Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-22
MERCHANTS ARE SATISFIED
With Their Sales, Particularly Those En-
gagged in Retail Lines-Collections Easy
and Money Plentiful-Situation in Grain
and Provisions.
WEDNESDAY, Dec. q.


and Provisions.
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 81.
According to the general run of trade re-
ports business in the various departments of
merchandise is moving along satisfactorily
for the time of year; at least, merchants
appear to be we'll satisfied with their
sales Of course the holiday trade has
formed an important feature in the whole
sale trade for several weeks past, and latterly
the retail houses have been doing BOOM
ing business. As is usually the case near
the close of the year merchants are not in
clined to stock up extensively, and cur
rent purchases are confined mainly to salts
fying immediate wants. Collections are
generally reported as easy, and money
seems to be plenty throughout the West.
In this connection it may be stated that the
money in the United States per capita in
creased from $I6 81 in 1878 to $33 03 in 1892
and the circulation per capita from SIS 81
to $24 ~. The increase in Is years is thus
SO 10 per capita in circulation and SIG Al per
capita in money coined and issued, being in
the former case 59.4 per cent and in the lat
ter 9S.7 per cent.
sions says Chicago paper. has not changed
radically for some time past. Cudahy and
number of other prominent capitalists have
been buying wheat in large amounts on the
soft spots in the market. They are sup
posed to have accumulated an enormous
aggregate quantity OF this grain, but there
are good reasons for saying that the amount
has been greatly exaggerated in the news
paper reports. Much OF their trading has
Deen of q scalping character, and a large
share of these purchases were disposed of at
small advances i'll prices. In the opinion
of nearly everybody 1t is an almost hopeless
task TO attempt to bull the wheat market at
the present time. It is true that prices are
phenomenally low, bnt, on the other hand,
the stocks of wheat in sight are appaflingly
large, and they are piling up rapidly. The
farmers complain loudly because they can
get no better prices, but they persist i'll mar
keting their wheat all the same, and
the elevators in Minnesota and the Dakotas
are kept filled to their caves. Good amounts
of wheat and flour are being sent across the
water to feed Europe, the proportion of
flour exports being unusually large, and the
domestic consumption is very large, but the
stocks o! wheat are still unprecedentIy
large. And, worst of all, Claussen. the State
Grain Inspector of Minnesota, says that he
expects the receipts to continue as heavy
for long time to come as they have been of
operators are generally bearish in senti-
ment, though several leading provision men |
have been large buyers recently.
Hog products continue to sell at extremely |
high prices on account of the unusually |
small hog "crop' OF the Western States. |
The receipts of hogs here and at other pack |
ing points are falling far below recent |
years, and fat hogs are steadily rising in |
value, recent sales in this market having |
been at an advance OF 50 80 per 100 pounds |
over a year ago. Since the beginning OF |
last November the Western hog pack has |
fallen 40 per cent short OF the like period |
last year, and it is perfectly clear that there !
Is an unusual scarcity of swine. Under |
these circumstances the provision market
has naturally shown a very strong under
tone, and heavy buying by Cudahy, Charles
Wright, Armour, and numerous others has |
caused many a wild scramble among the |
shorts to cover their contracts in pork, lard
Ind ribs.