The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1888-02-11
THE STATE OF TRADE.
THE REGULAR WEEKLY STATEMENT
OF r. G. DUN g. 90.
No Perceptible Change In the General
Course of Business = Railroad Ton
mage Enlarged by the war In
Rates.

New York, Feb. l0.--R. G. Dun 4 Co.,
IN their weekly review OF trade, say: In
/ the general course Of business there has
been no perceptble change. The volume
sof payments, including paper maturing
February ], was over ID per cent. larger
Than last year, outside OF Now York; evil
IDENTIFY the gain OF new transactionsis much
bmallcr. Railroad tonnage is enlarged by
MAR Of rates, and the ratio OF expenses to
earnings grows less satisfactory. AT all
Exterior points reporting, trade is dull or
inactive, though perceptible improvement
within the past ten days is noted at St.
Paul and Omaha. But collections are
slow at st. Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit and
Clevcland, and the number OF failures in
A the northwest, beyond the Mississippi,
seems larger than usual The cold weather
evidently has rctarding influence many
quarters.
A vast amount OF capital has been
locked up, and vast body OF indebted
ness created, in connection with tho real
estate, grain aud other speculations OF the
past year. Indebtedness based on iicti-
tious valuation or commodities, in not y
few cases, will have to be liquidated at q
loss. On the chance OF war in Europe,
wheat was suddenly advanced so far that
peace prospects invoice disastee TO many
The capacity OF iron furnaces in blast
February ], was IL, 400 tons less than Jan
nary |, and contrary to expectation, much
more than half the decrease was in Other
than anthracite furnaces. The effects o.
the strike i'm the coal regions increase from
day to day, but are not rs great ~ the de
preston due TO shrinkage in demand. U
the latter, part is attributable 10 tariff un
certainties. and part TO the excess Of rail
road building in the west, and the conse
quent wars OF rates. Including 0,000 tom
deferred from last year, contracts for stee
rails so far reach about 500, 600 tons, with
ont any lifting of the price, S3l.50 at the
mill. Pig iron is weaker at Pittsburg, bu
stiff at the east for the better grades, OF
account of their scarcity. In manu-
featured iron, slackened demand still
causes weakness.
Nearly all the markets are lower; stock
about 90 cents per share for the week
wheat about / cent per bushel, corn
cent, oats cent, coffee I cent per poun'
and sugar, both refined and crushed,
cent; hogs 10 cents per 100 pounds and til
cent per pound. Cotton has been hell
steady by the report OF large consumption
abroad. The dry goods trade continue
good for cottons, which are stead
in price, and slightly improved 70
woolens. In groceries there has bee
some improvement in tone and in distribu
ton; the tea trade shows more activit
and hopefulness, but tho demand for but
ter and cheese is hardly as satisfactory
and meats are very dull and weak.
The business failures during the las
seven days number, for the United State;
237; for Canada, So a total Of $50, CON
pared with 270 last week and 267 for th
corresponding week last year. The featur
this week is the unusual number Of fai
ures in Canada, being nearly double III
usual weekly average.