The Portland daily press., 1894-05-19
TRADE is DULL.
Tariff Uncertainty and Strikes Still
Leading Causes

Railroad Earnings, Bank Clearings and
Are Signs of the Times in the Business
World.
New York, May 18.-Bladstreet' to-
morrow will say: This week is the third
in succession in which here has been no
material gain in the volume of business,
and especially no improvement in the
prospects for trade in the near future.
Although pleasant weather has favored
retail lines in many directions, jobbers
in staple goods have not found cores
ponding increase in demand. The con-
tinued uncertainty regarding the tariff
legislation restricts trading in futures"
in all staple lines. This is largely re
sponsible for the reduction in the vol
ume of bank clearings. Smaller orders
have been recsived, by jobbers in dry
goods, clothing, shoes, notions and 9th
er leading lines at Chicago, st. Louis,
Baltimore ana other western and south
ern distributing centres from localities
where the effects of the bituminous coal
strike are most pronounced.
The general industrial situation does
not improve, although the striking New
York and Paterson silk weavers, who
have been out three months, and lost
over u. 250, 900 in wages, have gone back
to work. The coal conference at Cleve-
land failed TO settle the miners strike,
and the situation as to fuel supplies
continues TO grow worse. The shut
downs of industrial concerns, restricted
transportation operations, and seizures by
railroad companies of coal on the track
are increasing. Large quantities of for
eign coal have been engaged for delivery
on the Atlantic sea board. The number
of idle through the strikes still remains
pinch for the want Of soft coal, among
the railways, iron and steel works. and
other industries, Boston reports supplies
for a month or more. and Duluth is said
to have half a million bushels on hand.
The net railway earnings for March
fail to reflect the encouraging features
it was thought would grow out of the
railroad companies. The gross and net
alike are found to reflect heavy decreases.
The total gross earnings of 10 railroads
in the first quarter of 1894 aggregate
$40, 800, 600; the net, $38, 413, 600; de-
creses from 1898 respectively of l5.2 and
1871 per cent. In March alone, the de-
creases in gross and net respectively
Were ia and 1873 per cent.
The general tendency of prices of sta
piles is downward. The only advances,
other than those in Bessemer pig iron
and steel billets, due exclusively to the
strike of soft coal miners, are those for
naval stores at Savannah and sugar at
NewYork and New Orleans. The decrease
includes wheat 2 1-2 cents; wool, Ia
cents; live hogs, 10 cents; live cattle Is
cent; corn, cent; oats, S-s cent;
pork, so ceuts; lard, 20 cents; coffee and
cotton, is cent each. Bank clearings
show toal for rs cities Of $3.50, 600, 900,
decrease OF about 167 per cent for the
total of the week before and a falling off
of 81 per cent from the aggregate in the
like week of last year.
The movement of available stocks of
wheat in the United States and Canada,
in Europe, and afioat for Europe from
all sources, and in Australia, shows a
decrease of about II, 100000 bushels DUR
ing the past six weeks, not differing ma
terlally from the decline in the like
weeks of 1883.
Stocks of cotton goods at some of the
eastern mills are accommodating. The
prices of print cloths are lower, fully
one-half cent, compared with year ago.
Orders for mems wear woolens for fall
delivery are about one third the ordinary
volume, thus affecting the demand for
raw wool. Trade is slow in all lines at
Boston.
The failures in the United States num-
Der 1856 this week, against 255 year ago.