The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1920-12-04

"a IA ~
a great hive of industry. Hardly .
week went by that did not herald n
or two new brands of cars and tires.
Even the great established con-
Germs responded to the psychological
effect Of the boom. 1t was in the air.
They took their profits, or what was
left of them after the tax-gatherers
got through, borrowed more money,
built more factory capacity without
stint, and SO on, ad lib, until the
bubble was pricked. Now they are
facing a ruthless pruning process with
the prospect Of operating for some
time at fifty. or even forty, per cent
capacity, to which must be added the
necessity of marketing a large over
stock of high-cost perishable goods
under conditions of a forced sale.
The automobile game was n Of
the big factors In the wrecking Of the
labor market for other branches Of
industry. The Lake Superior copper
district was almost d~epopulated by
the insistent demand on the part Of
the Detroit factories for any old kind
of men at fancy prices. The 1920
census, taken during q period that
might be called the apex of the boom,
shows clearly the migration from the
rural districts to the c~ongested man
ufacturing districts. Now the fac
tories are disgorging the u~ndigested
mass Of outside labor, which is go
ing back to the farm or the mine, as
the case may be.
The automobile industry has been
a vast Of steel In many Of
it's manufactured forms, and, conse-
quently, of all other metals. The de-
fation process from that angle is go
ing to add to the already large stock
Of metals, SO no great appreciation in
, the demand for the produce Of u
mines may be expected until building
operations are well under way.
Building construction, during the
War, stopped altogether. 1t was re-
garded as a non-essential industry,
and priority orders placed materials
Of all kinds for building purposes way
down the line. so that 1t was practi-
ally abandoned altogether. The enor-
nous rents now being paid for ONCE
and factory space as well as for dwell
ings in all Of our cities and towns are
a consequence of the growth In pop
ulation with no increase in housing
facilities for nearly four years.
Building is beginning. timidly In
some places, but nevertheless 1t is
well started, and will gather impetus
from day t o day until 1t may ever
generate into a race to see who will
be ready first. The wave is we'll un-
der way in New York city, more SO
there than anywhere else in the Uni
ted States, and is working its way
westward slowly but surely. Here,
then, is the substitute for the outlet
Of metal products formerly consumed
in such large volume by the automo-
bile industry.
Even building construction, as well
as nearly everything else. is being re-
tarded as much as possible. by the
hope of investors and buyers for low
or prices. The National Association
Of Purchasing Agents, at their annual
convention only a few weeks ago,
passed a resolution to notify all of
their members that in their judg-
ment, all acquisitions should be with
held from action until the last min
ute, in order to take advantage of
the general downward tendency of
all markets. Copper Is in the dol
drums, the greatest producers of
quicksilver in California have shut
down. the troubles of the gold miner
have been discussed fully in these
columns, other metals are in sympa-
thetic accord with these same condi-
lions. while the fact that We are still
technically at war with a consider
able portion Of Europe. together with
the chaotic conditions still obtaining
there, have kept the door to one Of
the greatest markets for our metals
r~esolutely closed.
In fact, the miner has reached low
water small. but the tide is due to
turn, n First there Is the
labor situation, which Is improving
slowly but surely. for reasons that
have already been cited. Then. there
Is the market. which also is fmprov-
ing by reason Of the resumption of
building operations. and last. but not
least. there is the most encouraging
aymnfou of all that IA this result of