The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-08-15

try is worse than that. For a greatly
increased number of concerns, both
mining and smelling. have become
participators in the business. Not
only has greatly increased plant
been capitalized. but also a greatly
increased administration of the busl-
ness; wherefore there is an expanded
overhead. Consequently, many Of
your plants, operating at only 40 per
cent capacity, are showing the in
creased cost per ton Of ore smelted
that inevitably follows from opera
ton at reduced capacity. suppose
that some have even reached the stage
of resignation where they may philo-
sophically reason that the less ore
that is smelted the less money may
be lost in the aggregate. even If the
loss per ton of ore be more. Many
mining companies no doubt are delud-
ing themselves with the fancy that
they are just breaking even, when in
fact they are not really getting a new
dollar for an old one.
With this disagreeable and unheal-
thy situation in the zinc industry, we
find that at the same time the country
Is in desperate need for many of the
other metals The shortage of tin Is
acute: of copper there is not enough
nor is there of iron and steel. In the
lead industry there are ominous
clouds. In zine only, among the ma
testify, every pound of zinc that can
be substituted for the scarcer metals
at this time is a patriotic service In
cidentaly, it will be helpful to the
zinc industry itself.
should take too much of your time
If ! should begin to elaborate to you
my ideas as to the more extensive
uses of zinc that may be made, and
my ideas at present are but imper-
feet, anyhow. l will confine myself to
general principles. Most metals have
some uses that are peculiar to them
selves, owing to special properties;
ie., such as those that make copper
valuable as an electrical conductor
and tin for solder. Other uses are
due merely to certain general proper
ties, such as malleability or ductility,
rolled into sheet or drawn into wire.
For many purposes sheet zinc may
serve just as well as sheet copper
or a zinc casting may be quite as
may be really better than some other
metal that is commonly used, owing
to tradition or habit, but the manu-
featuring and consuming trade may
doubt that zinc can advantageously'
be employed for a great many more
purposes in this country than it ever
has been. Even before the war it was
ope than here. Since the war it has
been employed in Germany for more
purposes, in substitutions for other
metals, than anybody ever thought of
previously. If we wait for the war to
be over we shall learn some marvellous
things of what the Germans have done
with zinc; but that will be far too late
for us. We ought to get busy to learn
these things and to push things for
ourselves. This is the psychologist
time, right now, when zinc is plenti-
full and cheap and some of the other
metals are scarce and dear. Obvious
ly, those that are scarcest and dear
est are the ones to go cunning for
first. A multitude of consumers will
be interested in substituting the cheap
metal for the dear ones If they be
shown how to do it, and in showing
them the industry will not only be
helping itself, but also will be perfor-
ming a national service.
History has a curious way of repeat
ing itself. Did many of you ever
pause to think that zinc is CONNER