St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-11
THE STATE OF TDADE.
r.. G. Dun & Co.'s Weekly Com
mercial Review.

New YORK, Aug. 1O.-R. G. Dun g. Co.'s
weekly review of trade will say: Crop pros
poets are not quite SO good, and as recent
improvement in business has been based al
most entirely upon confidence in large
yield, the change is of some consequence.
Corn still promises best of the large crops.
but is late and i'll more than the usual
danger from frosts. Some injury i'll Kansas
from drought has been reported, but later
telegraphic advices tell of rains
improved, and in Texas, where the
recent outlook was very satisfactory, many
complaints of drought are heard. Our spe-
cial crop reports for the Northwest show
winds, or damaged by rust or bugs in many
quarters, SO that as full yield as was ex-
pected is no longer possible. About Albert
Lea and St Cloud, Mimi, not over half a
crop is now expected, in some, parts of Da-
kota the injury is considerable, and the
prospects poorer in parts OF Wisconsin.
But the reports are very favorable as
to corn, and the injury to oats in
some Localities does not seem to require i'm
portant changes in estimates. Foreign advices
indicating deficient crops of wheatln Europe,
have helped to support the market here;
but actual exports do not answer eXpecta-
tons, and prices have declined l2c for the
week. Corn is unchanged, and oats 1c low
er; hogs are 15c and lard 7c per 100 lbs
higher. Cotton has advanced Ac, and oil
4l2- The speculative markets have not been
especially actlVer' Dut sales Oh WuedI nave
reached 45,000,O00 bu here In sugar an ac-
tive demand for refined has lifted prices 1sc,
while raw is unchanged. Wool grows strong
er in the country. farmers acting quite gener-
ally on the belief that there will be no
change in the tariff this year. Copper is
dull, tin stronger, and lead weak, with
scanty demand. Rubber is also weak at &C
for parafine. The general average of prices,
which fell about per cent week ago, has
scarcely changed since that time and is now
above level 81
Trade reports from nearly all interior points
are full of confidence, and at many the
actual improvement already noticed still
continues. At Cleveland the lumber and coal
and trades are better but iron ore is
dull: at Pittsburg there is less ACTIVITY
in iron, but prices are steady, and 1887 on
OF l2,O6l coke ovens in the Connelsville dis
trict are at work, producing 1923 ton
weekly at about 81 per ton. The anthracite
and bituminous coal trades are also Strong
The failure of a clothing house at Minnea5
oils is announced, but with an increase in
orders for merchandise there and at St PsuI
notwithstanding the damage to wheat and
oats. Among the new Developments of in
terest is the rapid growth of the lumber busi.
ness in Texas. where large sums have been in
vested, and the mills are pushed to their
full capacity, supplying demands from Kan
sas, Missouri and Western states generally.
The important discovery of iron ore in Mich
igan is held to extend. by several miles, the
known ore-bearing territory. There is no
".
some points distant improvement in the
demand is noted, and collections improve a
little at Cleveland and Milwaukee, though
slow in Minnesota. The super-abundance
here has reduced rates to l per cent on call.
and the treasury has just purchased another
million of bonds, but prior to that
had taken in for the week
500, ,000more than it had paid out. Foreign
trade still falls below that OF last year at New
York for five weeks II per cent in exports
and z $40 per cent in imports But the
course of foreign exchange, and of the stock
market a well. indicates that foreign capital
is still coming hither, and the demand for in
vestment securities has left many dealers
quite bare OF bonds. Stocks have risen about
ST per share, with some reaction later. and
railroad reports continue to show larger
gross and smaller net earnings than
those of last year. If the iron mar
ket is a reliable barometer of business, its
latest indications are rather favorable Some
stiffening in prices appears, though there is
no improvement in bar iron or steel rails
Numerous announcements of new works
about to be established, or of furnaces about
to resume operations show that confidence
in the future is increasing. The bank clear
ings for the last week show smaller volume
of business at all points than a year ago
by 1873 per cent, but only 16 per
cent smaller outside of New York
| ane decrease of 4.3 per cent in the aggre-
| gate. AS last years transactions were excep
| tlonally large, the trade now in progress is
| by no means dlscOuraging in volume. though
| the margin for profits is exceedingly narrow
| in many branches.
| Business failures during the last seven
| days number: United States, POS: Canada
| %; total, 233; compared with q 6 last week,
| and $50 for the corresponding week of last
year.