Omaha daily bee., 1894-04-02

increase ........., - S1,622 --
The cattle market during the early part
OF the week was in very good shape. Re
ceipts were rather liberal, but as eastern
markets were higher and the weather cool,
ooth dressed beef men and shippers were
good buyers. On the ordinary run of beef
and shipping steers prices advanced 15c to
2Oc up to Wednesday, and there was very
nearly that much advance on butchers stock
and Gamers. The three days, Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday, made really the
first glimpse of sunshine cattle men have
had in months. 1t could not and did not
last very long. Receipts increased smartly
the latter half of the week. and prices gen
orally declined about as fast as they adj
Nanced, and the close of the week finds the
heavy cattle and the common light and half
fat stuff dragging along at prices as low as
they have been at any time during the past
five years. Now that Lent is over, there
seems to be Il slightly improved demand
for beef, and for this reason the handy
light steers that are wanted by both killers
and shippers are selling perhaps &C and 10c
better than at the extreme low time, ten
days ago. Dealers attribute the unusually
heavy receipts of the past few days to the
anxiety on the part of farmers to get their
cattle into market before April 1 to avoid
the assessor. This is a very foolish pro-
ceedlng, but it is repeated every year with
unvarying regularity. The market was doing
all right until these tax shirkers dumped
their cattle by the hundreds, and this caused
the break, losing shippers many times the
cost of the taxes.
DEALERS WERE INDIFFERENT.
Today's liberal supply of cattle was ex-
ceeded but three times during the entire
month. Receipts for the week have aver
aged over 5000 per day and this will account
for the rapid disappearance of the advance
made during the early part of the week.
The market was very Uneven. Conditions
locally were much the same as they have
been lately, but all classes of buyers seemed
to manifest more than the usual amount of
Indifference today. AS a result only the
tidy, fat, light and medium weight steers
sold at anything like steady prices. Other
grades ruled weak to &c and 10c lower and
trading was duh tand. dragging from the
start. The cattle kept selling, however,
speculative shippers and outside butchers
got more cattle than the local contingent
thought they would and in their efforts to
fill their orders the market rather frmed
up late in the forenoon and by IL O'Clock
there was little of any consequence unsold.
There was also an easier tone to the mar
ket for cows and mixed stock. Offerings
were not at all excessive, not over rs loads,
and there seemed to be a very fair demand
for the stuff. Local houses have been free
buyers all week, and while they were will
ing to and did pay about steady prices for
the good, fat coma. and heifers, 1t took
shaded prices to move the medium and COM
MOI stuff. The market for veal calves was
tolerably well supplied, but there WAS no
difficulty in finding purchasers at fully steady
prices. The same was true of the market
for rough stock generally, and while the
trade was not particularly active, the odds
and ends were pretty we'll picked up before
noon.
Business in stockers and feeders is never
very rushing on a Saturday, but it was I'M
usually dull and weak today. The liberal
receipts Of the past four days have over
stocked the market and anticipated the
demand somewhat. Prices held up fairly
well until within the past day or two, when
yard traders became decidedly more anxious
to sell than to buy, and in consequence of
the restricted country demand prices have
declined 10c to 15c on all but the best grades.
The week closes with spectators pens full
Of cattle. Good to choice feeders are quoted
at $3,O0@3. 40; fair to good at $2.75@3.0O, and
lighter, grades at from $2.75
down.
HOG VALUES WELL SUSTAINED.
The hogs came in pretty freely this week,
and contrary to expectations and predictions
prices were well sustained as a rule, in fact
average values were pretty close to 15c
higher than the week previous. The weeks
supply was the heaviest so far this year,
1874 head, or 1000 more than last week
and 19, 900 more than for the corresponding
week last year. From a variety of reasons |
the speculative markets shaped up better, |
there was a good export movement and an
excellent fresh meat demand. Looked at ]
from any standpoint, there was more to en-
courage manufacturers and holders than for
some time past, and hence the renewed activ- |
ity and consequent advance in prices. Local
houses continue the principal and frequently |
the only buyers. Shippers took less than Z
per cent of the supply the past week. Prices
have been too high for them, anywhere from
sc to 15c higher than Kansas City or Sioux |
City, and as a consequence they have had to
depend on those places for their supplies.
Today's supply, 151 cars, 1894 head, was /,
the heaviest since the latter part of June, |
1898, a period of over nine months, and the /
quality was as good as 1t has been any time
during the past fortnight. Sellers looked for
a lower market, and while there was a good
array of buyers in the field, four packers, |
three shippers and several spectators, the
receipts Of over 10000 hogs and the lower
markets east enabled buyers to get their
hogs a shade easier early. but the active
competition and free buying by all classes
soon caused trade and prices to pick up and
the general market was not a great deal
lower than Friday. The top, $500, was
about a nickel lower, but the bulk went as
they did on Friday, at $3.50 and S4,55, the
general market averaging up a little over lie
lower. On last Saturday the hogs sold largely
at $3.50. ~.
SHEEP ARE HIGHER.
Receipts of sheep, with the exception of
Friday, have been unusually light all week,
and with similar conditions prevailing else
where prices have taken a sharp turn for
the better of pretty close to half a dollar,