St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-13
St. Paul Fairly Overwhelmed
With Business From the
West.
Nothing Like the Rush Ever
Known to the History Of
the City. /:
Jobbers Must Increase Their
Forces to Keep Up With
Orders.
Immense Importance to St.
Paul of the Magnificent
Crops.

last Sunday morning, showing the re-
markable impetus given to all the vari-
| Gus lines of business by the magnificent
crop harvested, although comprehensive
in its handling of the situation. did not
4 Illustrate fully the extraordinary
| change that has occurred since the crops
were seeded in this state and the Da-
/ kotas last spring. Here is a bald state
ment of fact. Minnesota and the Da-
| kOtas, with Montana bringing up the
rear, have entered on period of pros
| perity that will excel anything in the
history OF either state. Minnesota has
| never suffered very severely. She is
not subject to so many adverse condi-
tions as either of the other states men
toned. The Dakotas have bad failures
! repeatedly amounting TO famine. De-
| spite theseunfavOrable conditions the ag-
! rlcultural population in all the four states
| has been tremendously augmented.
This fact Is what has kept the sales of
| st. Paul jobberS in the past few years
up to fair average, basing the latter
| on the sales made in the former pros
| porous seasons. Now, the result is
easily to be seen. With the crop much
i'll excess of an average the increased
| agricultural population is made plainly
culated the meaning of full crop ey-
| erywhere. and now they are at loss
| to transport the grain that must go to
| market; and the wholesalers never
dreamed that under any conditions
| they would be so
OverwheIme ed With Business
as they are at present In the East a
good crop means to the wholesalers that
they may look for continuance of the
trade which has been theirs for two dec
AIDES, less the shrinkage by emigration
to the West. A good crop in the North
west means to st. Paul jobbers that they
must supply not only their established
trade, but also that produced by Is per
cent increase in the agricultural popula-
ton of the country they serve.
The other day L saw lying ready for
shipment to small general store ut
Elkhart. OAK, where starvation and
rags have been the regime for years
past. a bill of goods amounting to S. 800.
What on earth are they going to do
with all that stuff in that little place?'
! asked of one of the firm.
He looked at me in a dazed sort of
way. as though he wasn't quite clear
about it himself, and then replied:
''Well, it's complete stock for gen.
eral store. The people for whom the
goods are destined have had no money
for several years. They have worn
rags and endured the rigOrS of cold and
hunger. Now they have been touched
by the magic wand of prosperity. They
have plenty of money, and once more:
they will live in the true sense of the
word. This is only one of hundreds of
similar orders. The star of the West is
IN the ascendant and the farmer is
king"
Here is what r. e. Dun & Co. have to
say about the condition of trade. r. e.,
LeonardS, of the agency, who Is Oh the
qui vive at all times in such matters,
and who, by the way, is out among the
very people doing all the business, said
Yesterday:
Views of Dun.
There was an increase of e5 per cent
in the business of August in all lines of
trade over that of any one month in the
history of st. Paul. L do not regard it
as likely that collections will be very
brisk for the next couple of weeks. 1t
is matter of small moment to the cred
itors. The people have the money to
pay. They have not had it before in
several years. The farmer is peculiar
as a type about matters of this
sort. He would sooner get his
fall blowing done and pay
II per cent interest on his debts. than
haul grain before his fall work is COM
pleted. Thus 1t is that the crop is not
coming in the market very rapidly at
present. Everywhere, however, there
is complete confidence in the present
and the future. There is money in sight
to pay every cent of the back indebted
ness. and it will be paid Chis. fall"
"Will the result be a boom in other
directions in st. Paul-real estate for
inStance?"
mo. st. Paul never had boom.
From my point of view, no man up to
date ever paid dollar for land in st.
Paul which will not pay him goodly in
terest when real estate regains its nor
NAL value. At the height of what has
been miscalled the boom here, land
was sold for a genuine value. The pres
ent and past depreciation was due to
the same causes thar produced Stagna-
ton in trade all over the country. The
values placed on st. Paul realty then
were not fictitious, they were real, and
will be regained with prosper Gus con-
ditions in other directions"
In General JObbing.
almost to peSSimiSm in their views re-
lating to trade prospects: They have
to deal with facts and figures, and they
assert positively that % per cent is
conservative estimate of the increase in
the jobbing business over any other
season in the city's history to date.
There are TWO wholesale hardware
firms Qhe light lines in st. Paul whose
reports may be regarded as representa-
tive of the trade. They are FarwelI.
Ozmun 81 Kirk and G. W. Hackett q
Co. 1t sounds like useless repetition to
repeat what they say, but such talks
from the men themselves carry con-
viction.
Mr.. Haekett says his business exceeds
his most sanguine hopes, and he HASN'T
dollars worth of paper that he can't.
realize on in thirty days if lie desires.
Three months ago he could not
have raised per cent of the
outstanding accounts by any process.
Farwell, Ozmun & Kirk are doing as
heavy if not a heavier business than
any firm in their line in the West. They
have no time to talk; they are too busy.
Llndeke, Warner u Schumacher have
done an average business of from So, 900
to S25, 900 day for the past thirty days.
Finch, Van SlycF, Young d Co. are after
them with similar figures. What more
need be said about them? Griggs, Cooper
u Co. are doing an immense business,l
having averaged $4,000 a day for
month to date. p. IL. Kelly 81 Co. are
up with the procession, aud support the,
general verdict.
Other Lines.
Now, in boots and shoes, there are
four wholesale and manufacturing firms
in st. Paul whose business is about on
par. They look after Minnesota, Da-
kota and Montana. They will all have
to increase the working forces in their
factories if they want to prevent bust
ness going to Chicago, and the firms
mentioned are the four biggest in the
West. Dakota has been barefooted for
years. The firms are G. Gotzian & Co.,
Tarbox, Schliek IL Co.. Foote. Schulze
& Co. and Kellogg. johnson & Co.
As for millinery and the higher lines,
Robinson, Strauss & Co. are authority
for the statement that they are working
early and late to keen abreast of the or-