Birmingham age-herald., 1895-04-14
THE CLOUDS STILL BREAKING AWAY.

 the wires is full of hope, and is a har- binger of better times.
 The government has sold more stamps for the last quarter than at any time in its history.
 Beef coal oil, cotton. corn, sil yer, coal, coke, iron are advancing.
 Wages have been voluntarily in- creased by the operators in the East.
 The Iron Trade Review says that the Western iron market is stiffening, and pig iron is selling for better prices. This means an advance in the price of Bir- mingham iron.
 The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company sold 50.000 tons of pig iron in March, which was a considerable in- crease over any previous month for some time. This company. with eleven fur naces, is now turning out nearly 20oo tons of iron day. This is the largest output per furnace ever known. Dur ing March it's output of coal was 292,0 tons.
 The cotton mill which was to have been built a year and half ago at Flor ence, Ala, the main building of which was nearly completed when the financial panic caused suspension of operations. is to be completed. It will be a 50,000- spindle mill.
 The Cherry Cotton Mills of Florence, Ala, have set aside a considerable sur plus from the profits of the last year, and also declared per cent dividend.
 The New England mill owners who have been inspecting the mills in theCar- olinas, Georgia and Alabama during the last ten days say they are greatly inn pressed by the appearance of the opera tives in the mills here; that they seem tO he ViOOrn1IC nd in their work and remind them very much of the class of labor formerly mostly employed in the mills of New England, when the fam flies of the native farmers furnished most of the help. MT. Lowering, Pres ident of the Albright Club of Bos- ton, says that it is evident that the mills down here have been able to market standard sheetings and drills, the same class of goods produced by some Northern mills, at a fair profit during the past year. while the Northern mills have been unable to make anything on them. He thinks that the visit of these practi- cal mill men will result in the invest ment of considerable additional North ern capital in Southern mill property very soon.
 The commercial agencies in their re- ports give the volume of business, and
  ports the fall in prices must be kept in mind. Looked at in this light, the re- ports of the commercial agencies are very gratifying.
 An elevated electric railway will be constructed from Chicago to New York.
 New York city will soon celebrate the opening of the Harlem Ship canal.
 The intercontinental railway, connect ing North and South America, has been surveyed and approved by all the States interested
 The field crops of Florida, represent ing one-haf the total agricultural rev. enue of the State. were not injured by the cold
 The work on the railway from Win nipeg to Hudson Bay, $50 miles. will soon begin.
 Rains have fallen in the drought stricken districts of the Northwest, and the farmers are more hopeful.
 The Philadelphia Inquirer says: "Ex- ports of both cotton and wheat have been satisfactory, and the foreign mark ct for our cereals has improved upon the discovery that Argentine is shipping less wheat than before. Abundant rains have fallen in the West and the prospect for large crops this year is, therefore, better. A prospect of abundant crops would do more to strengthen the general situation than any other factor"
 The outlook for trade is full of encour- agement. says the Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph. The shipments of coke dur ing the past week were the largest in the history of the Connellsville region. and the advance in prices seems to have had stimulating effect on trade. The firm int i-Nyl ctn nI .snl, Ak1I week ago, has been fully maintained. Sales of Bessemer ore aggregated 30O,- 900 tons. and negotiations are in prog ress for 100000 more. This week there was an increase in our exports of wheat and flour, the total being 2.853.000 bush els. an increase of 100000 bushels over the preceding week and 75O00 over the same week last year. Sterling exchange continues strong, but there have been no shipments of gold. Cotton has ruled firm, provisions were higher and petrol cum reached the highest price for twelve years. Bank exchanges increased per cent. and business failures decreased.
 The Greenville Advocate says: "The Milner. Caldwell & Flowers Lumber Company, which lost one of it's mills by fire recently, is rebuilding, and will soon have a magnificent plant on the burned site. Already the building is finished, and great number of hands are plac- ing the new and improved machinery. For number of years yet to come those mills will be scene of activity, as they have been for the past quarter of a cen- tury. As timber is exhausted in one di- rection new roads are laid in another, and fresh forests sought. The saw mills of Butler have been and are still a great help to the county. Hundreds of hands find employment, and many thou sands of dollars are annually distributed to wage earners- Most of this money comes from the North and West, as it