Bisbee daily review., 1907-01-20

copper prices continue to advance. Lake and eIectrolyuc for immediate
 delivery are said to have sold as high as 25 S-4 cents per pound this week. It is difficult to secure quotations,
 however, as there are no sellers, pro
 ducers generally being out of the mar ket. One of the largest producing in- terests reports that 1t has sold cleo trolytic for delivery as far ahead as
 May for "A If cents per pound A rep resentauFe of several large producers says: We can get any price for cop per we choose to ask" The market
 is absolutely bare of supplies and man. ufacturers who have not taken care of their requirements already must either find some one who will resell 6 lot
 bought at lower prices or go without.
 A gentleman, who from his position in the electrical field, is better able l.
 speak than almost anyone else, is quoted as follows: The development and expansion of the use of electricity can only be measured at present by the ability to get the metal, copper" l have believed for years that this stage would be reached sooner or later, but did not realize it was at hand IL is plain, however, that it is the constantly growing demand for electric power that Is absorbing eve'
 pound of available copper, as subsu tutes for the metal are being used h practically every other line.
 Sheet copper workers and cornice makers declare that they are using only half the copper they would were the price down to Is cents. Galyan- fed iron Is taking the place Of copper in the building trades; and the con- sumption of brass has suffered decid- edly in some directions. This Is how the advance in price has mads avail able a large amount of copper to sup ply the tremendous growth of demand from electrical manufacturers, wire mills, etc
 Copper is coming to be direct com petitor of coal The world is using mechanical power in a constantly tn- ,creasing ratio. Every advance h the wages of the coal miners, every In crease in the cost of mining supplies and other mining expenses increases the price of coal and, therefore, ad- vances the cost of creating power.
 On the other hand, there nave been most decided advances in science or electrical generation and transmission, and in many places electricity, gener- ated by water power, is entering into competition with the isolated steam power plant Where opportunities ex- ist for the creation of electricity by waterpower copper at $1 per pound IS cheaper than coal at S7 per ton. Now that electrical power can be trans mitted 500 miles or more without any appreciable loss, waterpower priyl- leges are advancing in price; and the question as to whether it is cheaper to generate electricity at the coal mines and transmit it across country by wire or to ship the coal to local steam plants, as is done now, is being considered by power economists, \
 The work of equippIng steam rail roads with electricity is going ahead much more rapidly than most people realize, and the prospect now Is that 1t will continue as rapidly as is con sistent with a reasonable price for and supply of copper.
 It is estimated by a high authority that the worlds production of copper increased only per cent lsst year, notwithstanding the tremendous i'm petus given to the trade by the abnor- mally high ruling prices for the prod net. It has been explained in these letters often that copper production cannot be increased rapidly and at will, as can iron and coal production. Statistics are presented. for instance. to show that the output of pig iron has increased about 53 per cent in the past two yieaTts. while copper pro duction in the same period has in- creased less than 20 per cent. If cleo trical progress Is to continue at its present rate, therefore, 1t must do so on high priced copper.
 The public is in the market, and copper mining stocks are in better de- mand then any other class of secur- ities. The accumulation for consolida- ton purposes of such stocks as os- ceola. Allouez and Centennial has gone on steadily, and buying of character which suggests something more than investment demand has appeared in