OCR Text |
Show CALUMET AND HECLA ADVANCES WAGES The advance in Tvages of 15 per cent made by the Calumet and Hecla group of copper mines puts the employees' -wage scale b;ick to the war level. These producers pro-ducers made only one reduction since the signing of the armistice on November Novem-ber 11 last. That -was made in January of this year, and consisted of a cut of lo per cent, so that with this latest boost the pay envelope of the Calumet ami le(Ma employees is put back to the war schedule. There is a distinct shortage of labor at Lake Superior. Surplus stocks of copper in most instances have now beun cleaned up, and under the stimulus of 2'2 cent metal many companies are making efforts to add to working forres. The industrial centers of Detroit De-troit and southern Michigan are send-iing send-iing forth siren songs of fabulous wages paid in those districts and the copper miner in many instances is responding, unawaiv lhat the cost of living is also at unprecedented high figures. t present Calumet ami Hecla and its subsidiaries have sold all their surplus copp?,r. Jn the early spring of this year the uusoid metal account of these companies totaled nlmost 40.000,000 pnuuls. A very small percentage of this was sold at lew prices. Calumet and Jlecla is operating at much less than 50 per cent of capacitv. The company produced about 5.jOO,000 pounds of copper last month, compared with a norma! output of ll.oOO.OOO to 1,200,1)00 pounds. ft is operating on full schedule of working hours, and it is believed within the next fortnight wnrk:ng forces will be. increased, with a corresponding reflect ion in production. This latest increase in wages will add one cent per pound to copp.-r costs. The I'M rent company produced its metal for about '-'0 cents per pound last year, and thus far in 1010 the cot has hung pretty close to this figure. The rest of Ihe group have been able to show little, if any, decline in operating ex-j ex-j pesos'. I 1 f, however, trie market for eopprr 'continues upward. Calumet and Hecla : and subsidiaries will probably distribute distrib-ute somet h i ng t n stockholders in the late summer. Most of the companies are strong in Liberty bonds and couhl afford to pav a diidond in L'mde Sam "s securities. Boston Xews Bureau. |