The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-01
W. A. CLARK ON COPPER.
There Is No Trust That He Knows Any
thing About.

Special Dispatch to the Standard
New York, May 31.--W. A. Clark,
VINO returned from Europe quite re-
Gently. is temporarily in New York I
asked him few things about the cop
per situation, especially as to the re-
ported existence of copper trust. He
replied:
There is nothing existn~ to-day in
the way of a copper trust that | am
aware of. Neither is there any combi-
nation amongst producers of copper for
the purpose of maintaining or advanc-
ing prices. 1t is true that there has
been a consolidation of some large cop
per interests, notably at Butte. Mont
but this does not include, so far as
know, some of the greatest copper
producing companies in the world to-
wit: The Calumet and Hecla and some
other interests in Lake Superior, the
Copper Queen and United Verde Copper
companies in Arizona, the Rio Tinto
and Tharsis in Spain, and even at Butte
there are other large interests not COM
prised in the Amalgamated Copper
| company. The apparently high price
of copper is the result of the inevitable
law of supply and demand For sew
eral years the visible supply of copper
in the world has been greatly dimin-
ishing. and while the worlds produc-
ton of copper has been increasing at
the rate of about 10 per cent per an
mum, ii has been unable to meet
the demands of consumption: hence
the rise in values.
What is termed the available sup
ply of copper in the world is reckoned
as a about 5000 English tons. This is
to some extent represented by copper
at1Oat and in store in the districts
where it is produced so that the actual
available supply is only about 5000
tons, about enough to cover the con-
sumption for Is days. How long this
condition of things will continue it is
hard for any one to predict. L know
of no new large bodies of copper that
have been discovered, and it requires
about two years to open up and equip
new mine so that it becomes an i'm
portant factor. Hence it would seem
that the price which may be expected
as a rule in the future will depend
largely upon the rate of consumption.
Increased consumption has been to a
| large extent due to electrical equip
ments. The installation of street rail
ways has been an important factor in
| this matter 1t is supposed that this
will be largely extended in Europe
where in some localities, at leas&. II mas
| scarcely commenced.
There Is no metal that will serve
| the purposes to which copper is applied
that possesses the requisite qualities of
conductivity and ductility. Expert
ments have been made with aluminium,
but ! do not believe they are satisfaC-
tory, besides the cost of the metal is
more than double that of copper.
"One of the SO-called Verde COM
panies is operating about 140 miles from
the United Verde copper mines, but
know nothing about it from personal
observations. The other two, l believe,
are in the vicinity of Jerome. Arizona,
near the United Verde copper mines.
l have never heard of their having
produced a carload of ore. There is al
ways a tendency to play upon the Tepu-
tation of well-known names and some
times at the expense Of. the public who
are deceived thereby"