Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-04-16
THE TRADE TRAIL.

Local Trade Active with Prices Unchanged
The Outlook for the Wheat Market
Lake Superior Ore COmpanies-Defense
of OIeomargarine-I Interesting Resume OF
Eastern and European Markets.
ST.. PAUL, April Is.
There was no variation yesterday in the
state of the local market, either as to money or
trade. Money is easy and trade lively for the
teason. There is considerable movement of
produce, mainly for supply of immigrants go
ing into the new country west and northwest
and the city trade in the same HOLDS good.
Prices are generally firm except that pork and
products are little week-following the Chi
cago market.
A New York dispatch of last evening says:
1.-The dry goods business continues light with
packages houses, but jobbers doing fair
trade Cotton goods quiet, but the best makes
steadily held by agents. Prints very quiet in
first hands, but prices unchanged. Wooden
goods quiet and firm. The Bulletin says some
large sales of brown cottons have been made
for export"
Wall Bigelow's st. Paul circular of las t
evening, referring to the pending wheat
speculations in Chicago says AS far as we
speak Of except once or twice they have tried
to keep the market from advancing too rapidly.
The trouble has been that the hangers on OF the
CLIQUE have got heavily loaded and on each
break have tried to sell all at once"
The Chicago Tribune of Wednesday remarks:
''They say that leading operator in provisions
lost bet of $4,000 yesterday by the fact that
pork sold at SO barrel. He had pinned his
faith to the theory that the market would not
touch that figure on this side of next winter. ="
The following Is credited in an eastern ex-
change to an anonymous London letter: 1T
grows daily more probable that no important
rise in wheat can be expected (untoward crop
accidents accepted), whilst a decline becomes
more and more reasonable The smaller con-
sumption during April, May and June will soon
be making itself felt whilst the fine though
cold weather we are now enjoying has disposed
people here to take favorable view of our
next wheat crop. There is, therefore, no in
ducement to mi:lers and others to go heavily
into stock, and in its absence hand-to-mOuth
policy is certain to be pursued.
While the number Of savings banks in New
York State has fallen off during the year past
from 124 to 1l8, the aggregate of savings de-
posts at this time ($3l9 900 000) is larger than
ever before.
Counterfeit half eagles are in circulation in
the East which are dangerous. They are cor
rect in weight and appearance; the surface and
edges are gold, but the LACK of ring betrays the
base filling. A specimen examined had been
carefully slit in two and followed out. leaving
q very thin plate either side of the genuine
gold. crack in the edge, perceptible only to
the keenest vision, showed where it had been
cut. The coin was a new one of the issue OF
1880. The bank officers pronounce it the most
dangerous counterfeit which has yet come IN
der their observation.
The american Manufacturer says: Zone
peculiarly heavy risk which the blast furnaces
of the West must now assume is due to the
death-Iike grip held upon them by the Lake
Superior ore companies The price of ore has
been fixed for the whole of the year 1880 and a
portion Of 1881 at the basis of $12.50 per ton
for Republic at Cleveland" The Han
ufGcturer goes on to show
that the furnace men are running great risk
in contracting or not contracting years
stock, since at least Sl25,00G may be lost by
either decline or rise of the value of raw iron,
on the amount of stock required for the small
est of furnaces, and closes as follows: "As We
said in the beginning, the present position of
the iron trade is a critical one. With stagna-
tion in the midst of high prices, there is the
greatest uncertainty whether prices are to go
downward or first upward and then downward.
That they will go downward finally, and reach
much lower level than at present is almost
certain, and manufacturers would do well to
trim their sails in anticipation of such down.
fall"
The Boston Journal of Commerce says con-
corning the wool trade of that city: 'There
has been a very marked diminution in the vol
ume of, business, and naturally little change
in theT0ne of the market. The feeling in the
trade is that wool is now fully at the maxi
mum, and that inflated ideas as to the value OF
the new clip can only result in loss to opera
tors"
Oleomargarine or the new process butter, Is
defended by the New York Shipping List as
follows: "The examinations of the Congress
sional committee show cOnclusively that there
is nothing in the character of the manufac
ture of Oleomargarine which can warranr any
legislative prescription of the article. 1t is
not fair to class it among the limitations and
authorizations by which people are deceived
into buying articles of similar appearance, but
of different qualities or properties from what
they want. If some safe chemical pro-
cess should be discovered by which
the slight difference in molecular con-
Btitution which separates starch from sugar
could be overcome, and as good sugar come
from the laboratory as natures chemistry
works out in the cells of the sugar cane, there
would be no objection to accepting the arti-
fetal sugar. The case of oleomargarine is of
the same character. Oleomargarine is arti-
fcially produced butter. The same animal fats
that communicate the buttery constituents to
the milk of COWS are employed for the same
purpose in the processes of the oleomargarine
factory. Art successfully initiates the pro-
cesses of nature, and the result is the same.
The product is butter, and not grease. To
accomplish the best results, care and nicely
are, of course, requisite; bat it is evident that
there is nothing deleterious or offensive in the
process, and it would be piece of indefensi-
BILE injustice to class this product among food
authorizations. and prohibit its sale, as has been
proposed in Congress"
New York and Foreign Reports