The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-09
ZINC COPf'E1:'S REIGN
 TO CONTINUE,


 --rrary Indication of Lasting High
 Prices-Men in Position to Know
 Say European Demand Will Out
 last the War.
 (The Mercantile and Financial Times)
 The copper situation in this coun- try can be considered excellent, espe- cially in View of the fact that there is no indication of an early termina- tion of the European war. Those who have been watching the sale of copper stocks have been watching a barometer which is always suscep- : tible to influences which have slight if any, bearing on real conditions. The real copper situation is shown by that unerring indication-the sale, demand and price, which together form the market for the metal.
 The market for large lots of cop per is still held at, from thirty to thlr- ty-two cents per pound, whether for immediate delivery or for delivery Tn the latter part of this year. Ana there is no doubt that the copper metal dealers and the producers are we'll sold out for many months 10 come. That means that the cont1nua- ton or ending of the war has and Will have little effect on the copper mar ket. ... But those who are accustomed to look ahead have staked their re- putations as men of good sense ana Judgment that the demand Tor cop per will be as great after the war as during the period of conflict. No less a man that John D. Ryan, president of the Anaconda Company, the larg- est producer of copper in the world has gone on record, in a recent an- nual report of that company, to! the effect that high prices for copper will continue for years, after the war is ended. Furthermore, other men, also authorities in regard to the cop- per situation. agree with MT. Ryan.
 When it is remembered that it costs only from seven to ten cents a pound to produce copper, and that before the European war copper kings grew opu-s lent with copper selling at thirteen cents pound, there is no reason for anyone to look upon copper as any thing but a big money maker for those interested in the metal in this country. And now the United States is in, a better position, as far as cop per is concerned, than ever before in the history of the country. At pres ent America is producing eighty per cent of the worlds out put of cop per This is a third more than this country was able to or did produce before the war. Tn addition to this increase in the output the United States. is now in a. financial position so that the British and German metal merchants cannot dictate the price for which the American copper is to be sold. The producer in this country has the financial backing necessary to hold his product until the foreign buyer is ready to come into the mar ket and pay the producers price.
 The copper needed for reconstruc- ton purposes, after the war is only a matter of history, it is believed by men who have reason to know will be greater than what was demanded during the conflict. In other words, every day of the continuance of the war, not only uses up copper for des- tructive purposes, but creates addi- tional days of demand for the repair of that destruction after the war has ceased. In fact, there is every indi- cation that King Copper has a reign of many years ahead of him. Most naturally, under these conditions, there is a rush for copper lands and what might almost be termed an intensive development of them. A typical case of what is being done by brainy men who are prepared to take advantage of the situation is shown by the Alaska Standard Copper Min ing Company This company was organized to own and operate copper mines at Land1ock Bay, Prince Will liam Sound, Alaska. Its property consists of seven patented claims and mill site, comprising about one hun dred and fifty acres. This tract is right on the border of the bay, which is known as a most excellent deep water harbor The Japanese current is near enough to make possible min- ing operations the year around hence the company has provided an equip ment for continuous mining
 Competent engineers have estimat- ed that the ore in the mines on this ore hundred and fifty acres include three hundred thousand tons of four per cent. ore, and ten thousand tons of eight per cent. ore of. net value of $4,554,318 That is more than nine tirnesI the option price of $5OO,- GOO for the entire property; and the lease and option under which the
 
 three and a half years to run from the date of the agreement. In. other words, the men who are the directing power of the Alaska Standard Copper Mining Company are among those. who had faith in copper and pro- ceeded to put that faith into action, with the result they have more than. four million dollars profit in sight be- fore they have learned all that may be learned about the wealth conceal ed in the property.
 So much faith have, these men in copper and their mines that they have already spent more than $120,00O in development work. As result they now have an equipment which con- sists of the best possible features for such an undertaking. It includes an aerial tramway of the Riblet type, which is 2,526 feet long with a termi- nus on the mountain at af1 elevation of 1,425 feet. This tramway has a guaranteed capacity of ten tons an hour. though it has carried as many as fifteen tpns an hour From the central station is another tramway which has length of a23 feet. This connects third tunnel; and there IS still another tramway of APO feet, which handles the ore from another section of the property. Then there ias an ore bunker on the beach which has a capacity of nine hundred tons, The ore bunker at the central station has a, capacity of one hundred tons.
 The wharf, at which the vessels will