Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-11-30
REVIEW OF TRADE.
The Weekly Report from Dun's
Mercantile Agency.
HEAVY LOSSES BY RECENT FIRES

Rebuilding at Boston and Lynn, Mass,
VIII Create sudden Demand for Ma
terial and Labor-The Unparalleled
Production of Iron In This Country-No
Important Change I'm Finances-Fail
ures for the Week.
weekly review of trade says: The heavy
fires, with aggregate losses estimated at
Sl5,NO,OOO or more, may have an influence
upon several branches of trade which cannot
yet be estimated Prior to the Boston fire,
the boot and shoe trade there had been quite
paralyzed by the fire at Lynn, and as to the
leather trade little advance was anticipated,
while here 1t was by many expected that
temporary withdrawal of demand would
cause some fall in leather The Boston fire
of Thursday destroyed heavy stocks of goods,
and will doubtless affect the demand. Re
building in both cities win create a sudden
demand for materials and labor.
Volume OF business Unsurpassed.
Heavy concurrent losses may shake some
insurance companies and affect the finances
of firms burned out, but the general pros
Perity and large accumulation of available
capital will probably render the influence of
these disasters comparatively narrow and
brief In other respects the situation is
quite as encouraging as it has been for some
weeks past The volume of business is I'M
surpassed and the pressure in the
money markets, though not ended here, has
seemed to be abating elsewhere The reports
from other cities are without exception ia
vorable, on the whole. Western cities, with
out exception, find trade good. though grain
is moving very slowly at Milwaukee,, and
mild weather affects sales of winter clothing
and other supplies quite generally.
Collections Are Good.
Money is fairly active, but nowhere strin-
gent, AZ western points reporting, and the
accounts regarding collections are better
than usual. Stock receipts at Kansas City
are lighter, but shipments of live hogs TO
Mexico, lately stopped by high tariff, are re-
sumed. A great boom in iron abroad, with
speculative excitement rarely witnessed,
and rapid fluctuations in prices, causes some
apprehension, because experience teaches
that such rapid and excited movements are
usually followed by ugly reactions.
Country of Wonders.
The unparalleled production in this coun-
try still continues, and other furnaces OF
large production are about to go into opera
ton, and yet prices are firm at Philadelphia
though warrants have been quoted little
lower here, the demand for manufactured
forms continuing large at fall prices. It
would be a wonder, indeed, if with light
railroad building and reduced demand for
rails, this country should continue to con-
sumo the enormous quantity of iron now be-
ing made, but this is a country of wonders
For structural forms, at least, the recent
fires and the floods which have swept away
many bridges will cause some increased
demand.
The Merchandise Exports.
There has been no important change in the
finances, but the merchandise exports, though
small for the week ending Tuesday, have
been nearly per cent larger than last year
for the month from New York The value
of exports in October was not only greater
than in any previous October, but has never
been exceeded in any month except slightly
in one December, 1879.
Failures during the last seven DAYS for the
United States were 2l0; for Canada, 80; to-
tai, 249; compared with OF last week. For
the corresponding week Of last year the fig
ures We're pol in the United States and 81 in
Canada