The Washington times., 1915-07-20
WAR. STIMULATING
!. METAL INDUSTRIES
Big. Revival III Mineral Produc.
ton Shown In United States
Report.

. The United states Geological Survey
IN It's nidyear review OF the mining In
dustry III this country reports 4 mark
ed fevival III the metal tfadS and points
out that the eriArsefnents and extern
s'ons at the iron and st4si plants fi,r-
nieh unmistakAbie evidence of returning
Business confidence.
In the fiAif-ysar. period Just completed
SsIpsr %.ss.,sS aSdusstsy st tss Sars. review say
been notable. Prices. output and wages
pefity 10 the Word In the copper ali districts f
Of psmsiSd phs S''isa fcl ssnss .ns:sr ana ,..a WI,
the present high prices. is reflected in
pectins for new mines. ana the June
edyanee in lead and spelter makes the
Sut,ook promising In the lead and zinc
Reports from the west show An IN
ersa.e 4, Soal production over last year.
while IN the East the coke production
showing At last the eject Of the recent
Actiyity in Iron And other metals.
AdYiets from, tie surveys western
otnees o.,s n TIE main are optimistic ,espe-
iona. ofssoS. caiifornis~ ~ and deAsa Alaska. Ar''
Quicksilver In Demand. q,
In the first tiAff Of the year the
precious metal mining industries were
only affected indirectly by the war, with
gold mining on d normal basis, white
the same thing is reported Of silver,
although the demand for silver has been
under the record Of 1914, with prices
averaging 80 cents an ounce IN the last
six months, as compared with IS cents
IN the corresponding time in the preced-
Demand for quicksilver, the report
gays, is now abnormal for the manu-
faeture Of explosives principally.
The output OF bituminous coal in the
nfst six month. Of 1915 Is estimated BY
900 ooo and 100, ooO, 900 tons. the rate Of
production having been from IS to 90
per cent OF the averase for the preeed-
reaesas low Rs5s ebS S Of nrsSustiS9n wi Which
now on the increase
.Anthracite dealers have Jared better
tnan sort operators, since II is estj-
mated the output has fallen off only
OF 1914
Petroleum production in the first half
OF the year totaled 145. 900 900 barrels, a
TsStable net increase over the same time in
Increased Steel Production.
The Iron Age today will say:
The steel trade enters upon the Sec
ond half Of the year with production
about 20 per cent greater than on
January 1. ana With the increase In
production and consumption whicn
has Been more marked in the past two
months still in progress There Is d
general disposition to look for further
expansion in the remainder of the
year. in spite Of some irreEularity III
prices and q the, failure Of pig iron
finished material
That the Carnegie Steel Company
may. have available for the Central
West steel which would otherwise 10
TO an Eastern subsidiary of the Steel
Corporation, Is a possible development,
put the report Of such purchases Il
not confirmed. Three more blast FUR
nAces Of the corporation have gone in
y the past week. SO that 1t Is not likely
been reported.
Steel bars stnl lead all finished
products m activity. yet the general es-
innate of the steel industry and. tho |
exakgerations as to the percentage OF
output going abroad are based Oh tho |
war bonm In bars. "A new French con-
tract for 25.0o0 tons Of shrapnel bars
has been awarded to the Bufralo mill, |
ana new bar inquiry. which Is large. !
includes $1,000 to 5000 tons for ex,
port and 1900 tons OF 3h-irch rounds |
for high explosive shells. Shrapnei |
ana bars have only begun to figure IN |!
the export returnS.' |