Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-22
CONDITION OF OMAHA'S TRADE
Jobbers Devote the Week to Entertaining
Their Friends,
COUNTRY CUSTOMERS CROWD THE CITY
business Men Highly Grntincd with
Results Derived from State Fair
Omaha Jobbcrs Sccurcd Many
New

The course of business was decidedly out
of the ordinary last week and nothing like
1t has been experienced here in a long time.
The trade OF this city has been so accus-
toned to the pursuit Of the old and well
beaten path that 1t seemed quite a novelty
TO have the routine of buying and selling
placed on the shelf for a whole week. w
have been holding a regular ovation all the
week and are commencing 10 feel lonesome
row that the crowd has disappeared said
a jobber. This has been the greatest week
that we ever experienced said another
jobber. land l believe that l would be safe
in saying that we have shown 1000 people,
our customers and their friends, through
our place of business. We had every one
of our travelling men In the city to entertain
visitors and then we could not give our
callers all the attention that we desired"
Similar remarks are heard on every side
end II is safe to say that the great majority
of the jobbers of the city are exceedingly
well pleased with the results of fair week.
AS a matter of course. there will be found
men who figure the value of an enterprise
of any kind from the amount of cash which
they happened to take in, or from the vol
ume Of their sales, and such individuals
will say that the fair, while a success, did
not pay them. The croakers, however, APP
pear to be in a hopeless minority. The
majority of the jobbers did not expect any
great amount of immediate business to re-
suit from the nOlUlnS OF tne state ran III
Omaha. The results. however, have more
than met expectations. So many of the re-
tail merchants of the state brought in com
plimentary orders that most all OF the job
bing houses have had about all that they
could do. The sales of the dry goods people
were very large and the boot and shoe men
Gerry and hardware houses find that the
total of their sales for the week amounts
to n much larger aggregate than antici-
DID NOT TALK SHOP.
As a rule the jobbers did not attempt to
sell goods, or as one of them expressed 1t,
w did not talk shop. but gave up the
week to pleasure and the entertainment of
our customers" Every one in the jobbing
time for Omaha to make friends rather
than push sales of merchandise. That they
by the remarks of visitors who expressed
themselves as most thoroughly satisfied
with everything but the weather.
the past week" remarked an old-timer in
the %jobbing district, land friends, too. that
will not forget right away the cordial re-
ccption accorded them" One of the most
gratifying features. was the number of Iowa
merchants at the fair who have done bust
ness for years within fifty or sixty miles
of Omaha, but never before visited the
city. These men have been the hardest to
sell to of any within the radius visited by
Omaha travling men, because they could
not realize that there was really a large
jobbing market to the west of them. A rep
resentative Iowa merchant remarked that
he never before comprchended that Omaha
was such a large city and that the JobDing
houses carried such extensive stocks of
merchandise.
There is no doubt in the minds of the
the past week haye impressed upon the
minds of the retail trade of the country
tthhi at omaha is is re thIy a j jobbfng market ark i and
a much larger and better market than they
had realized. A good many, retail mer-
as an overgfown town only, and they have
felt most too big to buy goods here, pre-
mi 20 an fnrthnr nnS nNFnp [ o tIANr
We're put to some Inconvenience. Now that
they have seen hat Omaha is really a
backward about placing their orders here.
MARKETS LOST SIGHT OF.
There was SO much going on every day
that no one found time during the past
week to give much attention to market
changes. There was, however, very little
along that line to attract attention.
Sugars have made a still further advance.
The Gamers of tomatoes are complaining
that the, market is extremely dull, although
cause for the Indifference on the part of
buyers appears to be due to the amount
there Ge' are Sss' &c., 90 GO " cases Of the eSi lSsi PACK sno Of
tomatoes still in the hands of jobbers.
In the line of dry goods, staple %cottons
some quarters the upward tendency is re-
garded as checked for the time being.
LUMBER ADVANCING.
The announcement made the middle of
the week hat the rate ON lumber from
would De cut D Genus Is not nkely TO make
any material change in the market for
lumber at this point. The cut in the rate
would really amount to about 81 per thou
sand. The market on pine lumber, how
ever. has been advancing in price during
the past sixty days, but more particularly
within the last thirty days. The price had
reached a lower point than for years, and
the yellow pine people were reputed to be
losing money. With the Improvement in
general business conditions, lumber has ad-
vanced along with iron, cotton and other
commodities, until quite "A gain has been
made over former prices. Farming lnmhpr-
for example, such as 2x4 stuff, has ad-
yanced $3.50 per thousand within the last
thirty days. Lumbermcn say that the ad-
vance has not been commensurate with
the advances scored by many other ar.scles
of commerce, and that Il further upward
movement is probable. Advices that have
just come to hand from Little Rock, Ark.
say that the lumber people there are wild
and that prices will be marked up again
on September 26.
For the reason that the market Is ad-
vancinS so rapidly. the cut in freight rates
will not be likely to reduce prices any at
this point. BY the time the reduction in
transportation charges becomes effective 1t
will be taken up by the advance of the
marriott