The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-09-16

following extremely interesting arti-
Gle for the eastern publication:
The days of 40 in California are be-
ing lived over again in the southwest
corner of Missouri.
But zinc, not gold, is the precious
metal that is ~enriching men oven night.
The fiercer the conflict IL. Europe
the darker the war clouds. the brighter
plethoric the wallets in the Missouri
Kansas Oklahoma zinc and lead pro-
ducing district.
For Jack" has sold up to $40 a ton
Jack please understand, is the
trade anne for zinc.
Immense quantities of brass are
used in modern warfare. 1t is really
impossible to NOV down tens of thou
sands of men, to turn trenches into
orators that belch dead and wounded,
to level Notifications and destroy
~cathedrals without the fire of heavy
shells. These glory making shells are
largely brass and brass contains from
rs to As per cent of zinc.
Allies Pay Any Price Asked.
The allies in their feverish haste to
manufacture war munitions need much
zinc and they are paying for it-pay-
ing almost any price asked for it.
Please understand again that the
Missouri-Kansas- Oklahoma district
produces about 40 per cent of the zinc
mined in the United States, or about
one-eighth of the worlds output. Bel
GUM and Germany formerly produced
about half of the worlds supply.
With Belgium under her heel the
all prepared, all-resourceful Germany
is not in the market for zinc. But the
allies must have it, else how are they
to reply to the kaiser's Krupps.
So now you know why these are
boom days in the zinc district, partic-
ularly in Webb City, the center of the
heaviest producing area.
500 a Ton Once a Lure.
The hope that jack would ever sell
for 500 a ton had been never more
than a sweet dream to the producer.
1t was about as visionary as $4-a-
bushel wheat, or $2-a-bushel corn to
the farmer, or a flat rate of $50 a
week salary for all st~enographers.
In 1896 Mckinley supporters made
a strong campaign in this jack coun-
try. They promised that If Mckinley
was elected a tariff would be put on
zinc, which would assure a price of
$40 a ton for jack. 1t was an alluring
vision to the producer. The transpar-
encies read: Mckinley and $40
Jack"
With jack selling now for something
like six times as much as was prom
Used then it is small wonder the dis
trict is basking in the sun of it's warm
est prosperity,
Soon after the war broke out a
leading operator here ventured to
prophesy:
Boys, jack is going to $50 one of
these days"
What's the use Of dreaming when
you're awaken asked the boys.
Three months later they were selling
their zinc for SIP a ton.
Lead Also Scars Unexpectedly.
Lead is also at a phenomenal price
and is adding to the general prosper
ity. Lead is usually mined with zinc
and the output of the district averages
As, 000 tons a year. The 1914 average
price was SAT. The price on June IA
last was SIS.
When the district was opened up 1t
was a lead mining camp. This stuff,
now called jack kept getting in the
way, but no m knew what 1t was,
The first lot used commercially was
a stone fence built from a refuse pile.
The discovery hat JACK was zinc ore
gave the camp a boom in 1873, in
which year $50 tons were sold at an
average price of SO a ton.
The price and tonnage leisurely rose
in 1905 100000 tons were pro-
duced and sold at $45 a ton. That was
a good price and everybody was pros
porous and contented. But the year
1912 was the best in the history of
the section. More thar 5000 600 tons
Of jack were made and sold at an av-
erage price exceeding $50. The dis
trict received more than $15,O 900, 900.
Even Whisky Dreams Come True.
Barring those who drank the worst
in southwest Missouri no one
dreamed of 800 jack. But even alco-
hol- stimulated dreams come true
On the morning of June 5 last n
thusiastic operators walked up and
down the streets here with a sub
scription list to engage the Carthage
band to play on Main street in cele-
of the first time in history
that jack had sold for 500 a ton. BY
the time the band had been engaged
the price had gone to 1902.
When the players reached Joplin
over the excellent trolley system the.
price was sos and when the first sell
had been played and the horns
up ended to cool 1t was $106. Imme-
diately after the concert closed with
''Therell Be a Hot Time in the Old
-