, 1874-04-30

THE SPRING Du81NEsS IN CHICAGO,
Tho baohwardnosa Of tie aoaaon and the IN.
usually unpleasant wcathor hns interfercd witt
and delayed, to some extent, tho resumption O.
spring buainosu and thoro aro those who, no
informed Of tho aotual facts asAumo and or,
out that tho general trado OF tho city was move,
40 dull. This Ia not the caso. Tint thoro IL
moi 80 much building In progress at this timo Of
there WIS In 1879 aud in 1878 is natural result
OF tho extraordinary amount Of work dono In
those yoars. It ia not likely that the amount Of
building on privato account In any one year will
over equal TINT which Was dono In this city Id
those two acnsona following tho fire. Noyortho.
loss. 1t NO had no knowledge Of those two ycara'
building, tho amount now in progress and under
contract would SOON large,
| The old oustom Of tho grain trade Of Chicago
""s, that aS aoon as navigation closed tho grim
trado Was practically suspended. Tho rocoints
by rail during tho wintor went into warehouse
aud remainca thcre until spring. In tho first
| fow weeks Of spring, thero waa domand for
Toasols, froights wore liberal and ttoots Of vos-
so!B took their departure. Tho railroads 1oadnR
to Chicago resumed thoir bualnoss, and began
hauling grain 10 tho city, and this WIS kopt up
| steadily' until navigation closed. But four or
flvo years ago thio grain business experienced o
slight modification. Tho first acaBon there woro
few and occasional shlpmonta during the
winter by rail: Tho next aeaaon tho prao.
tica was increased, including flour and meats;
and 30 until tho lust wintor, whom tho shipment
OF Western products waa continuous. The OK
tent of this business Is easily shown. During
tho ycar ending Aug. i, 1873, thore was received
in Chicago 17,528,585 bushels Of wheat; sinco
then, aud up to this timo, NO hnvo received
29, 800 bushels. From Aug. / to Doc /, 1878,
no received 18,o28,412 bushels, or 1,5oo,oou
bushels moro than in tho preceding twolyo
montha. Notwithstanding these extraordinary
receipts, there ia now but 1ittlo more wheat in
warehouse In this oity than thoro wns yoar
ago. THE shows that all tho railroads loading
to Chicago have boon hau1ing wheat in immcnse
quantities during tho ontire winter, and that
during that same period NO have boen shipping
tito tho East by the same means Of transpoxta-
tion. 1nstead Of tho "aoaaon" OF allpnlont be-
ginning with tho opening Of navigation, it has
mot boon suspended at al1, but hns continued
uninterrupted. In addition to this, tho Ship
;ments OF wheat from poiuta woat of Chicago. by
through 1fnos and not pussing through atoro in
this city, laya boon also unusually largo. Tho
trado in pork, lard, and meats has boon fully up
with that of last year. tho sale of out-moats az
grogatfng so far IN this wcok about 2,25o 900
poundg.
From this single item 1t will bo aoen that thore
has boon continuous trade going on during tho
entiro winter; that tho oropa have been kept
moving, and that more money has passed into
tho hands OF tho country producers than ever
did before in tho anmo months. The farmers
have not only shipped more grain and stock, but
havo received much larger pricoa, tinn tho a7er-
ago Of aovora presiding yeara. Tho result IL that
thoro is moro money in tho interior at this tino
for crops sold during the wintor than waa over !
before known In the history Of the grain trade.
All this business, covering many millions Of
dollars, has boon done without any special noise
or bustlo, but us matter OF couruo.
There haVo boon largo sums OF money from
all parts Of tho West .horc in Chicago Tor
Investment; the aggregate amount has boon i
larger than in any preceding year.: Tho own
ers Of this money have carefully avoided all |
speculative Investments, and tho class Of seouri-
Eios they have demanded has boon tho very bost. |
There Inns boon no lack Of money hero seeking
Investments Of substantial character; any
person with tirRt~clasa securities has boon able
to get all tho accommodation needed; nor has
there boon any difficulty In gotting loans on in1-
proved roa1 ostato we'll located. Tho fact
q that the howling for moro money,
md tho outcry against tho sevorlty Of
ho markot havo beon confined exclusively to
hose ontanglod in tho widespread speculation,
md to those whose credit has been expanded to
lie uttermost tension. md who havo not an nd
litlonal rag Of security to offor.. As NO hayo
mid, in some branches Of tho retail trade tho
prolonged GOLD weather has made some differ
nee, but other branches havo enjoyed oorro-
ponding benefit. Tho immense shipments By rall
uring the winter hayo diminished tho demand
or lake frelghts. The winter sales Of our whole
alo Embellishments have not In tho least dimiu-
'hod, tho sales Allowing IN increased amount OF
oods sold. Tho interior having moro money
hun usual at this soaaon tho general trade Inns
cen aidod by this circumstance. The only strik-
,g difference In tho trade is that tho general re-
Dipts and shipments OF wheat, Which hthorto
ave. boon more or loaa crowded into tue carly
oeks Of apring, lave beon anticipated by tho
ontinuous rocolpts aud shipments by rail dur
'g the winter.
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WISCONSIN, RAILROADS,
We print this morning letter Of Albert Keep, .
rosidont Of tho Chicago j. Northwestern Hull !