The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-08-15
GREATEST COPPER
PRODUCER IN WORLD
GEORGE l.. WALKER OF BOSTON
COMMERCIAL HAS FAITH IN
ELY'S FUTURE.

George l.. Walker of the Boston
Commercial. and editor of Walkers
Weekly Letter, which has probably
the largest circulation of any finan-
cial sheet published in the United
States, left Ely yesterday morning
| for Bingham, Utah, after spending a
week in looking over the Ely mining
district
Mr. Walker in an interview with a
News reporter, expressed himself as
| fully satisfied after his examination
of Ely's copper deposits, as opened
up by some of the larger companies,
that this district is to be great cop
per producer if not the greatest in
the world, and as to Ely, that in a
few years the population here would
be well up in the tens of thousands.
In making this statement Mr.. Wal
ker explained on what he based the
assertion, as follows:
Cooper mining with it's allied in
dustries is the most stable, steady
and permanent form of mining in the
world. While other industries have
their periods of depression, and min
ers, for instance coal or iron miners,
have in the past few years several
| times been on the verge of starvation
and have had to call for assistance
| from the charitably inclined, the
copper mines have continued to pro-
duce with an ever-increasing number
of employees and scale of wages Cop
per is demanded in such quantities
at the present time and will be de-
manded so much more in the future
that there is absolutely no possibility
that for any reason of business de-
preston the copper mines will close
down. or in any manner curtail their
output.
tTake Butte, Montana, for in
stance | have just finished a care
full study of conditions in Butte and
have discovered many facts that are
astonishing. During the past year
Butte mines have produced on an
average of $4,000 tons of ore per
day and to do TINS and to handle this
ore over $4,000 men have been en-
ployed. The freight paid to the rail-
roads of Butte was for this period
over $6,00O,000, which is nearly as
large as the gross earnings of some
large roads.
''Within two years Ely will pro-
duce as much ore as Butte is doing
now and very probably will have a
larger output. This will call for as
large a number of men as are en-
ployed there and from this you can
estimate what the population for this
district should be. Including of
course, all of the dependable indus
tries and professional men that will
be necessary to provide for this vast
army of laboring men.
"There will be cities larger than
Ely is now, scattered all over this
district but lily must and will be
the center or metropolis not only of
this district, but possibly of all Ne
vada. 1t is surprising to me to see
the friction that exists between the
two so-called towns; when their
common welfare is the same and
when the population of Ely Is going
to demand more ground than either
place possesses within its confines at
the present time. Ely will grow, of
course, but in area it is restricted.
Eastern capitalists have apparently
seen further than the residents as
to what a great city Ely is destined
for city of most admirable plans.
| cannot see where there should be
any cause for this friction, of which
| am told, for it seems to me to be
palpable fact that as Ely prospers
SO will the new town and vice-versa.
If this money that the easterners
have brought in here with which to
build up and advertise Ely were to
be taken away and their present
plans revoked, I believe it would
work more harm to Ely than to the
townsite.
Summing it all up, it is perfectly
apparent to me that Ely, not what
is now Ely or Ely City, is going to
be metropolitan city and that it
will be a permanent place, owing to
the fact that this is copper produc-
ing district, there can be no doubt.
Panic and depression of business
lines in every way may be brought
upon this country in the next few
years, but Ely will go ahead and
prosper. The laborers in Ely's cop
per mines and the business men of
a great copper city will not be dam
aged to any great extent. 1t is an
impossibiity to meet the ever-in-
creasing demands for the red metal
and the permanency of city found
ed upon the production of this metal
Is assured"