The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-12-29
TOPICS OF TRADE.
GENERAL BUSINESS SITUATION
Qnict After tho Holiday itush-Tho I,read- :
1tuhs and Provision Markcts-Iron Very
Dali-wooi More Activo-Thc Con.
dillon of tho Coke Trade Had,

nuts hhi Provision Ainrtets-Iron Very
Dull-wool More Actiyo-Thc Con.
dillon of tho COX, Trndo Had.
New foRK, Dec. 27,-Special kilograms
to Brddstresfs from leading business cen
tens report the general situation rs quiet,
! us may be expected during holiday week.
| AT Boston, New York, Philadelphia anl
Chicago there has been practically 10
noteworthy call for merchandise for iul-
mediate or forward delivery. There Is
more than usual interest in tho money
market owing to the call for funds at varl-
GUS centers, the annual settlements, pay-
ments OF interest, dividends md tho like,
: New Orleans Is bullish in cotton. Latest
reports concerning tho Louisiana sugar
crop place the total probable out.turn at
10000 hogsheads. General trade there Is
only fair. Vi. ~ - r
At other Southern cities tho business
outlook for tho new year Is Indifferent, ex-
lcept at Wilmington where il is fair. At
Minneapolis wheat has been advanced &c
per Duslel and receipts arc growing
notably small. The belief exists, how,
ever, that the northwestern millcrs hnyo
succeeded this year In getting control of
the bulk Of the crop tributary to the lead
ing milling centers at figures MS much
lower than the average quotations rs they
cialin 70 have pnid in excess one year ago.
The Minneapolis millers have arranged to
curtail their output onc.third, the cold
weather having intcriered with the water
supply. In Iowa but little grain il
moving, owing to tho low prices, anil
complaints OF excessive railway freight
charges are loud. At NewsYork No. 9 red
winter wheat closed December 90 at 49,,
a gain, and Indian corn, No. . mixed, ut
Ole, loss OF 1lc. The reaction in pro-
visions has carried spot mess pork up TO
$3.50, gain Of 25c. per barrel, but re-
lined lard remains unchanged and quiet
ut 1.30c.
Tho past week has been one OF notable
dullness in the iron and steel trades
throughout the country, which, consider
ins the season and the condition Of gen.
eral trade, is not surprising. The corr
tracts for pig iron which were reported
under consideration last week are still
Undecided, butwil be made public within
day or two. The sixty to eighty thou
sand ton contracts for pig iron, by q "Le-
high company" announced in philadel-
phla and New York journals during the
week, are the Thomas Iron Company
contracts mentioned in Bwdstrcetsa fort
night ago. There is no gain in the Scotch
pig iron market Mt New York. Imports
continue ut a very low ebb, and prices are
very much depressed. American No. l
anthracite pig iron has dropped from
$36 so in 1870 to so in January last, and
to SIS Mt the present time Bar iron ire
iinedl ut Philadelphia has fallen from &C.
per pound in January, 1884, to 1.Sc., and
nails New York; from g 60 to So per
keg. Steel rails are down to S27 at the
mill, against S35 in January. There is
little doing in manufactured iron circles,
nor is there likely to DO until after the
opening Of the new year.
WOOL.
BosroS, Dec. 27.-The 4idrertiSer in its
weekly review Of the wool market says:
The market las been much more active
than the last week Of the year usually is.
Indeed, the sales for December have been
thus far about 100000 lbs more than a
year ago. The transactions for this week
arc the more noticeable, inasmucl MS the
total is for five days instead OF six, follow
ing also upon four very fair weeks, when
the sales lave been above rather than be-
low the average.
AS is usual at the end OF the year deal
ers have manifested desire to sell rather
than to hold their wools; but, at the same
time, except when there is special weak
ness as noted above, prices are generally
steady. Manufacturers were never moro
careful in their purchases and are on the
search for bargains, while dealers arc not
making concessions exceptin the case OF
an odd or small lot which is to be disposed
OF 10 close up an account. Sales would
have been much larger this week, had the
aoating oilers OF manufacturers been ac-
cepted.
THE COKE TRADE.
CoNSELLsvlLLE, Pa, Dec. 27.-The Ecv-
stone Courier, in its review OF the coke
trade says: The coke trade is steadily los
ing ground. The syndicate met last Fri.
day and decided upon m additional shut
down OF fifteen percent. Accordingly,
this week sees 60 instead OF Is percent OF
the ovens smokeess. Shipments have
fallen or slightly on account OF the shut
down OF the Edgar Thompson steel works,
foreshadowed in our last report, and are
new less than 500 cars daily. The princi-
pal consumers now are the Joliet Steel
Company in the west and the Cambria
Iron Company in the east. Each take
about Is cars per day and jointly consume
about 20 percent OF the pi iesent out-nut in
the region. a good trade has been de-
veloped among the smelling FURNACES Of
the far west. This market alone takes 800
cars per month and has materially con-
tributed toward keeping up the demand.
| The crushed coke trade has taken ON ouite
4 boom. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com