Arizona republican., 1921-05-11
COPPER SITUATION
 AND ORAL HYGIENE
 K|WAN|S SUBJECTS

Two interesting addresses distiri- guished the weekly luncheon of the Kiwanis club at the Y. M. C. A. build ing yesterday. The first was a joint talk by pr. James L. Borah and Mrs. Bertha Sawyer on Oral Hygiene, and the second was a resume of the copper situation by Charles F. Willis, editor of the Arizona Mining Journal.
 After Dr. Borah had presented summary of the good results which are being achieved in the United States through the dissemination Of correct ideas concerning oral hygiene and the definite improvement in gen. eral health conditions which has been brought about especially by attention to the teeth of children, Mrs. Sawyer, who has had thorough course of training in this work and who is now engaged in it in Phoenix, outlined the course of training through which oral hygienists must go before they can qualify for the work.
 The talk of Willis on the copper situation was an informative analysis
 of the facts in the copper world with particular reference to the closing down of many of the Arizona mines and the probability of their reopen ing soon-
 'In the first place" the speaker said, the percentages of production are being based upon the peak pro duction of the war period, when all the mines of the country were taking out copper in as great amount as was physically possible. At the same time. the price of copper went to 32 cents a pound-once to 36 cents-and upon this price for copper the wages of the miners were adjusted according to the sliding scale which had gone into RffaOf nrpIi0lISlU Conner then dropped to 26 cents, and soon to 23 cents, without any reduction in the wage scale.
 At the end of the war the copper producers were asked by the war labor board to continue production at high pressure lest a return to normal injuriously affect the labor market. But consumption failed to go on with the production. The government S purchases ceased. and soon produc- ton had to slow up. Now, SO per cent of the peak load is approximate ly the same as the normal production before the war, but 40 per cent of this production was the economic limit beyond which the mines could not function and return profit Still, more was being produced than could be consumed, and the price of the metal dropped steadily
  the United States is about 500. .0o9. 900 pounds. Previous to the war this surplus was carried equally by the producers and the consumers, who purchased in large quantities. After the war, however. they purchased only in small lots, to take advantage of the day by-day quotations. with the result that che burden of the sur plus had to be assumed by the pro- ducers alone
 All these conditions are now right ing themselves. Wages are going down to their normal pre-war level the surplus is being disposed of, and 1 consumers are buying in large quan- titles. European markets are be- coming firmer and Germany, which was once the largest importer of the metal in Europe, is taking her place at the top of the list. With these things in mind. then, it is not urlrea- sonable to presume that conditions in the copper mining world will be normal in not more than eight months, when we may expect the | metal to have attained reasonable price for both the consumer and the l producer and when conditions ill the 1 industry will have become as stable as they were before the war" In opening the meeting the atten- Ion or lle HieiiDeiS oi liic ciuo Nas 1 directed by President Royal w Lescher to tubes of tooth-paste which had been donated all the mem | bers by Dr. Borah. The next busi- | ness to be brought before the clut l was the presentation of a bon-bo l dish to T. Oscar Sexon, secretary oi | the Y. NJ c. A. as an emblem of the l clubs congratulations on his recen l marriage The presentation was made l by Wesley w Knorpp, business man i ager of The Republican, who was the clubs most recent Benedict unti 1 Sexson took the leap. little while ago.
 ! The report of the standing of ths teams in the attendance contest wa. | then read by the president, with thu | announcement that Phoenix stand fourteenth in the nation contest, witt 1 inc Snufhwesf district leading