Bisbee daily review., 1901-12-29
COPPER.


 nal, ,lcommenting on the disturbed con dition in the copper market and the drop in price to l2i cents per pound' says under date of December Fist:
 ssThese reductions in price have not had any effect on sales as yet; and could not be expected to, since consumers hesitate to buy on what seems to be falling market. Buying will be linn ited to immediate necessities until the market reaches something which may seem to approximate basis. Condi- tions at present cannot be accepted as normal, and until the close relations between Wall street and the metal market which now exist are dissolved we cannot arrive at any substantial footing which will warrant extensive dealings.
 1.-The report which Mir. John Stan ton prepares as statistician for the cop per companies is given in full in our market columns. It shows that for the month of November the production of copper in the United States, as esti- mated by those who have the best op- portunities of obtaining the facts, was q, 72s long tons. This quantity is less by 2,370 than that reported for the month of October, ird less by l,54S tons than in November of last year. The reports given from time to time in our news columns indicate that con- siderable part of the large decrease shown last month was in the Butte mines. where work has been very quiet for some time. Part of the loss was in the Arizona mines, especially in the group around Jerome. and probably very little in the Lake Superior mines, These conclusions, it must be under stood, are drawn from our news corre- spondence, since the official report gives no details of the production of the reporting mines.
 For the eleven months ending with November we find that the heavy drop in the output of last month has re- duced the United States production be- low that of 1900 by I,31l tons. This is not laige percentage, the total for the current year being 245,452 long tons. While our mines showed a small loss, the reporting foreign mines-in- cluding the Rio Tinto, the Mansfield and all the important European pro- ducers-have shown this year total output of S3,I0S tons, ur l,260 tons more than in 1900. This increase Is very nearly equal to the decrease on this side.
 "The most impor tant change is found in the exports of copper from the United States, which continued light in November, and for the eleven months reached a total of only 80, 195 tons, against l4s, ,34l tons in 1900 and l03, ,364 tons in 1899. The decrease this year was 6s, l46 tons as compared with the extraordinary shipments of las, year; but only 23,l ,l69 tons from those of 1899. Last year the exports were 6O.l per cent of our total production, while this year they were only 32.7 per cent, dropping below one-third of the total, and showing the smallest pro portion reported for several years The depression cf business abroad and the consequent stop put to new electri cal enterprises in Europe have showr their full effect in purchases of copper here.
 1.-The present situation in copper must be regarded as not only unprece dented, but as altogether uncertain and the oldest observers hesitate tc make any prediction as to the future There is TO doubt that our own con sumption continues very large, but there are some doubts as to whether il will be much increased by a lower range of prices. That a further droI in production may occur is very possi ble, but bey ond this there is really lit tie that can be said of the future witt any degree of confidence.