The Portland daily press., 1895-04-06
BRADSTREEI'S REPORT.
Continued Improvement Has Marked
The Past Week.
OPENING OF LAKE NAVIGATION
AN IMPORTANT FEATURE.

| Bank Clearings Unusually Heavy--Rap
| id Falling off of the Available Wheat
Supply-General Conditions Favorable
in the Business World.
| New York, A 1ril 5.-Bradstreets tomor-
row will say: The appearance of more set
| tied weather, with the announcement of
| an increase of prices for bessiper. pig iron
and steel billeis. the continued strength
! of cotton, are stimulating Manufacturers
| to demand higher prices for fall delivery.
Rains IL the Northwestern wheat regions.
| we're grea ly needed. anu further increases
in the wages of industrial employ es. hea vier
shipments oe wheat abroad, and rush of
the volume of the weeks bank clearings
above $1,000 600 mark, are evidences of
the continuation of better feeling in trade
circles, and returning confidence in many
lines of business. The list of increases of
quotations for staples include hides and
| leather, with prospect for further adj
| vances one result being the extremely firm
views of makers of shoes, cut meats at
western points. as we'll as for cattle. Prices
are unchanged for hogs and pork. refined
sugar, coffee, copper hand cotton. Deoreas-
es of note are for lard, lead and fractional
ly for wheat and oats.
TheRoank olearings for the week are ST.
| 0l5.O00,0t0, being "A per cent more than the
preceding week. and eight per cent heavier
| than the corresponding week a year ago.
or 80 per cent larger than the first week in
April, 1891, the period when the effects of
The Barring embarrassment were being
sIiarp1u felt Tie aK1S ri
gate 10 per cent smaller than the eorre-
spending period of 1893, just prior to the
panic. Bank clearings for March show a
moderate gain over last year, increases be-
ing reported by more than two-thirds of the
cities covered. and a tendency to decrease
being noticeable in the South, while heavi-
er gains are in the Middle and Southwestern
States. The increase over March of a year
ago is IA per cent. and the decrease from
March. 1898. is % per cent. Bank clearings
for three months aggregate S1l.749, "a: .594.
an increase OF IA per cent over 1894. and
2S per cent less than 1928. Rather less I'M
provcment in feeling and in the volume of
distribution of merchandise is felt at the
South. proportionately during the past
few weeks than elsewhere and central wes-
tern and some eastern industrial and COM
latively the greatest increases in demand
and prospects.
Some New England cotton manufacturer
sold the years output for export and have
cheap raw mater ial TO meet the contracts
Wool and WOODEN industries report less ac-
tivity. and an improved prospect is noted
in iron and steel, and advances in petrole-
nm and lumber at almost all centres, with
6,;1
fl uence.
Boston reports prospects for continued
favorable business and active trade in
lumber. The weather at Pittsburg has
checked the spring trade. hut in addition
to increased interest in iron and steel, here
is activity in the demand for shoes. Quie
a number of Philadelphia textile manufac-
turers are running on orders only, hut the
demand for hardware. petl loleum. leather
and lumber is improved. The volume of
trade at Baltimore is equal TO 1894, and the
demand for dry goods and the character of
collection is better. At Buffalo there9is
considerable activity in building circles,
and the Improvement in trade of a week
ago is continued.
LAKE NAVIGATION.
Lake navigation is expected toopen May
L. At Cleveland lake navigation opened
this week. at Duluth it is practically open.
the tone OF trade with jobbers Mt both cities
being better. Wholesale houses report in
proved demand in nearly all lines at Gin
matt but Detrn;t gains are chiefly among
building trades and manufacturing indus
tries. Louisville reports a better demand
for dry goods and millinery, as does Uhica-
90, although with no increase in volume
over last week. Lumber is moving more
freely at the city last named, and coarse
white pine lumber prices are being cut by
competition from the North. The new
steamship line to China and Japan to start
June /. is expected to stimulate exports
from Portland, Oregon, particularly flour.
EXPORTS OF WHEAT
flour included as wheat, from both coasts of
! the United States, this week, are 1853, 1888
bushels or nearly 300000 bushels more tha
the preceding week. and about rs, 900 BUSH
els more than the first week of April, 1894.
Special advices to Bradstreets show the
| domestic available wheat stock has de-
| creased within three months to 25, 500, 600
| hu shells, or twice the corresponding falling
| off in 1894, and five times that of 1888. Ame-
rican. Canadian, European and afioat avail
able wheat stocks have decreased a2, Geo. COO
bushels during the last quarter moro than
| any like period for the four preceding years
Australian wheat stocks have increased
| 6 $50. .O000 bushels since January l. There
were 22o failures in the United States this
| week, as compared. with l99 the correspond
| ing week OF 1894.
THE WEATHER.