The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-03-03

The Influence of the Weather Again Seen
in the Returns as Making and Marring
Trade-Failures Have. Reached the
Normal in Number in Surprisingly
Short Time.
New York. March -Bradstreet's 8
tomorrow will say: 'sStorm and cold
weather in the South and Southwest
have checked the course of business this
week. In the West and Northwest
brighter weather had the opposite effect.
No better illustration of the necessarily
halting and irregular movement of the
volume of business at the beginning OF
the improvement may be found than the
record of the week, with its decreased
volume of trade and renewed unfavora-
BILE reports from the South and Pacific
coast in contrast with the more cheeyful
tone and increased sales at important
cities in the Ohio and Mississippi river
valleys and in the Northwest. Thus,
while advices are that Providence, Phila-
delphia. Baltimore, Cincinnati, Nash
Vile, Birmingham. Galveston and San
Francisco are less inclined than of late
weeks to regard the situation hopefully,
those from Buffalo, Indianapolis, Louis
vile, Memphis, Mobile, Chicago. St.
Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Milwaukee,
St. Paul and Duluth all report evidences
of distinct improvement. The general
industrial situation is both better and
worse. There are 80 assumptions i'll fac
tories reported contrasted with two shut
dawns; wages have been reduced at IL
establishments and Is strikes are an
nounced, the latter being the feature mo-
ticeably at Paterson, Z. j., where zooo
silk weayers have struck for higher
wages at a time when thousands are
still receiving aid from the citizens re-
lief committee. The general tendency
of prices continues downward.
The Boston money market shows
ease and excess of supply. Providence
reports last month the quietest February
known. Wool sales drag at Philadelphia
and Boston as elsewhere. A slight i'm
provement in the demand for shoes ar
both places is reported mainly from the
South and West
Exports of wheat from the United
States and Canada, both coasts, flour in
cluded, equal 1872, 900 bushels this week
against 1921, 900 bushels in the week a
year ago The extraordinary increase of
1852, 900 bushels of wheat in stocks
afloat andinEurope last week, was due to
the increase in quantity ahoat for the
United Kingdom and the stocks at Odes-
sa and in France. The total stocks of
wheat here, in Canada and af1oat for and
in Europe, increased 1884, bushels last
month compared with an increase of
$4,000 bushels in February of last year,
contrasting with a decrease of $685., 600
bushels in February, 1892.
The bank clearings this week aggre-
gate 1888, ,432 900, gain of q per cent
over last week and a falling off of nearly
40 per cent compared with the like week
last year. The total volume of bank
clearings throughout the United States
for February was So, 100, 900, 900, the
smallest monthly total reported since any
thing like the present number of clear
ing houses have been in existence. There
was falling off in bank clearings com
pared with January last of 21 per cent;
81 per cent compared with February of
last year and 40 per cent compared with
February of 1892.
Two hundred and seventy two busi-
ness failures are reported in the United
States this week compared with 217 in
the week year ago. Business embarrass-
ments reached the normal level much
earlier in the year following the severe
panic than was supposed to be possible.