New-York tribune., 1901-12-06
THE PASSING THRONG.

THE recent extraordinary course of the Amalga-
mated Copper stock said George Chadwick. OF
Boston at the Murray Hill Hotel
THE RISE Yesterday, "has served to rivet-
AND FALL. and copper rivet, at that-the at
or, COPPER tention of the financial world
upon this explosive Industrial Bos-
ton is the copper centre OF this country ana S'ae
Street therefore is familiar with the capa-
bilities for pyrotechnic display on the part oi q
copper stock than is Wall Street, but even IN state
street nothing approaching the recent and present
convulson in copper has ever oeen witnessed
What the end is to be it would De wise man
who could make at this time true preoleton-
However certain facts can be taken into consio-
are the prices at which the metal itself has soia
in the past gives t6e prices of Lake Superior
c6pper Since 1850 In iss under Of the war
high fs o csnts s sep5s 1T s n $50 n qhe tne
year 1880 it at 2 cents but In fhe oar oaGn lsst
i6ls cents pound touched May lss $ sb@ns saW
eoPpers low mark at s5 cents han pouna which enor
mously increased the demand for the metal. la1d men
forced fore the pce almost to IS cents in the fall of
1881 With the collapse Of the corner ond ong was
adbnad in 1889 From Is cents s to Il cents
b fmf Ffg o late ptre the price has been arca Hence
the present criterion should be the dan freely
operates
lake copper is dealt ir the fluctuations have been
even wider, ranging from tlo0
THE ton in 1888 f35 a ton in 1883 AT
MARKET present the metal is ranging
ABROAD around f60 IN the London market
In March 1900 it sold at fIs in the
English centre and has been steadily falling III
value since At present it is selling at L cents
pound. but account of the inferior graoe IL 10
not worth so mucn our electrolytic copper
which the English authorities on the basis OF their
&, Z regard
than II cents pound and that Is what II Wouiu
bring if sold in the British @ market & me caused
a tremendous slump in the deInano loE I,p IUppf Of
the metal here The American demand howevs{, @ @ff .
has not abated but 1t has not increased IN sun tn
cient degree 10 Offset the German loss In the Iao
of these trade conditions the Amalgamated staItea
in to hold the price of copper fixed at los cents
lake 1t would interesting to find out the actual
cost of the struggle date, and also to know Nv
hand 1t cannot have been far very prontapIe
operation, for unquestonaby the company nds .
long time the company's agents would not sen
below the price fixed. but as every one else wOoid
nous stock while the trade was going elsewhere
Then came the recent fight to sustain the price,
which has resulted in such an enormous denatlon
in the value of the securities OF the
/ THE ANAL company The copper mines of the
/ GAMATED'S world have been producing more of
! FIGHT the metal than there was demand
for and in order to decrease this
surplus the Amalgamated was forced to shut down
her own mines That helped. but not sufficiently.
and she has virtually aoandoned the nsno, 1o
! II is d notorious fact 'hat sne mas sou t coPpe.
within the last ten days below the prices ner ases
struct the workings of Of the natural laws the
/ Amalgamated has been overthrown. You cahnos
that is what the Amalgamated has apparently tried
| to do