satisfactory. The
iron was subjected to severe test, and exhibited remarkable
strength and toughness. |
| As a further and practical
illustration of this subject we will state something of the
operations and experience of this Company. Unacquainted with
the business as they were, they commenced, some two years
ago, with the idea of constructing three, four of five blast
furnaces, expecting to make some then thousand tons or more
of iron per year, after completing their arrangements. But
the first furnace built by them had not been long in
operation before they discovered that it would be a hard
task to keep that single furnace in full and constant
operation with charcoal, even while the wood from which the
coal was obtained stood within convenient proximity to the
furnace The forests which stood near have, in a great
measure, disappeared, materially increasing the difficulty
of procuring fuel. From this and other causes growing out of
the condition of the country, such as want of laborers, the
scarcity and dearness of provisions and all other
necessaries, the impracticability of obtaining teams to put
in the places of those worn out by hard and constant
service, the business is attended with many more
difficulties now than in the early part of last year. With
great exertion, the Company were able to make and deliver to
the Government last year, counting from March to March, only
about 3,500 tons, including what they used in improvements
and repairs. Small as this quantity may appear, it exceeds
what any other Company in this State made within the same
period. The difficulties attending the business now, being
considerably greater than heretofore, this quantity is not
likely to be increased, but rather diminished, in the
future, under the present system. But we presume this system
will not be adhered to. We are about making propositions to
the Nitre and Mining Bureau at Richmond, looking to changes
which, as they involve no loss or expense or inconvenience
to the Government, while promising a large increase in the
production of iron, we can hardly doubt will receive the
proper sanction. If this is done, we propose to complete a
new furnace, commenced last year construct a railroad from
our works to the Alabama & Tennessee River road, about six
miles, on which the work is far advanced and in progress,
and make other necessary arrangement for obtaining a full
and regular supply of mineral coal. This being done, and
substituting mineral for charcoal, we have great confidence
in the ability of the Company to increase the manufacture of
iron more than a hundred per cent., without increasing the
number of laborers required in their present business, and
with one-fourth the number of wagons and teams now employed.
It is deemed unnecessary to go into a statement of
particulars to show how this result can be brought about.
The great advantage consists in dispensing with a large
number of hands and teams required in the production and
hauling of charcoal, and in the increased amount of iron
which an equal quantity of mineral coal will produce. It is
estimated that the hands required in the production and
delivery of charcoal for one furnace, are sufficient to mine
coal enough for two furnaces. This Company propose to mine
their own coal, having one mine opened and being engaged in
opening another. What is practicable for this Company, may
be fairly presumed to be so for a portion at least of the
other Companies of this region. |
| The business of mining coal is
being largely extended, and under the arrangement completed
and in progress, the prospects are that the supply of coal
will, ere very long, be ample. The principal difficulty to
be apprehended in the successful prosecution of the plan of
substituting mineral coal for charcoal in a large degree, is
the want of railroad machinery for transporting the coal.
The present machinery is insufficient, but we understand
that arrangements have been made to bring upon the road
considerable additional machinery. |
| We will now proceed to give
you, as nearly as we can, the special information you
desired. |
| We have no sufficient data on
which to state the quantity of iron produced in this State
during the last twelve months, say from first of March,
1863, to March, 1864; but probably it was considerably less
than 10,000 tons. There were in this region but three blast
furnaces in operation during the first half of last year,
and one on the Coosa river, the iron from which goes to
Rome, Ga. Three other furnaces were started, one in June or
July, and two others subsequently. If these seven furnaces
shall be kept in regular operation, adhering to the use of
charcoal, it may be reasonably calculated that they will
together produce from 300 to 320 tons per week or from
13,000 to 14,000 tons per year, presuming they will run
forty-four weeks in a year. |
| Four or five additional
furnaces are expected to be in operation in the course of
three or four months, and one of them may already be in
operation. These furnaces will be of greater capacity than
the average of those heretofore in operation. Should they
commence operations, say four of them, by the first of July
or August, and run eight or nine months up to the first of
March, the average product of the four may be reasonably
estimated at from 210 to 220 tons per week, or from 6,500 to
7,500 tons for the eight or nine months. This, added to the
estimates given above for the other furnaces, would give
about 20,000 tons from March, 1864, to March, 1865. These
estimates are deemed reasonable, under the supposition that
the furnaces referred to be kept in regular operation with
charcoal for the periods mentioned. It would not, however,
be safe to rely with full confidence on this result under
existing circumstances, if the exclusive use of charcoal be
adhered to in the production of pig iron. |
| But presuming that two or
three of the present furnaces, and two of those to be
completed, embracing the largest of the furnaces, shall be
operated with mineral coal for seven or eight months prior
to the first of March next, say for thirty weeks, the
increased production from them might be reasonably put at
from 280 to 300 tons per week, or from 8,000 to 9,000 tons
per thirty weeks, which is probably more iron than was made
by all the furnaces of this region for the year ending the
first of March last. |
| We come now to speak of the
rolling-mills of this State. |
| This Company have one, the
capacity of which, with the addition of two or three more
puddling furnaces, which could soon be constructed, may be
estimated at 30 tons per day of gunboat plate, and
proportionately of smaller sizes making an average of about
twenty tons per day of various sizes. |
| There is a large rolling-mill
at Selma nearly completed, and expected to go into operation
in May next. The capacity of this mill is estimated at
thirty tons per day of gunboat plate and other large sizes,
being constructed with the view of making gunboat plates,
boiler plates, etc. The same Company, we understand, are
making preparations for the construction of a mill for
making small and ordinary sizes of iron. |
| There is a small rolling-mill
at Montgomery, but we are not informed of its capacity; but
it is probably from three to five tons per day. |
| The Government own a
rolling-mill on the Alabama & Tennessee River Railroad. It
is new and represented to be a very good mill. It is
adapted, we believe for the manufacture of small and
ordinary sizes only. We are not informed of its capacity. |
| Arrangements are in progress
for the erection of two rolling-mills on the Central
Railroad, which connects with the Alabama & Tennessee River
road. It is understood that one, if not both, of these mills
ill be of large capacity, belonging to a large and strong
Company. |
| It is doubtless a reasonable
estimate, that the mills now in operation, and the one in
Selma soon to be completed, can, if supplied with the
requisite number of proper workmen and the necessary
materials, make from fifty to sixty tons of iron per day,
including from thirty to forty ton of gunboat plates and
other large sizes. The other mills referred to, when
completed and in operation, would probably increase the
quantity from thirty-five to forty-five tons per day. These
estimates are based upon the presumption that the mills
would have a full quota of competent workmen and an ample
supply of the necessary materials. To he extent that these
may be lacking, the product of course would be diminished. |
| There being yet wide,
unoccupied fields, other establishments may, and doubtless
under proper encouragement will, spring up for the
manufacture of both pig and bar iron. |
| A branch railroad is being
constructed from the Alabama & Tennessee River road into a
portion of what is considered one of the most valuable coal
fields in this State, where the coal seams are said to range
from three and a half to six feet and upwards in thickness,
and well situated, many of them for cheap and convenient
mining. One vein, said to measure twelve feet in thickness,
has been discovered: It is estimated that the region to be
penetrated and developed by this branch road, which it is
intended to complete at the earliest day practicable to an
extent sufficient to develop a large portion of the coal,
will afford many millions of tons. A good many hands are now
at work there, opening mines or getting out coal, which is
done entirely, or nearly so, with negro labor. A
comparatively small number of experienced and skilled
miners, to lead in and direct the work, would greatly
improve and facilitate the operations. |
| If we have transcended what
was expected, and gone more at large into the subject of
your inquiry than was anticipated, let it be attributed to
our deep impression of the importance of the matters
referred to. And as we have studiously endeavored to confine
our observations strictly within the limits of practical
truths bearing directly on the subject, and to avoid the
presentation of all impertinent facts and considerations, we
cannot doubt that our response in the unexpected shape
presented will be acceptable. |
| The facts herein brought to
view cannot be too well or widely known, and there is reason
to believe they are very imperfectly known, even to the
comparatively few usually well-informed on all subjects
relating to the important interests of the country, whose
minds have been engrossed by other more directly pressing,
though not more important, subjects. |
| There is a matter connected
with this subject, to important to be passed over without
special notice. We allude to the want of rolling-mill
workmen, Everything else may be possessed in abundance, but
bar iron cannot be made without competent workmen. The
possession of a sufficient number of these is indispensable
for any considerable increase in the production. There are
barely enough of these workmen for the present limited
business, and there are but few in the country, unless they
are in the army. If they are there, we think that systematic
steps should be taken to ascertain where they are, so that
they may be detailed where most needed. The comparatively
few men of this class, who would hardly be missed from the
ranks, could render the country better service in making
iron, doubtless than ten times their number in the army. If
they cannot be obtained in this way in sufficient numbers,
we would suggest the importance of measures to induce them
to come from abroad, and to retain them here. We have no
doubt of the entire practicability of this, if proper and
judicious agents were sent abroad empowered to give
satisfactory guarantees of perfect exemption from all
military service, and prepared to offer pecuniary
inducements, such as our enemies do not hesitate to do for
men far less valuable and important to them. If they can
afford to lavish millions of dollars, not to procure
artisans necessary to their service, but to lure to their
ranks of death, to be hurled against our citizen-soldiers,
thousands and tens of thousands of stalwart peasants of
Ireland and other countries, cannot our Government, in aid
of its sacred cause, in comparison with which more money
should be counted as dross -- can it not afford to expend
the amount, whatever it may be, necessary to obtain and
secure such number of competent artisans as its service
absolutely and imperatively demands? Men of this class,
more, probably, than can be found in the Confederacy, ARE
INDISPENSABLE; and, in our judgment, no pains or expense
should be spared to obtain them, with as little delay as
possible. |
| While on this subject, we
would call attention to some important matters relating to
it, which seem to require authoritative attention.
Rolling-mill workmen are a somewhat peculiar class. They are
hard-working men. We would not go among them to find
criminals nor law-breakers. There is a sympathy among them
toward each other amounting almost to clanishness. They do
not meddle much with public or governmental affairs, and
are, probably more cosmopolitical than almost any other
class. Where their business is, there is their country.
There are, of course, exceptions in this case, as in all
general rules. These allusions are necessary for a proper
comprehension of the force of what follows. Knowing the
importance of men of this class to us, our enemies, it is
stated, have adopted a course intended and well calculated
to draw them away, and these efforts have not been without
considerable success. At least many of those men have left,
some doubtless under enticements from the enemy, and some
from apprehensions of conscription (unacquainted with the
laws on the subject); or, as there is reason to believe, to
escape the frequent annoyances of over-stringent enrolling
or conscripting officers. Be this as it may, it is certain
that these officers have caused much, and, it is believed,
unnecessary annoyance to persons and Companies engaged in
manufacturing iron, and their employees. In this way,
doubtless without intending it, they have seconded the
schemes of the enemy to deprive us of these valuable men. We
have information, deemed reliable, that a circular, under
high authority from the enemy, has been circulated among
rolling-mill workmen offering a large pecuniary reward and
other inducement to such of them as would leave this country
and go to the enemy, the main motive, of course, being to
deprive us of their services. Under this double influence of
repulsion and attraction, it is not to be wondered at that
many of these men should have disappeared from the country.
One of these forces may be neutralized and the other should
be contracted, if possible. |
| Very respectfully, yours, |
| A. T. Jones, President |
| J. W. Lapsley |
| J. M. McClanahan |
| Horace Ware |
| E. T. Watts |
| Directors |
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