Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-02
THE WEEKLY TRADE REVIEW Business Was Only Fair at the
 South. IT FELL OFF IN THE WEST BirmiogiS Shows Greater Improvement ,s Than Any Other City. ALL s ARE TURNED TO TIE SOUTH Mo Activity Is Seen in Iron and Steel si s:.i oducts, and Cotton Goods Hold
 TLeir Own Despite the Drop
 in Raw Cotton.
I FELL OFF IN THE WEST
s ARE TURNED TO TIE SOUTH

f0DlnT- TOW will say:
 The volume of general business has been smaller this week. due in mart to drouth, although the widespread rains during the latter portion of the week have gone far to break the dry spell West and northwest, the commercial de- mand has been mainly for staples, but with falling off in demand at the west. notably Boston, Philadelphia and Pitts burg. At the south general trade among jobbers at most points is only fair and in some sections mercantile collections are very much slower with farmers hold ing their crops. Business at New Or leans at the close of the month Is small CT in volume, as is usual. Galveston re- ports very little Texas cotton remaining in producers hands and receipts falling off sharply. But the general trade has improved somewhat at Memphis, Atlan- ta and Augusta, and to a greater extent at Birmingham, where the output of coal and iron Is much larger than heretofore. and the number of employees at work cor respondfngly increased with the pros poets that are more favorable than for months past. St. Louis jobbers believe next springs business at the south will be the heaviest for years Industrial lines retain the features of previous weeks. Production of iron and steel runs at it's fullest. Eastern advices are that dullness characterizes the shoe industry and many factories are idle. Business in wool has fallen off .one-half. Manufac- turers having filled immediate require mentS they propose to wait until goods start up before buying. Recent weather conditions have helped retailers of cotton goods, which have remained firm in price notwithstanding the break in quotations for raw material Demand for window glass continues brisk, as does that for coal.
 Bank clearings in the United States this week amount to $1 ,0S2 100000, which Is falling off of nearly per cent as compared with last week. The total this week is, however IT per cent larger than the week one year ago. Prices of staples this week on the whole have been steady.
 Dun's Review.
 New York, Nov. 1.--R. G. Dun & Co.'S weekly review of trade to be issued to- morrow will say
 Failures in October thus far reported show liabilities of $11,12O,4ss, against $S,- 206, 1892 last year and $1S995 494 in 1893. Failures for the week have been 27S in the United States, against 249 last year, and 53 in Canada, against 50 last year. The rapid recovery in cotton and the rise in sterling exchange to the point at which the last exports of gold were made have not increased confidence.
 There is little better demand for man. ufactured products; retail distribution is fairly. encouraging and the closing of many works is less significant at this sea- son than it might be at others. It is a time of waiting and uncertainty, which may naturally continue for some weeks.
 Cotton has risen to cents again. Spec ulation turns for the moment on the dis position of holders to keep back their which comnel higher nricPS some say, however large the ultimate supply may be. Receipts are at present very small compared with last year and it is stated that the banks here have more money loaned on cotton to enable holders to keep 1t without marketing than ever before. Exports and takings of spinners are small and stocks abroad and here are so large that consumers may be better able to wait than borrowers from banks. The tendency to realize on moderate ad- vance was shown on Thursday, though spot prices remain strong.
 The larger demand for manufactured products has held prices of cotton goods and even advanced some prints, in spite of the last weeks decline in cotton More activity is also seen in iron and steel productb, though Bessemer and gray forge, billets and plates are a little lower. Contracts for lake ore hang fire because wheat pays $2.25 for the room on which ore would pay $1 10 from the head of thd lakes The nail commission reduced its November output to a third of it's usual quantity required for renewals alone, which shows the enormous increase in the use of steel for building and other purposes. Minor metals are a shade weaker and American tin plate makers are taking a good part of the business by selling at 10 cents below prices for foreign plate. The volume of domestic trade shown by exchanges through the princi- pal clearing houses is 174 per cent larger than last year for the closing week of October, but 22S per cent less than in 1892 and reflects i1 part the extraordinary speculation in cotton.