Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1878-08-07

quote as follows: There have been sales of
20 tons of Selby lead, at 3.20c, and about
200 tons Of Newark at, 1t is said, a little
higher price. The market price to-day is
sac. The expectations of lead from this
port since January LIST have been as fol-
lows:
To Lbs.
Hayre. 2f2. 500
glasgow 2ltoo2
shanghai. 67,2JO
-
.SJl, SOf
Our special correspondent, writing
under the head of phantom Lead thinks
that the decline in the price Of lead is
owing to an imaginary over production.
There is no question that corroders, deal
ers and producers have held a much larger
aggregate stock than they do now, and
that, were there to be a sharp revival of
business, all the lead in the market would
be taken up very quickly, and prices would
advance. But still our correspondent
must admit that consumers have not suf-
fered from lack of supplies, nor are they
likely to for any great length of time. Al
though stocks may not be very heavy now,
yet there is every indication that produc-
ton, under the most adverse circumstan-
ces, will more than equal our require
ments, and, such being the case, there
must be, in an industry where there are so
many interests involved, a competition in
furious to the stability of prices. From
this stand point buyers have been justified
in buying only in a hand-to-mouth man
ner, in expectation that every new pur-
chase would be at q lower figure.
There is, however, a bottom to
the price Of all commodities, n
the important question now is, what is the
bottom price Of lead? Taking the sta
tistics furnished by Mr.. E. A. Caswell, we
see that in 1oI3-the year in which our
financial troubles overcame us-we pro-
duced but 81 1888 tons, and imported 22,114
tons, while in 1877 we produced 10, 125
tons NEARLY 100 per cent. increase in four
years., and imported but 6,224 tons. This
year we shall export several thousand tons.
1t must be remembered that this o.
increase (hardly equaled by that Of any
other industry during the same period) is
almost entirely an incidental product to
silver, and occurred at one Of the most
difficult times in the history Of the coun-
try in which TO induce capital to launch
into mining enterprises. The low prize of
lead has, for the present at least. checked
the development of silver-lead mines pro-
ducing but a small percentage of silver.
But there is so much room for economy in
the far West that what may be a losing
business to-day may prove a profitable one
in the near future. The figures of cost
cited by our correspondent will certai lly
be considerably reduced when the country
becomes more settled, and active COMPETE
ton in transportation, fuel, etc., sets in.
That the price of lead can continue SO
low as it has been is another question.
Our correspondent says: LEAD mines in
Europe are feeling not less pinched han
ours. Private correspondence from we'll
informed parties assures me that a contin-
uation Of the present low prices for two
years more will break up some Of the larg-
est concerns in Germany and England,
and reduce the already temperate fare of
the Spanish miners from %chestnuts to pea
nuts" There is probably considerable
truth in this statement, and it now be-
comes a question as to what price foreign
producers can offer the world in comp ii
ton with us in disposinS Of our growing
surplus. There are SO many interests in
the lead business that il would be folly to
attempt the formation Of a combination,
and without it the production can only be
limited by the inability of some Of the
producers to carry it OF at a loss, and, as a
consequence, the price of lead must APP
proximate the export price, advancing
slightly when there is a lack OF pressure TO
sell in foreign countries. The San Fran
cisco Commercial Herald of July 18th fur
nishes the following: Our shipments by
sea of pig lead for the six months ending
- on 1919 -