Evening star., 1907-11-12
Mining the Louisiana Product.

nearly OIt-lOuTlI Oh lilb tullfS picduCt VI
the world.
Mining the Louisiana Product.
Sicily is the greatest producer and con-
trolled the trade until Herman Frasch. an
employe of the Standard OIL Company In
Cleveland. in 1901 invented a process
whereby the deposit in Calcasieu parish,
Louisiana. on the Southern Pacific rail
road could be utilized. That deposit has
been known for han century. 1t was
discovered by means Of springs which
have brought sulphur to the surface. The
body of the deposit is hundred feet
thick and of unknown area. Mr. FraSch.
who seems to be a gentleman of great
ingenuity. pumps it up from depth Of
a thousand feet by using two pipes, one
inside the other. The outer pipe is six
inches in diameter, the inner pipe four
inches in diameter. and the space be-
tween the two is filled with hot water un-
der pressure, which melts the sponge of
gypsum in which the sulphur is found
and keeps it in a liquid state until 1t
can be pumped through the inner pipe to
the surface The output of the Louisiana
mine is about 300 900 tons per year, val
ued at $4,000 900. In 1901 1t was 241 900
TONS in 1908 it was $4,000 tons. and it
keeps on increasing. Before 1900 only
few thousand tons were produced in Ne
vada, Colorado, Utah ana Texas, and we
were compelled to depend upon the Sicil-
ians.
Mr.. Frasch organized a company with
capital furnished by his employers.
Messrs. Rockefeller. Flagler, Harkness,
Rogers and other members of the Stand
ard OH Company, and, while the Union
Sulphur Company of Louisiana has no di-
rect relations with the Standard on Com
pany the stockholders of both are the
same With this capital Mr.. Frasch put
up a plant with a capacity of thousand
tons day of sulphur which comes to
the surface in liquid form, is run off on
the ground and solidfies into enormous
blocks. Some of these blocks weigh 10000
and 10000 tons. and these enormous
masses are broken up and are shipped to
market by the Southern Pacific railway
and on barges through the bayous to New
Orleans, where they are sent to New
York and other Atlantic ports by steamer.
Sicilian Industry Threatened.
The development of the Louisiana de-
post has been a sad thing for Sicily, and
caused the importations from that island
to the United States to be SO much re-
duced that the Sicilian company was COM
PEELED to shut down a considerable proper
ton of It's works and discharge some To-
600 employees The consequence was a
strike in August last, when $1,000 StcIl-
ians stopped work in the sulphur mines
and threatened to destroy the property OF
the company The managers insisted that
they could not afford to mine sulphur for
which there was no market, ana the
strikers retorted that work must be fur
nished to all of the men or none of them
would go into the mines. In order to pre-
vent a catastrophe the government OF
Italy intervened and organized what Is
known as the Consorzio Obiigatorio which
agreed to advance from the royal treas
ury whatever funds were necessary to
continue the full force of 10000 miners at
work under their former wages and take
the sulphur produced as security.
The Anglo Sicilian Sulphur Company of
London, owned by English capitalists,
controls all the sulphur mines of Sicily,
and is therefore a monopoly. The gov
ernment of Italy, through the Consorzio
Obligatorio. has become partner of this
monopoly and the interests of the Two
are identical to a certain degree. Inc ac-
cumulation of sulphur under the new ar
rangement has now reached ABOUT 4U.ooo
tons and there being no demand tor that
surplus the ConsorZio ordered the ship
ment of a large quantity on consignment
to the United States. Where the con
signees were instructed to dispose of it
on the best terms possible. This plan
WILL of course. demoraize the market and
compel the Union Sulphur Company to
reduce its prices to meet the threatened
competition.
Unlawful Conspiracy Charged.
The first step in the war was the ship
ment from Sicily to New York of cargo
of 300 tons of sulphur about the middle
of October and the Louisiana Sulphur
Company hearing of 1t, appealed to the
government of the United States for as
sistance and protection. Mr. Frasch and
his attorneys came to washington ana
fled memorandum with the Attorney
General They represent that the 81
cil.an monopoly, supported by the itallan
{
with its agents in the United States to
get rid of it's surplus of 4ooooo tons OF
sulphur. more or less, by dumping IL upon
this market and selling 1t for any price
it can get This surplus. 1t is represented
actually belongs to the government OF
Italy which has advanced nearly S2,ooO,-
OO0 to the company, because the latter
cannot reduce its production without de-
priving a large portion of the population
of Sicily of their earnings ana the actual
necessities of life.
Mr.. Frasch and his attorneys called the
attention of the Attorney General to sec
tton -, of the Wilson tariff act of 1894,
which has never bean repealed and which
reads: That every combination, consp'r-
acy trust agreement, or contract is de-
ciared to be contrary to public policy, IL
legal and void, when the same is made
by or between two or more persons or cor
porations, either of which is engaged in
importing any article from any foreign
country into the United States. and when
such combination. conspiracy. trust, agree
ment, or contract is intended to operate
in restraint of lawful trade. or free COM
petition in lawful trade or commerce. or
to increase the market price In any part
of the United States of any article or
articles imported into the United States .
The Attorney Generals View.
The Attorney General has been unable
to afford the Louisiana company any re-
lief ana will not take any action. He
cannot prevent the Consorzio Obligatorio
from dumping its surplus sulphur upon
the docks of New York and other cities, or
prohibit the agents of that company in
the United States from selling it at any
price they choose. Section 73 of the Will
son tariff act does not apply to the case
ths.re L. intent q iIacrea 90