The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-09-03
Labor Conditions in Butte Before
the Blow-up.

and the mucker to $275. In the early
days the surface deposits In Butte
were just beginning to be explored
The surface ores were of enormous
richness The ore went 80 to 70 per
cent copper, and associated with It
was silver in quantities of 20 to $50
ounces per ton. 1t also carried large
gold values and the ore was hsipped
to Swansea, Wales, at an enormous
copper ore in Butte Is about per cent
copper and 1t carries approximately 2
ounces Of silver to the ton. With in
creased depth increased costs have
been brought about, remoteness of
ore. heavier tramming power, in
crease in cost Of supplies, and in
crease in cost Of living. We are min
ing copper today from 300O-foot
level with the most costly mining ma
chinery in the world. We have trans
portation problems that make US ship
our ore from Montana to the Atlantic
seaboard and then around the world
more favorably located with reference
to transportation facilities. We are In
competition with the copper produced
in all parts Of the world. with copper
= ha 1oh ~ h0
lean peon who gets from SOC to 75c
per day in Mexican money; we are In
competition with the Peruvian, the
Spanish and the Japanese miners. Out
Of world production Of 0o0,oo0.00o
pounds OF copper we make less than
300, 900, 900 pounds here in Butte. We
can not control the market. we can not
fix the price. Our copper sells in Der.
lin. in Hamburg, in London or In
Paris at so much pound in competi-
ton with the copper that comes from
every other mining district in the
world. It simply means that with
margin of profit that is now extremely
close II there is a greatly added ex-
penditure in the production Of copper
1t would cease to be produced here at
all. You can't meet the competition
Of the world If you are not willing to
fight your cost Of production. Our rail-
road bill for freight on our copper last
year was 100000 out Of a gross
business of something over 100000
900. We are in competition with wa
ter transportation from Chile, Peru,
Japan and Spain. simply wanted to
make this general statement to dissi-
pate the idea suggested by one Of the
commission that there is a fight on
the one hand by the operator to get as
much as possible out Of his labor, and
that there Is a fight on the other hand
by the laborer to get as much out of
the employer as possible There comes
line Of division beyond which the
cost Of production can not go without
stopping production. That has espe-
cial reference to the shorter work dav
that has been suggested for the Butt
mines At the present time with tn
mines on an 8-8hour basis 1t takes tn
average man rs minutes to reach HI
place Of work from the collar Of tn
shaft, and his shift terminates wit
the blasting, so that hours Of actuo
labor Is not put in the mines Of BUTT
on the average. A shorter work da'
would mean an increased cost Of pro
duction that could not be MAINTAINED
"Out Of every dollar that is tcke'
out Of the mines, more than soc goe
directly to the man in the mine an
the smelter. One Of the great items
cost is lumber We use 75,O00,O0O fee
a year in timbering these mines, an
100000 stulls are used. A Dig proper
ton of that cost is labor. OF the 81.
0OO,0 900 paid for freight the railroad Ia
borer Is big part, so that the labo
cost Of producing copper Is probabl'
greater than obtains in any other In
dustry. As to ventilation in the mine
we have been somewhat between TIL
devil and the deep sea. AS stra'gh
business proposition of dollars an
cents, 1t stands to reason that any
thing we can do to increase the eff
cheney Of what Is representative
more than 80 per cent of our gross ex'
penditures we are going to do. W.
have every mine opening area figured
the possibilities with reference to ven
tilation, and have done everything tina
Is necessary in order that these me1
may live underground Just AS Ions
as mechanical means can be devised
to furnish ventilation underground W.
are going to take advantage of 1t and
do the best we can In the lower lev
els where the mine is wet we can ven
tilate. In the upper levels where the
water has leaked out, ventilation II
accompanied by the raising OF dust
In trying to correct one evil you gel
another. The dust, we recognize, Is 8
harmful factor so far as pulmonar'
troubles Of miners are concerned.
ANYONE who has had anything t.
do with the employment Of labo'
knows that one of the hardest things
to do Is to get that laborer to do wha'
he ought to do to protect himself.