The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-03-18
Consumption of Copper by German
Army

The London Times recently pub
/ lished an article on War and Cop
per" which has attracted much at
tentlon. as it was no doubt prepared
by q high authority on copper statis-
| tics. The article Is here reproduced,
as it contains much information on
the use of copper in ammunition that
is of the greatest interest To the cop
per miners of the west:
Serious Problem for Germany.
Probably one of the most pressing
questions in Germany at the present
hour is her need of copper and the
means by which she shall provide for
that need. If consumption exceeds
production, copper must be imported,
however large the accumulated stores
and if the blockade of the seas insti-
ltuted by France and England IS eff
fective-that Is, ii no copper can
reach Germany either directly or
through neutral ports-then Ger
many's fate is sealed. And for this
reason: Without copper there can be
made no ammunition; and, the ex-
penditure Of ammunition being i'm
mense, the consumption of copper is
immense.
The front upon which the troops of
the five great nations are fighting ex-
tends to some 400 miles in the west
and more than $50 miles in the east,
Serbian battlet1elds excluded. As in
Poland the concentration of troops
does not seem to be as great as it is
in France and Belgium, we can not
reckon the firing line at more than, let
us say, $50 miles Q,320O0O yards)
I'm Germany the men under arms
certainly exceed 1900 600; in Austria
Hungary, at the same rate they ex-
coed 2,500000 These $500, goo men
represent roughly five men per yard.
If we reckon half of this number as
employed in the rear, there remain at
the front 2 V men per yard, OF these,
again, a portion belong to the artil-
lery and cavalry the officers, the sap
pers and miners, the medical corps,
etc, Making all due allowances for
these, we may safely reckon on one
man and half per yard. Reckoning
conservatively let us admit only one
man per yard This represents, for
$50 miles 100000 yards, roundly l.
100000 rifles.
What is now the average number
of shots per rifle per day? With ref
erence to the many daily engage
ments' at several points, where thou
sands Of shots are fired in few hours
over a short range, it is probably not
an exaggeration to put it at 20 per
man: 26000,000 shots every "a hours.
A rifle cartridge weighs about CIT
drams equal to 1S412 grains. The to-
tai weight of brass necessary for this
daily rifle fire is therefore 26,000,000
by 6.77 drains, equal to 687,578 pounds
or roundly, 305 tons. If we calculate
Maxim gun fire at 10 per cent of the
rifle fire, we have: Rifles, S05 tons;
Maxim guns, roughly, 30 tons; MAX
ing a total Of 1886 tons.
Doubtless upon a hard soil some
small portion Of the expended car
tridges is recovered. But in the mud
nothing Estimating on an average, It
can hardly reach 5 per cent We
therefore get about II tons recovered.
The weight of brass lost is, according
ly, 1896 tons, less II tons, equal to 31S
English tons.
ITO these figures must be added
those for artillery fire This is diff
cult to estimate. 1t is said that on
some of the hottest days of the battle
of the Marine the allies fired 100000
shells. On the other hand, certain au-
thorities claim that France can not
manufacture more tnan from iV,Vuo "
$4,000 shells per day. To be brief and
to be we'll within the truth, suppose
we admit for the English French and
Belgian artillery an expenditure of
10000 shells a day. The Germans
must respond with at least an equal
number, especially if we consider the