TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 681 



is an everlasting battle between, on the one band, the increased {)rofit by cheaper 

 production, and on the other, the increased cost of the larger capital requirement. 

 Successful trade extension is that which, in increasing a country's income, increases 

 concurrently also the total of its capital. There is then a ' Law of Capital,' and 

 these are its chief elements. 



2. Bemarlcs and Statistics relating to Siuansea Usages and Customs as thei/ 

 affect the Sellers of Foreign or Colonial Copper Ores. By Wm. Hen- 

 derson. 



I have chosen the occasion of the meeting of the British Association at Swansea 

 as a fitting time and place for the discussion of this very important subject. It is 

 a matter of great local importance, and here it is most likely to receive an intelli- 

 gent and practical treatment. No doubt from the standpoint of the sellers of 

 foreign ores, the clamant evils of the system have long ago called for redress. For 

 many years we have suffered from delays, inaccuracies, and all the evils inherent 

 in this antiquated system, and striven to remedy it as best we could, and have 

 succeeded, where we had to deal with rich ore, reguluses, or precipitate, to a 

 certain e.x:tent, and completely, so far as Cliili bars are concerned ; but to the very 

 large quantity of poor ores, such as the Spanish and Portuguese ores, the whole of 

 the Swansea system applies in all its inconsistency and rigour ; and my object in 

 this paper is to show the hardships we are altogether unnecessarily subjected to, 

 and to propose a remedy'. I may also here premise that we do not complain of the 

 actual price paid us for our ores, as I do not believe that we should get a penny 

 more were the system changed to-morrow. But what we complain of is the system 

 by which that price is arrived at, and the enormous waste of time before we get 

 ' agreed ' residts. I purpose treating this subject under the following heads : — 



1. Swansea public sales or ' ticketings.' 



2. Sales by private bargain at Swansea and elsewhere based on Swansea sales. 



3. Sales by private bargain based otherwise than Swansea. 



4. Weights and allowances. 



5. Dry assay and its relations to the truth, as shown by actual results by 



smelting and Avet process. Time consumed in getting settled results — • 

 differences. 



6. Wet assay. 



7. What ought to be the simple basis of price ? 



1. Swansea Public Sales or Ticketinys. 



Public sales of copper ores at Swansea, several years ago, used to be very regu- 

 larly held once a fortnight, and the quantities of ore were then very large and 

 important. This is now no longer the case. For the year 1877 there were only 

 twenty-three sales ; for 1878, only eighteen sales ; and for 1879, only fifteen sales. 

 The quantities sold were insignificant — being for the three years collectively 

 112,604 tons. 



The usual custom with foreign ores which are to be disposed of by public sales 

 is as follows : — They are usually consigned to one or other of the ore yards, such 

 as those of Messrs. Bath & Sons, or Messrs. Richardson & Sons, where the ore is 

 landed, and, if necessary, crushed and put out in square or oblong piles about 2 to 

 2^ feet deep, and in parcels of from 50 to 100 tons and less. These are generally 

 put forward for next sale, and a day is appointed for sampling, when intended 

 purchasers are represented as well as the seller. A period of fourteen days is 

 allowed between the date of sampling and the day of sale, which is considered 

 necessary to allow the assays to be made. On an average it takes fourteen days 

 more to prepare and crush the ore previous to sampling, and all this is attended 

 with a very serious expense, besides the delay. As we do not know when another 

 sale will take place at Swansea, we save time and lose nothing by adhering to 

 previous sale. 



