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Copper Commando - vol. 1, no. 19

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Tabaracci family, war effort, cadmium, rust, Great Falls, dynamite, primers, powders, newspaper coverage, reverberatory furnaces, converters, copper, Joe Dee, smelter, machinist, Belmont, flying fortress, machine guns

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Page 1: Copper Commando - vol. 1, no. 19

Sec. 562, P. L. & R.U. S. POSTAGE;

Paid

Page 2: Copper Commando - vol. 1, no. 19

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-JACOB TABARACCI

"Pop, how are you doing? I am sendingyou and mom a picture of me in my SkiLTroopers unifor~. My cap is crooked,snow allover my pants, and now who saysI'm not a skier? ... Here in Colorado I amlearning a rough, .tough game, but theClayis coming when we boys will have ourcrack at the Axis and it won't be long.Keep the copper coming though, pop, be-cause your job. is very important and wecan't win this war without you and therest of the men in the copper game."

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are youdoing?~~

CARLO TABARACCI

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LT.EMILJ.TABARACCI

"Pop. how are you doing? , noticed wherethe plant got the 'E' for putting out thecopper. Keep up the good work for themore you put out the sooner you and Ican have a beer .together .... War istough work, but we've got to fight it. Alot of us fellows long for peace so we canreturn to our jobs and enjoy our familiesand friends. I can only say that it's menlike you, sticking to your job the way youdo, that will bring us home quickly. Keepup the good work."

'.'

WELL, pop, we think yo~'re doing all right! You've already given two of your boys to this

war and would give more if they were old enough. You buy War Bonds and you stick on

the job. You're the kind of man who realizes the importance of being in the copper in-dustry today. You are alive to the fact that practically the entire success of this war de-

pends upon you and other men like you .in this industry today .• ; • Thanks for letting us

. have these two letters from your two fine boys, both of whom left the Company ranks to

go ~ith Uncle Sam. They are doing a big job, but they wo~ld be the first to agree thatyour job, and the job of the miners in Butte a nd the smeltermen at Anaconda, is big too •

.We bet you'll stay on the job, Charlie, so that those two boys of yours will be back again

-with you soon.

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.These are two extracts ff'om letten written to their father by the sons of Carlo Tabaracci of the Electrolytic CopperJefinery at Creat Falls. He has been with the Company since 1908 and with the Electrolytic Copper Refinery since 1927.His son Emil, shown at the right, joined the Army in May, 1941. and is somewhere in England now. He is a First LieutenantIn the Ai, Corps; he was a football player at Creat Falls High and Montana State University. Jake, the boy at the upperleft, joined the Ski Troopers in April. 1942. Prior to t",at he worked at the Furnace Refinery at Great Fa''''

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COPPER COMMANDO is the officialnewspaper of the Victory Labor-Manage-ment Production Committees of the Ana-conda Copper Mining Company at Butte,Aanconda and Great Falls, Montana. Itis issued every two week.s .••• COPPER·COMMANDO is headed by a joint com-mittee from Labor and Management; itspolicies are shaped by both sides and aredictated by neither • • • COPPER COM-MAN DO was established at the recom-mendation of the War Department withthe concurrence of the War ProductionBoard. Its editor is Bob Newco~b; its'associate editor is Marg Sammons;its s.afety editor is John L. Boardman;its chief photographer is Bob Nesmith; itsstaff photographer is Les B'ishop. .• • •Its Editorial Board consists of: Denis Mc-Carthy, CIO; John -F. Bird, AFL; Ed Re-nouard, ACM, from Butte; Dan Byrne,CIO; Joe Marick, AFL; C. A. Lemmon,ACM, from Anaconda; Jack Clark, CIO;Herb Donaldson, AFL, and E. S. Bardwell,ACM, from Creat Falls .••• COPPERCOMMANDO is mailed to the home ofevery employe of ACM in the three loca-tions-if you are not receiving your copyadvise COPPER COMMANDO at 112Hamilton Street, Butte, or, better still,drop in and tell us. This is Volume 19

, No. 19.

In This IssueCADM IUM PLANT _._ _.__ _ _._ 4

The Cadmium Plant at Great Falls, too, is,playing an important part in the war ef-fort. The reason is that a thin layer ofcadmium on steel has the ability to pre-vent rusting. Nuts and bolts for aircraftassembly, t~ls for construction and re-pair of machines, and even the nails inthe soldiers' shoes, are being coveredwith cadmium metal.

•IT'S DYNAM ITE! _ 6After the dynamite is delivered safely tothe powder magazine, it's up to theminers. They present their order slips atthe powder magazines. When the ordersare filled, the miners return to the drilledholes and quickly and efficiently load theholes and set off the blast.

EDITOR IAL _ __._ _ 8It takes time to get around to all themines and shops·, but we are trying tocover everything and hope to get aroundto fill all the many requests in time. Ourcoverage will include a nutrition depart-ment, which we are working on at .thistime. This, too, takes time if it is to dothe job that we hope for. Please havepatience.

fFREE AT LAST : 9.In this issue the molten matte from theReverberatory furnaces at Anaconda ispoured into the conv~rters. That startsone of the most spectacular of the stepsthrough which the copper passes on. itsway from _ore to metal. When the ladlesare filled at the converters to move to theRefining furnaces, the metal is free atlast.

I REM·EMBER _ ~ _ ll

Joe Dee at Anaconda started to work atthe Smelter October 1St, 1888. Since1903, he's been a machinist at the .con-centrator repair shop. He has a knackfor remembering dates-that is surprising.He's a modest old-timer, and can't under-sta';d why people' are interested in hisrecollections.•

DISPLAY AT THE MIN,ES 12

There was a display at the Belmont, folks,which surprised most of the boys. It'shard to believe that it takes the combinedeffort of four miners, working one daybreaking rock, to produce sufficient cop-per to keep one flying fortress gun blast-ing at the enemy for one minute. That'sfiring .50 caliber machine guns.

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CadntiuIDPlant

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CADMIUM produced at Great Falls is asoft, bluish-white metal, very malleableand ductile so that it can be drawn. Itis used for many purposes, one of the mostimportant of which is a protective coat-ing on other metals. Due to the ability ofa thin layer of cadmium on steel i'o pre-vent rusting, it is being used as a coatingon a multitude of military articles. Thenuts and bolts used for aircraft assembly,the tools used for construction and repairof machines, and even the nails in thesoldiers' shoes are now being covered withcadmium metal. The Navy also uses agreat deal of cadmium to protect steelfrom the corrosive action of sea water.There are many other uses of cadmiumsuch as in alloys for anti-friction bearings,as, a substitute for tin in solders, and asa source for the brilliant color known ascadmium yellow.

Almost all the cadmi~m produced inthe world comes from zinc ores, and isrecovered as a by-product of-zinc plants.It is one of the main by-products of theGreat Falls Zinc Plant. In the regularmethod of producing electrolytic zinc,cadmium is regarded as an impurity andmust be eliminated from the zinc solu-tion before electrolysis if a high-gradezinc metal is fo be produced. Cadmiumis usually removed from the zinc solu-

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tion during the purification process andleaves the main cycle of the zinc plant inthe purification residue.

At Great Falls, this residue is thentreated for the recovery· of zinc and cad-mium in the Purification Residue Plant.The Great Falls plant treats all the puri-fication residue from both the Great Fallsand Anaconda Zinc Plants. The cad-mium is obtained as an impure productcommonly known as "green cadmiumsponge." This material consists mainlyof finely divided, metallic particles ofcadmium and zinc. This spongy materialis then oxidized by piling it on a tubeheated by a gas flame. When sufficientlyoxidized, it is leached with return acidfrom the cadmium electrolyzing cells anda small amount of commercial sulphuricacid. The leach is ended with an excessof the cadmium sponge. Then, becauseof the fact that the sponge is not com-pletely oxidized. the metallic particles ofcadmium and zinc still remaining in theleach cause the other metals, such as cop-per, nickel, and cobalt, to be precipitatedfrom the solution as a sludge. The leachis filtered and the clear solution is readyto be electrolyzed for the production ofa pure cadmium metal.

._Jhe electrolyzing division of theCadmium Plant closely resembles theelectrolyzing division 'of the Zinc Plant.·Tanks and electrodes of the same s(zeand materials as used in the electrolysisof zinc are employed. This close re-semblance can be easily seen in the upperleft picture on the opposite page of PeteBestwina raising a lift of cathodes froma cadmium electrolyzing cell.- Thecathodes are taken to a stripping rackwhere they are thoroughly washed withwater. Clifford Skauge is doing, this inthe adjoining picture. After strippingthe deposited layer of cadmium metal thealuminum cathode blanks are returned tothe cells where cadmium is again \de-posited upon them. Sam Calderhead islowering a lift into one of the. cells in thelarge picture at the bottom.

The cadmium metal stripped fromthe electrolyzing cells is stacked, rolledinto bundles for easy handling, andtrammed to the Cadmium Casting Plant.In the picture at the top of this page wesee Bill Miller charging a bundle ofcathodes into a melting furnace. In thisfurnace the cathodes are melted under abath of molten caustic soda. The moltenmetal is then cast into slabs weighingabout 15 pounds each.

The 75-pound slabs are again meltedin small furnaces from which the moltenmetal is ladled by hand into moulds ofvarious shapes. In the center picture wesee Everett Custer, Muriel Pluris, and BudFrench ladling and casting cadmiumball-s. The finished shapes are washed,inspected, weighed, and packed intowooden boxes for shipment. In the pic-ture at the bottom we see Jim Walshinspecting and weighing a box of cad-mium balls while Kenneth McCarty isbanding a box of cadmium balls

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IT!)SDYNAMITE!In the last issue the boys brought the dynamite safely from thewarehouse to the powder magazine at the mine. Now it's up tothe miners to present: their order slip at the powder magazine forthe necessary dynamite and primers with which to make the vitalblasts. With the necessary supplies at hand, the miners quicklyand efficiently load the already drilled holes and set off the blast.Here's how it is done.

EVERY blast with dynamite in themines means another blow delivered to·the Axis. That means that every time aminer brings over' his order slip for asupply, it's mighty important that theorder be fi lied pronto so that these blowswill not be held up. Let's see how theseblows are brought about.

Underground, the magazines are.kept locked and, at specified hours, pow-der ....and primer orders are filled. Theboss on the beat makes out a' powderorder and gives it to the miner; who takesit to the powder man at the magazine.

_ In the picture opposite, B~IIMarkunisat the powder magazine is counting outthe powder for William Varin's blast.Vanri's slip which he gave' to Bill showedthe amount needed for the' blast: Vannalso received his capped fuses.

Upon returning to his working place,with his powder and capped fuses, 'theminer takes one stick of powder for eachhole he has drilled and inserts a cappedfuse into the dynamite stick. In themiddle right picture Stuart Mayo is tak-ing down his bar and machine -prepara-tory to loading his round. All the equip-ment is taken to a safe place beforeblasting, so with all holes drilled, he ispreparing to move his equipment out. Inthe Jower left shot he has taken out histruck and is ready to load the round withthe primers and powder. He places theprimer into the bottom of each hole heis to blast and tamps it in with a wooden

a tamping stick. He has drilled six feet, sohe pushes the primer into the bottom ofthe hole· and fills the remainder of thehole with the necessary dynamite for theblast. There -will probably be enoughdynamite put in the- hole to pull the fulldepth of the round drilled. In the lowercenter picture, he has almost finished his

.. job of loading the holes with the primersand dynamite. Notice how the fuse endsare kept off the bottom of the cross cutso' as to keep them dry. In the lowerright shot he is spacing his fuses readyto cut so they will go off in proper rota-tion. He then bunches his fuse, usuallyin two bunches. and is ready to spit orignite the round.

The blasting caps are delivered tothe mines each Wednesday and are storedon an easily accessible level underground.As needed, the caps are taken to the sur-face to the primer house where the capsare attached to fuse by crimping. Afterthe cap is crimped. the opposite end isdipped in white lead to guard against thepossibility of cutting more than oncewhen timing. That's Sam Pattersoncrimping blasting caps onto fuses to makea primer in the upper left next page pic-ture and in the middle upper shot of Samyou can see the white ends of the fuses,In the upper right shot Robert Hendy ismaking a completed primer by insertingthe blasting cap into a stick of powder.In the middle left picture, Jet Ward, JohnBoes and Claude Crabtree are gettingelectric primers ready to load a hole.Electric primers have various delays totime or rotate the round and are used inwet places. As needed, the primers aresent underground to the magazines.

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Here you can see just how it is done. Inthe center right shot, Stuart Mayo is tak-ing down his bar and machine. Since allthe holes are drilled, he moves out hisequipment before he starts to load theholes. In the lowe~ left picture, with all

equipment moved out, he starts toload the already drilled holes. You can seethe woode... tamping stick which he isusing to push the primer into the bottom.of each hole. In the center picture he isfinishing up the j-ob of loading the holes

with the primers and dynamite.ends are kept off the bottom of the cross -cut to keep them dry. In the lower right,Stuart is spacing his fuses ready to cut.After they. are bunched, he ignites theround and the ore is started moving.

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~a.ble TalkTHE problem of food rationing has struckevery one of us squarely between theeyes. It would not be proper to say thatwe are hit harder than other sections ofthe country, for this is not true. But itis true that the nation-wide rationing,which the demands of war have put uponus, need the serious attention of everyoneif we are to eat. properly. .

Today, for the first time, there aretwo factors in purchasing food-one fac-tor is the price of food and the other isthe rationing points. It is necessary forevery householder to get the utmost outof her points and to make the dollar shespends go just as far as possible. As theeditors of your labor-Management Com-mittee newspaper, we felt some weeksago that we should create a departmenton the subject of nutrition, to advisereaders and their families of the bestways in which to handle the problem ofrationing. We are progressing nicely andhope fo launch this new department verysoon.

Cive Us TimeEVERY once in a while we get a ~ick tothe effect that thjs mine or" that shopought to be "covered" in COPPER COM-MANDO. We try to explain to every-body that raises this point that we try towork according to an editorial plan andthat we will get to everything in time. Itstrikes us that all of our readers mightlike to know that, so far as we are able,we produce the newspaper on a fixedschedule. Of course, lots of timely stuffkeeps coming up--it isn't possible to plansome of our feature material very far inad.ance, but if we are "eevering" someof the operations at the smelter, for ex-ample, we like to take the differentOperations in their proper order. In thisway, readers tell us, they are able to fo':-low the complete operation from the be-ginning right on through.

We will cover everything, as we say,In the course of time-it may be weeksor even months before we are able to get.round to you, but in the meantimeplease be patient. Incidentally, if youhave any criticisms or comments on theorder in which we are running our mate-rial: please let us know.

f

People ~ PlacesWELL, we seem to have gotten ourselvestied up in a little controversy, and wethink you'd like to hear about it.

It so happens that wi th our issue ofApri I 9 we used on the cover a pictureof a gallows frame with a range of moun-tains behind it. We thought it was anice picture and so did a lot of otherpeople. . But the first thing you knewthe people started asking the question:"What mine is it?" At least a hundredcalls came into the Butte Miners' Unionand almost as many to the COPPER COM-MANDO office. By this time Marg Sam-mons, who couldn't find any record ofthe name of the mine, was getting prettyfrantic. She decided to wait until BobNewcomb returned from Washington,figuring he would know. He explainedthat he had not been along with BobNesmith, the photographer, when thepicture was taken, but it would seem asimple matter to find out from some-

\ body. •

There were lots of ideas but very.little agreement, and there still isn't.When Nesmith arrived in town, his fel-low editors pounced on him and de-manded to know the name of the mine.He looked the photograph over carefullyand then -said he hadn't the faintest ideawhat the mine was. He explained thathe was up on a hill one day and thislooked like a good picture, and he tookit. The only record he had was a num-ber B-875 which didn't mean anythingto anybody. The tallies indicate that thisis a view of the Adams or Old Moun-tain View. Next choices are the OldLeonard, the Rarus, the Orphan Ci rI andthe Berkeley.

, Under ordinary con d i t ion s, ofcourse, your editors would feel highlyembarrassed over having printed a picturethey couldn't identify, but we've had toomuch fun out of all this to be sorry forwhat we've done. One of the minerswho dropped in the office the other night(he swears it's the Berkeley) tells us thatthey are making bets in the mines.

Anybody who can come across wi ththe real evidence will be rewarded withtheir picture in COPPER COMMANDO,but no money,

Social NotesIT has been a busy two weeks, with asteady flow of visitors. One of the menyou probably have seen around is FrankCannon of the Copper Division of theWar Production-Board, who has come toMontana to carry out some work in con-nection with his division. Frank worked.in the Butte mines for fourteen years be-fore 20ing to the west coast, where he

was engaged for some time in safetywork. He makes his home in Washing-ton these days, but is pleased to be backin Montana for a while to renew old ac-qua intances.

We had a visit from Sam Treloar;who drops in occasionally to see howthings are going. We were particularlypleased the other afternoon when How-ard Johnson. the Chief Justice, called tosee what the COMMANDO office lookslike. Frank Venable stopped irr to tell usthat the USO drive for books for servicemen had gone beyond its quota, and amention of the drive in our Labor-Man-

I .

agement Committee newspaper hadhelped a good deal.

We heard some good stories aboutthe old days from Neil Weston, firstpresident of the Butte Miners' Union,when he dropped in with his wife.

A .Record, We Believe,

WE thought one hundred sixty-four yearsof service for one family quite a recordwhen we heard of the McVicars. Theysay the McVicars family have a rec-ord for reliability as well as for year~,When Andrew McVicars started to workfor the Diamondvi lie Coal and Coke Com-pany in 1902, he didn't think he'd still beworking forty years later with only onemove, which was in 1917, when he cameto Anaconda with the B., A. & P. Ofcourse, his work changed for now atseventy-six he can· be found at the Smel-ter in the Electrical Shop.

Neither did he think he'd have foursons working for the Company. Fi rst itwas John, who started at the OakleyMine in 1908 and later went to theMountain Trading Company and finallyto Anaconda as chief clerk in the Pur-chasing Department. A little later hissecond son, James, started in at the Oak-ley Mine and followed his brother to theMountain Trading Company and then toAnaconda and is right there today asclerk in the Electrical Department. Itseems to be well known that" if you want,any electrical information, call on Jim."

Along came the day when Andrew,the third son, started in the office at Dia-mondville as cashier, Later he was trans-ferred to Butte as cashier for the Mon-tana Hardware. Finally, Bill, theyoungest, moved in the office at Dia-·mondvi lie and later came to Anacondawith the B., A. & P., and now is Pur-chasing Agent for the railroad. Funnyabout the boys. John, the oldest, andBill, the youngest, are the home men of ...the family. Both like to work aroundtheir homes and enjoy their gardens, Jimand Andrew like outdoor sports-fishing, ...hunting and golf ..

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IN the last issue we left the moltenmatte from the Reverberatory Furnacesat Anaconda in ladles to be moved byoverhead cranes from the furnaces to theconverters where a further concentrationof values is made. This further concen-tration ef values is made by the elimina-tion of sulphur and iron. Of this oper-ation two products are made---blistercopper and slag-but this time the slagis too valuable to be thrown away. Theslag is returned to the ReverberatoryFurnaces for retreatment, and the bl istercopper is moved on for further refining~

In the upper left picture, t~e ladleis pouring its contents into the converterand in the upper right that's the ladleafter the molten matte has been emptiedinto the converter. These overheadcranes pick up the ladles of moltenmatte, containing twenty tons, and pourthe contents into the mouth, of the con-verter. A converting furnace is so con-structed that it can be ti Ited back and

~ forth on its supports so that its contentscan be poured out into ladles as desired.Each furnace has a charge of one 9-undredthirty tons of matte.

For oxidation, compressed air is in-troduced by suitable connections, througha row of pipes on one side of the furnace,near the bottom.. The air is turned on

To e right, the converter is ready to be skimmed,which is accomplished by turning the furnace'forward, shutting off the ait;, and pouri!,g theslag into ladles

. as soon as the matte is poured in, andas it blows through the molten mass, theoxidation of sulphur and iron begins. Theair blown through this molten matte oxi-dizes the elements of the molten mate-rial in a definite sequence: The impuri-ties are converted either into gases whichpass off in the flue system, or into slag,which is skimmed off before the coppersulphide is oxidized. After the slag is

. skimmed off, the sulphur in this coppersulphide is oxidized-leaving metalliccopper. Sufficient heat is given off fromthe oxidation of sulphur- and iron to main-tain a molten condition of. the materials.

Converting is carried on in twostages. First, the oxidation of the ironsulphide, and second, the oxidation ofthe 'copper sulphide. In both cases thesulphur combines with the oxygen of thecompressed air blowing into the chargeand passes off as gas to the flue system.

, A suitable slag is just as important hereas in. the smelting furnace. After theiron has been oxidized, it is in propercondition to unite with silica and formsslag. Since there is no silica present, it is •added usually in the form of silicious goldand silver ores. The end of the slagging

To the left, you can get a good view of the splashof the molten slag. These ladles are then movedby t,he overhead cranes back to the Reverbera-tory Furnaces for retreatment

period is the "toughverting process. If too little silica' hasbeen added, magnetite will form, and iftoo much silica is present, the slag willbe stringy and unsatisfactory.

During lhe time the iron and silicaare combining to form the slag, the cop-per sulphide separates from the matte,and since it is heavier than the matte orthe slag, it settles to the bottom of thefurnace. In the fused state, copper hasa stronger affinity for sulphur than havethe other metals, and retains its sulphuruntil practically all the sulphur of the ironsulphides has been oxidized. The cop-per sulphide remains practically un- ,-changed in the bottom of the furnaceuntil almost all of the iron has enteredthe slag. At this point, the converter issaid to be '''high'' and is "skimmed."The lower left shot shows the Reverbera-tory being charged with the slag from theconverters. When the skimming opera- ~tion is completed, the air is. turned on.the furnace is turned up, and the .oxida-tion of the copper sulphide begun. , Thisis the last step on the way of ore to metal,

After the charge is finished, themetal, known as blister copper, is pouredinto the ladles like in the lower right shotwhich are moved by the overhead cranesand emptied into the refining furnaces.About eight hours are required to convertthe matte to copper. This blister copper,charged to the refining furnaces, is about98.8% pure. It still contains smallamounts of sulphur and other impurities,

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·KNOW·YOURARMY~

How well do you know your Army?Thanks to the War Department publication, "Firepower," we are able toreproduce here six photographs. Iri-dicate yo~r choice for the proper de-~cription and see how good you are. Answers will be found on page 12.Put on your thinking cap and see how good you are-no fair peeking •

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This man is a: (1) Commando, (2) Marine,'(3) combat photographer.

The two 'men you see in the picture above are operating: (1) moving picture camera, (2) how-itzer, (3) flame thrower, (4) trench mortar.

The equipment shown in the picture above is: (I) PT boats, (2) destroyen, (3) M-4 mediumtanks, t4) landging barges.

This is: (1) Henry A. Wallace, (2) Under Sec;retary of War PaHerson, (3) Stanley Babcock. ,

rrhis smiling gal is a: (1) SP.AR, (2) Red CrOll.une, (3) WAAC, (4) WAVE.

The men in the picture above are concentrating their attention on a: (1) signal device, (.2)telescope, (3) 16-inch gun, (4) height finder ,for anti-aircraft guns.

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Washington, D. C., May 5

WE are back in the N~tion's capital tow~rk with the War Depra.tment and theCopper Division of the War ProductionBoard, as well as other governmentalagencies, in the creation of a special cop-per issue of COPPER COMMANDO. WeMe goi~g to get this out just as soon aswe can-it takes time to check all yourfacts and get necessary government ap-provals on materia., because in stuff likethis you must be very careful not to re-veal information of military value to theenemy.

The idea behind a special copperissue started in this way: We got to list-ing one day, pretty much to see if wecould ..do it, the uses ot copper in war.We were able to jot down quite a few,but we lat~r discovered that the uses ofcopper in war run into the hundreds.We got to talking to some of the boys inButte, Anaconda and Creat Falls and wefound that, in many cases, they were notable to list many either. So we got tothinking in terms of an issue which wouldshow the endless uses to which copper isput-our editorial boards in the threelocalities concurred with the -idea and sowe went to work.

To date we hav'e gone through about4,000 official photographs, examinedany number of reports, and obtainedofficial information from a good manysources at War, Navy, WPB and other.departments.

We don't want to say in advancethat we think the copper issue will beterrific-all we can say is that we aretrying to make it a good, useful issue •

•Here in Washington we were in-

vited to attend a staff meeting at theWar Department. The discussion was,of course, off the record. But it wascertainly s"imulating to sit and listen tothe inside report of the progress we aremaking in the war. When you 'stop torealize that we must send fighting equip-ment to practically every corner of theworld, get it there fast and in great.quantities, it staggers you a little to learnhow much progress is being made. Thereis a great lot of talk about opening anoth-er front, but the actual fact is that an-other front is' alread] opened. We areshOoting for an effective foC)thold; weneed a spring board from which to launchour all-out offensive against the Axis.

But when we talk in terms of theincreasing production in this country wemust remember that the Axis is produc--ing, too. They are working harder andlonger hours. The knowledge that theAmerican industrial machine is gearingup _faster and faster every day is onething that keeps the Axis hustling itself.

-BOB NEWCOMB

-;,

I HEME'MOEBJOE DEE, who hasn't worked a shift foranother company since 1891, couldn'tunderstand why Lt. Hadsell chose him asthe one on whom to adjust the newArmy-Navy "F' pin or why we wanted apicture of him. foe's modesty in every-thing he does is one of the first thingsyou notice ahout him. Another thingyou'll notice right off is his knack for call-ing off dates. For instance, he recallsthat he came to Anaconda on ColumbusDay, Friday, October 12, 1888, and thathe went to work on the following Mon-day morning, the 15th day of October,1888. The day joe arrived in Anacondahe met Arthur Fourtier, who had come ina stranger to Anaconda that same night.Art has had a barber shop in Anacondaever since and Joe and Art are the fastestof friends. Every "Columbus Day since1888 the two staunch friends get' 0-

gether for a drink, and in the meantimeJoe stops in the barber shop to talk thingsover with his friend. joe says he likes towalk up town after the day's work is doneto kill time and there's no better placethan Art's barber shop to stop.

joe started at the concentrator inthe old lower works but since October.1903, he's been a machinist at the con-centrator repair shop. We say there isn'tmuch about the concentrators he doesn't

, know, for he likes his work and as hesays, "I've worked pretty steady. I al~ways worked all the time they were run-ning and got along. Never fired off ajob. The superintendents have all beenfine and so have the men."

Joe came to Anaconda from Mich ..igan-he had worked in_a machine shopand hoisted coal back there, but. hisbrother in Anaconda wrote interestingaccounts of the West. His wife camefrom Michigan, too, and from not farfrom joe's home but, funny thing, theydidn't meet until she came out to Ana-conda to keep house for her brother. Joemet her and in 1894 they were married.

They have two sons and now a tenyear old granddaughter, who is the appleof Joe's eye. Joe says, "I don't knowwhat I'd do without my granddaughter.'From what we could learn, she thinks hergrandfather is tops too-and so did vee;

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Display

at the

Mines, -' .

OF much interest to people in the Butte section is the display which was recently set up atthe Belmont Mine and which will be displayed at the other mineso in the future. This is an exhibitof shells, furnished by the aviation authorities at Core Field in Creat Falls. The exhibit gives minersand others a chance to see the end results of the ore they produce •

The following aircraft shells are displayed:47 mm naval anti-aircraft37 mm armor-piercing anti-tank projectilt!20 mm high-explosive incendiary.50 calibre armor-pielcing.30- '06 small arms ammunition

37 mm high-explosive incendiary37 mm shrapnel.50 calibre incendiary.45 calibre automatic

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Also included in the display are pictures of local Air Corps personnel-the boys who formerlyworked as miners, samplers, motormen, etc. One important point brought out in this exhibit is that"it takes the combined effort of four miners, working. one day breaking rock, to produce sufficientcopper to keep the guns of one flying fortress blasting at the enemy for one minute, firing only .50calibre machine guns. In all of the shells shown, .there is a large amount of copper, zinc and manga-nese, all products of the Butte mines.

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Another interesting part of this- exhibit states that, if a m·iner should miss only one shift, thatshift would have produced sufficient copper to make:

4,800 .30 calibre shells, or920 .50 calibre shells. or280 37 mm shells, or

9,000 .45 calibre shells, or600 20 mm shells, or80 47 mm shells.

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:ANSWERS

Answers to questions on page 10o( 1) Combat photographer

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"(2) Trench lIIortar(3) M-4 medium tanks(4) Robert P. Pattenon(5) WAAC(6) Height finder

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