COPPER IN WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15884, 3 April 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

COPPER IN WAR.

*•» ITS SUPREME IMPORTANCE. : Although the Chancellor of the Exchc- ' quer happily iiio:e the simile of "silver bullets to explain the economic process ■. by which Germany must ultimately he defeated, he might with even greater force have used cupper for his illustration, fur as the war progresses it becomes more . and more evident that lack of copper will cause Germany the greatest embarrass- j merit. ; Why this should be so appears when , we consider the uses of copper in war ; material, for which no possible, alternative : exists. First and foremost, of course, are the cartridge cases for rifles. The alloy , of copper ind zinc from which rifle car- ) tridge cases are drawn is so thin that i the metals must lie. very pure to ensure against flaws. Then there are the car- j tridge eases fur the quick-firing guns. ; These also require the highest quality copper and zinc, since they must be exact to a 500 th part of an inch and gas-tight. ! On shells there arc copper bands encirc- i ling the steel to ensure dose fitting in I the rifling. Pure copper is the only sub- ' stance known that gives satisfactory re- J suits. For field telephones copper wire is in- I dispensable. Indeed, in the electrical in- \ tlustry generally there is tin enormous I consumption of copper. The windings on dynamos, for instance, aie all copper, j 'thousand* of experiments with alterna-j five substances have been tried, but all | have failed. Aluminium, perhaps, comes ' nearest, but aluminium cannot be depended upon, and certainly fur war purposes its use would not be risked, though aluminium-coated steel wire for transmission purposes ha.i in America been parti- | ally successful. Still, aluminium could i never be used for dynamos, since elec- , trolysis takes place, when it breaks almost* at once. | One might continue the list almost indefinitely, but enough has been said to indicate the supreme importance of copper to every nation in time of war, ami to explain why it, is possible to gel £160 paid down in gold for a ton of copper , in any form delivered over the German ; frontier, although its value in the United j Kingdom is only £60, [