Bisbee daily review., 1904-02-12
George walkers
 REGULAR LETTER ON Copper Production
IN AMERICAN PRODUC TON MORE RAPID THAN
 ELSEWHERE.
United States Produces Fifty-Four Per Cent of the Worlds Product-Oniy About Twenty Seven Per Cent Was Exported - Electrical Appliances Cause of Much Consumption.

Copper production is an industry
 which to De highly profitable must be conducted on large scale. It calls for heavy cash investment from the start, and, as in most other businesses. 2 majority of the undertakings result ir failure. When operations co prove the existence of ore bodies having Iccmmercial value, years are required
 to develop them to their full produc-
 tivity. When production is once well
 under way, however, the profits are always large enough to encourage ev- cry operating company to make as large an output as possible. conse-
 uuently there is no reserve capacity to
 production at those periodic times
 when prices advance The worlds Ioutput of copper increases with de-
 gree of steadiness. an average of about 8 per cent being aGded with each sue
 ceeding year. Last year, however. 6 per cent.
 The increase in American produc- ltion is much more rapid than that of the remainder of the world Fifty
 years ago the worlds copper output Iamounted tc about 110. 1000 900 pounds Iannually. and the United States made
 S per cent or 9 per cent of the whole. A. present the worlds production
 amounts to about 1920 900. 900 pounds.
 and that of the United States 710.0N0.- 600 pounds, of 54 per cent of the whole. Otherwise stated. mere than lhalf of the production of the world comes from the mines of the country; and it may be further said that more Than 65 per cont comes from the mines los the western hemisphere. Nasty
 romputation indicates that the United lStates copper production has increased
 nore than ten times as rapidly during
 che past fifty years as that Of the re-
 niainder of the world. Our exports
 0f copper during the past year had a
 g.oss vai1e of nearly S50,000, ,000.
 Exports of copper from the United
 States last year amounted to about
 51 per cent. CT a little more than half,
 be total production. If reports i'm
 ports be subtracted, however, it ap-
 rears that only about 27 per cent of
 this country's output was exported, leaving approximately 500,000,O0
 pounds. 5r rearly 40 per cent of the
 total production of the world. to be
 consume1 in the United States.
 At first thought it would seem inn
 possible :hat so much copper could be lused in shis country, as at best the
 United States do not occupy a large
 place on the map of the world. By reference 10 the census reports. how
 lever. learn tha; practically all of the
 worlds manufacturing is done in the United States and Europe and that lthe value of the manufactures of the
 United States constitutes about g per "ent of he whole. Electrical devel- . 7pment in the United States greatly ; weeds that of all other countries. We have more telephones, telegraphs electric lighting, electric power and street railways, than any other coun- ttry in the world. If therefore. our manufactures as a whole equal 37 per 'cent of those of the world. it is by no : means surprising that we should con- 7"me 40 per cent Of the worlds cop per.
 Not only has the United States ad- vanced more rapidly in electrical equipment than any of the European ccuntries, but also in the manufsc- lure of electrical equipment. machin- cry and supplies. It is a heavy ex- lporter. as well, of light hardware of tvaricus kinds, much of which is cop : Iper and brass. There is little pros rect that our relation to other coun- tries will change in this respect in the linear future. Though foreigners will ; lrapidly increase their electrical equip
 lment, that of the United States will
 also go on increasing, and the demand
 flor copper will continue to make a 2 Irapid and phenomenal growth.
 l, The consumption of copper always greatly exceeds its production. If 1t ' did not large surplus of copper would l. lcuickly accumulate. for not only the !, lproduct of the mines. but also all Of F lthe scrap copper, brass and other cop :. iper alloys must find a market and go r la second time through the melting poi B To; the manufacturer. It is probable 2 that 3 per cent to per cent of the cur 2 rent copper, bronze and brass manu i fractures are made from old material n Not little brass is adulterated with f lead, and for some purposes brass q composed largely of lead Is nearly or 0 quite as good as the higher grade ar > ticle. Most of the copper produced
 ia made into brass. Though the man
 nfacture of electrical equipment and copper wire now calls for an enormou: ; amount annually, the brass makers art 2 the largest customers Of the copper
 producers; and it Is probale tha,