The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-30
ARE GREAT IMITAToRS
Japanese Engineers Are After
Information.
A VISIT TO THE MINES
The Delegation Is in This Country
Learning the ms and Outs of
Metallurgy - Making
Study OF Methods.

X. Takeda Of Rikuchee, Japan, chief
engineer of the Takeda Mining COM
| pany of Japan and Mr.. Tsuno, prom
| 1nent consulting engineer, whose office
us in Toxic, Japan, who spent a week
in the city, have gone to Colorado to
| inspect the smelling processes in use
there. These shrewd japanese have
devoted every minute of their time in
Butte to absorbing information regard
ing the processes in vogue here for
smelling and refining copper ores.
They landed in San Francisco last
May and have visited the mining dis
tricts Of northern California and Ne
vada. They will visit Colorado, Ari-
, 2ona, New and Old Mexico and then
sail for Spain, where they will ask
questions in the great Rio Tintic cop
per districts.
The Japanese as class are the
greatest imitators on earth They are
not original in anything, but are
quick to put into use the results Of thu
patience and ingenuity of their more
enlightened and inventive neighbors
on this side of the water. Tsuno and
Takeda are in this country for the pur-
pose OF learning the ms and outs Of
| metallurgy and the treatment of base
and refractory ores They can ask
more questions in a minute than the
| average boy can in a day, and the fact
| that they absorb and put to use the
answers makes them valuable emissar-
| les from their country, which looks
| largely to the United States for valua-
| Bile pointers on the profitable manage
ment and conduct OF their enterprises.
10 show no inaccurate the Japanese
are in reproducing from the original
American idea, it is told in one instance
| that an agent of the Union iron works
Of San Francisco happened along Jap
an way one day. He noticed lot of
new hosting machinery piled up on a
dock. A casual inspection of it showed
| that 1t bore the imprint, Union Iron
Works The agent was not aware
| that his house had consigned any re-
cent shipments to Japan and he in
| quired about it. He was astonished to
not shipped any machinery in that year
to Japan Further inquiry and investi-
cation proved beyond question the su-
perior ability Of the Japanese to imi-
tate even to the smallest detail. 1t
was found that a Japanese foundry
had cast the machinery, and in order
to be sure that nothing was overlook
ed in the reproduction, the imprint was
also cast.
Tsuno is a member of the American
Society of Mining Engineers and is con-
sidered one Of the ablest engineers in
Japan. He, as well as his companion,
speaks the English language tluently
and is an interesting conversationalist.
We are in this country" he said to
a reporter for the Standard, ito study
the American methods and processes Of
treating refractory ores We have Wis
tied your largest reduction plants AMI
have been cordially received by the
managers, who showed us every cour-
tesy. l wish to thank them through
your paper. Some of the mining men
with whom we talked We're astonished
to hes1. there is a copper vein at Ri
kuchee 800 feet wide, many miles long,
and whose ores assay 5 per cent. cop
per. We pay skilled mechanics and
artisans 40 cents per day, and what
you call common labor receives 20 and
some as low as 10 cents per day So
you can see the possibility Of immense
profits from our workings, once we nit
upon a process to properly treat our
! ores. At present, Nth the prices of
labor and other agents of reduction at
such low figues, it Is nevertheless inn
possible to realize a fair profit from
the investments which are operating 5
per cent. ores,
I have SO far not found any charac-
ter Of copper ore in this country similar
to that of ours. 1t is useless for us to
remain longer in Butte, because what
ever knowledge we may acquire re-
garding the ores of this city and the
| methods of their treatment could not
at all be applied to our ores. The Ia
keda company is treating on an aver
age Of 800 tons of copper ore every day,
| and 1t behooves that company to find
some process whereby per cent. ore
can be made at least as profitable as
per cent ore in this camp
During their visit to Butte Messrs
Tsuno and Takeda employed a
draughtsman to make drawings of all
the principal hosting and reduction
machinery used here, and the drawings
not now completed will be forwarded
10 the companys United States Office
in Wall street, New York