The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1902-09-10
BOTTLED UP BY
SMELTER TRUST
Coeur d'Alene Miners Power
less to Cope With the
Combination.

The mine owners Of the Occur d 'Alens
held q conference In Spokane last weeI
to devise some means Of securing some
relief from the exactions Of the Smeltel
Trust--which was heralded AZ u grea,
philanthropic move in the interest OF
miners, when organized u year or no ago
Regarding this matter, the Spokesman
Review says:
The fight between the mineowners o
the Occur d'Alene and the smelter trust
has reached u crisis, and the mineown'
ers have refused to ship any more ore Il
the trust until a satisfactory settlemen,
Ia reached. On Monday the Occur d.
Alene mines, except the Bunker Hill 4
Sullivan, suspended shipments Il. the
trust, although their contracts will no,
expire for six months.
The mineowners demand two things
The first and most important is decreas.
ed charges for freight and treatment on
their ores. For years the costs Of smelt.
ing have been steadily reduced by the
application Of more scientific methods,
and the facilities which are afforded by
combining the ores Of widely different
fields.
Despite these reductions, however, the
smelling trust has doggedly refused to
make any cuts In the charges for han.
ding the immense tonnage Of the dis.
trict. To aggrayate the situation. It ID
believed to have made combinations with
the railways, whereby freight rates are
held up, and it is generally conceded
that the trust is getting profits out Of the
tariffs charged for freights. The mine
owners have at last revolted against this
situation.
In addition they are demanding an In.
creased tonnage. For months they have
been forced by the trust to restrict their
output, on the ground that there was a
surplus Of lead in the country, and that
it was necessary to restrict production
until the surplus could b. worked off.
Up 70 the first Of last July, the mines
were restricted to q twO.thirds produc-
ton. Then, In response to the urgent
demands Of the mineowners, the output
was increased to about eighty per cent
Of the normal production. The price,
however, was fixed, as before, at ~
cents a pound.
Meanwhile, the Guggenheims, who
control the smelling trust, have been
interesting themselves personally on a
heavy scale in the lead mines Of the Mis-.
souri.Kansas fields, which are turning
out big tonnage. The mineowners here
feel that they are being restricted in
output no that the market for Missouri
lead will be bolstered mp ut their ex.
pense. Against this condition they are
rebelling. They now demand an output
at their normal rate Of production, and
the reduction in rates which will enable
them to work at profit which they
consider commensurate with their rank
a. the producers OF Is per cent OF all the
aryentiferOus lead produced in the Unit.
ed States. o" s' uB111. n,
The Bunker Hill 4 Sullivan company
is not represented In the conference to-
day, - Il has practically its own smelter
at Tacoma. 60
The following day the spokesmsn.Re.
visv stated: Tho Asht Of the Coeur d..
Alene lead miners with the smelling
trust 10 still unsstalsd, and II . settle
msnt vac any nearer In sight last even.
ing than II was before the conference Of
A. -S~>~.~>~. ~h1ah AoM~AoCnA v>n.