Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-19
BUSINESS MEN NOTE BIG RISE
IN PRICES OF COMMODITIES
Increase in Burlaps Is at Least so Per Cent A1,i,
Quotations Also Go Up

q ..-~,ere has been an increase of at least
Fl :. - cent recently in the prices of BIZ r
.Ir, said T. w. Behrens, representa-.
az 49, of Anhell g. Smith. Bourse Build
s y. aThere Is a burlap bag which few
,aesths ago could have been bought at 8
rsnts; today the price is 16 cents.
at,urlap." he said. us made from jute.
- npariy all the worlds supply of jute
sa,,ss - from India. II is manufactured
s,sfe into bags. Calcutta is the great
/ essfket for the burlap bags"
.srrbat do you think Is the principal
-.ason sor this advance in prices?"
ssfbere are several reasons. One is the
s,H,oulty Of getting cargoes fro India.
There is a ship on her way from India to
! ~ limited States at the present time
.-,sh about 100000 yards OF burlap as
All of her cargo If she hasn't been tor
ss.5eed or met with some other mishap.
rrbsn the number of bags used by the
sr,nles in Europe for filling with sand to
-.stn Notifications, is beyond all calcula-
sIon There is a movement on foot to
.nhstltute cotton in the manufacture of
ssss This will unduestionably give a
hooss to the price of cotton, but IL the
.scs Of cotton should advance too high
Men Il would be cheaper to go back to
kuriap
rbeat. potatoes and hundred such com
,nodItles and the demand is enormous. In
the Argentine they use millions of these
hass In the wheat harvest There Is aNbig
h,slness in secondhand bags and they
have also proportionately advanced in
prices"
ALUMINIUM GOES UP IN PRICE
II could not say that we are manufac-
tuYing more aluminium than last year"
said the Philadelphia manager of the
AJuninum Company of America. There
Il only one company manufacturing alu-
nintn in the United States, and that Is
cur company. Aluminium can only be
manufactured successfully as a CONNER
cIal proposition when you can get prac-
ticay unlimited quantity of cheap elec-
trc current. We have one reduction plant
Al Niagara Falls and one at Messna,
MY. At both places the electric cur
rent is made by hydraulic power
zone could hardly say what the price
Of aluminium is. Last September II was
quoted at 10 cents pound; today the quo
tation Is 65 cents.
Most people think that the greater part !
Of the aluminium produced in this coun- |
try Is made into cooking utensils That |
10 the smallest branch of our business. |
Aluminium is made into automobile bod |
les, and II Is now entering largely into
the manufacture of parts of internal COM
bustion engines on account of its light
ness and strength. There is not a pound
Of open-hearth steel made today without
small quantity Of aluminium. II an ingot
cf steel were cast in the ordinary way
and rolled and then cut transversey, YOU
could see small spaces where air had
entered and which the rolling process had
not forced out. The addition of a small
quantity OF aluminium at certain stage !
eyefcomes this defect.
"The raw material from which alumni
mum Is made Is a species of clay called
'bauxite and comes principally from Ala
bania and other neighboring States One
Of the first stages of manufacture is to
squeeze out the water, which amounts to
% per cent 1t takes a heat of from
900 to 5000 degrees in the electric fur
naces to reduce the remainder, and there
Is not much pure aluminium in ton of
the raw material. Our company is not
the only one that sells aluminium. There
are many secondhand dealers who buy
Il as junk and melt 1t, but they cannot