Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1902-03-22
LEAD BUSINESS.
Miners Should Combine and Estab-
ish SHELTERS ia the West.
INTERESTING ARTICLE ON MINING

The lead business, like any other,
is done 10y three parties the producers
or miners. the middle men or smcltcrs,
pnd the manufacturers or consumers,
who supply the trade in the various
articles Of manufacture The producers
are mining companies and individual
miners, among the former some are
more or less associates of the smcter
trust. The middle men are the Amcri-
can Smoking and Refining com lany,
the plrAer Lead company, of Joplin.
Ho.. tIp Pacific coast smCltcrs ana
Ia4to % number of smCltcrs indepcnd
ent Of tlp trust but mainly engaged In
the reduction of non argent ferrous lead
ore. Independent works are preparing
for operations IN the Rock mountains
In competition with the trust The
manufacturers or consumers are the
National Lead company. owning the
Harrison reduction works. the Rio
Grande plant AZ Socorro and the old
silver smelling and refining works AT
Cheitinham. st Louis, of which only
the latter Is in operation, reducing the
ore from the companys own mines at
Flat River, Mo- to pig lead. The Ma
tional Lead company Is composed of
number of corroding companies
throughout the middle and eastern
states. consuming about "a 600 tons
of pig lead per annum. In 1900 there
was made $3.50 tons of white lead,
which includes the product hy the in
dependent corroders and probably also
the sublimed white lead made by the
PiCher Lead company of Joplin. Mo.
The manufacture OF lead pipe and lead
plumbing. mixtures for rubber and
other goods. consumes the rest of our
production of lead. Every new article
produced in certain branches increases
the consumption of lead Prosperity
in general increases IT, We prouuce
enough lead. year in and year out. to
do us. Some tunes there is a shortage.
then surplus. but on the average. pro
dGCtiOn balances consumption As
Leadvillo. for time. largely increased
the output so will for a time, south.
west Missouri. The introduction Of the
Wiley table and its limitations have
prevented "A great shortage in the
Rocky mountains. From time To time
thus new discovery or an invention
has filled shortage. And so II may
in the future. New railroads into min
irg districts will make possible new
developments. but our dormant re
4
throughout the United states, There
is no danger of a serious overproduc-
ton If il be then year of panic. The
American Smelling and Refining com
pany was organized for self protection
to stem the tide of competition which
proved ruinous. The Guggenhoim
shelters entered the combination after
having prOfcssed intention OF remain
ing independent. Today the Gu"gen-
helm interest is the whole soul IL not
the whole body OF the trust The trust
Is doing all IL can to force all smelling
| companies into its arms but in Mis-
souri,. especially southwest Missouri
! the mines of that class which can pro-
| duco probably only by Wholesale oper-
ations which have good profit now
! with a very low state Of the market
| The most prominent producers there,
| the st. Joe Lead company and the
| Dosloge Consolidated as we'll as the
National Lead company cannot cease
operations or reduce their output with
out very serious loss but the two for
mer have frequently withheld their
| product from the market for n time
In joplin the chief production of lead
| Is Incidental with zinc mining and the
| Pitcher Lead company sells the pig lead
generally on the same day that IL buys
! the equivalent in ore. The output
around Joplin will rarely exceed 90
90, tons of pig lead per annum. This
| includes Kansas The trust. therefore.
so long as Missouri remains such a
prominent factor cannot absolutely
control the market, although 1t can
materially help II by storing its desil-
verified lead. This however. does not
restrict the output. Hence the closing
of trust plants and the low price they
pay for the ore increase OF treatment
| charges, in fact the decentralization of
the Rocky mountain market for argen-
tferous lead ore. The use OF foreign
lead smelter in bond facilitates this
policy of restricting the home produc-
ton combination Of miners is one
Of the measures OF relief and in antici-
patton of such step the trust has as
ISOLATED with number Of mine devel-
opmcnt companies that buy mp large
mines II stands 10 reason. therefore,
that no new smclter can operate sue
cessfully unless II Is assured of plenty
of ore. has good financial backing. the
good will of railroads and talent and
business management