The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-21
ANXIETY IN BUTTE
RECENT SLUMP IN AMALGAMATED
COPPER HAS ALARMED THE
MINING MEN
SOME MINES MAY CLOSE DOWN
Judge q. NJ. Clements, of Helena,
Hopes Trouble May BE Due
Wholly to Speculative
Bear Movement.

The recent slump in Amalgamated Cop
per company stock is having a depressing
erect IN Montana, and there is consider
able uneasineSs among the thousands of
men emnloyed by that company as to the
outcorae.E The reasons advanced by the
board off directors of the company. that
the foreign consumption had fallen off,
is not al all assuring to the employees,
who see where there is a good likelihood
ofsthe output being decreased and cense-
quently many of them put out of en-
pioyment,
Judge J. M. Clements, of Helena, was
at the Ryan yesterday, accompanied by.
his daughter, Miss Floy Clements, who is
on her way to Washington. where she
will spend the winter. When asked
yesterday what the effect of the slump
was in Montana, the judge saiu:
Nothing Of a positive nature has yet
occurred in laontana as result of the
decline in prices of the Amalgamated
stock, and as general thing it is con-
sidered by many to be merely a bear
movement. While this is true to a Ger
tain extent, and up to the present time
there has been no widespread feeling of
alarm, nevertheless there have been dis
quoting rumors to the effect that some
of the mines in Butte would be closed
and the smelters close down.
This, of course, affects a large num-
Der of the. Miners in Butte, and the
sIneltermen in Anaconda and Great Falls.
The smelter in Great Falls has been clos
ed, but l understood that it is only for
a short time, and that the slump had
nothing to do with it. There was also
a rumor that two of the Amalgamated
Copper company's mines were about to
close, but the mine officials declared that
the closing would not be permanent.
There is a possibility that there may
be an effort to lessen the production of
copper in Montana. F. Augustus Hinzie,
who has control of a large number Of
copper sproperfies > is now working but
two eight-ha}ir sshifts,rwhere it has been
Gust on1aryssto work three4
"Of course this will have its bad effect
on Butte. and should there be any reduc-
tion in the work of the smelters Ana
conda and Great Falls would suffer. 1t
is too soon yet to be able to determine
what the effect of the slump will be. but
if ii is only a bear movement, as antic-
ipate. do not think the state will be
seriously affected
When asked as to whether the stock
and sheep in the state were suffering
from the cold snap, Judge Clements said
that Minnesota was the coolest place he
had struckSon his trip east.
CAS- general thing cattle and sheep
in Montana are having a very good win
ter. 1t JAS been much warmer in the
eastern part of the state than in Wyo-
ming, where a large percentage of the
sheep die from the Geld. In Helena and
the western portion of the state there
has been an abundance of snow, which
will help the placer miners out next
spring, as this early snow packs and re-
mains Hfftil warm weather sets in in
earnest, thus insuring wafer for the
mountain streams. The snowfall has
not BEEN so heavy in the cattle and sheep
5country.s In fact, there has been just
enough to insure the proper amount of
moisture, and not enough to prevent the
Montana steer from ..rustlng'' grass.
There nave been no sudden thaws
after snow. which is very likely to kill
off a large number of sheep Sheep can
stand pretty cold weather as long as they
don't set wet, and thus far they have
Jared pretty well, fer while the weather
has been cold, it has been uniform
throughout,