The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-06
CONFIDENCE IS RETURNING
BR4DSTREETS GIVES 4 HOPEFUL
 REPORT or FUTURE TRADE.

Prices Are Higher for Hog Products, Coffee
 Copper and Lard-GreRt Increases in De-
 mana and Prospects Reported in Eastern
 Industrial and Commercial Centers.
 New York, April .-Bradstreets to- morrow will say; The appearance ol more settled weather together with the announced increase in prices of Besse- mer pig iron and steel billets, continued strength in cotton, stimulating manu- facturers to demand high prices for fall delivery, rains in northwest wheat re- gions, where greatly needed, further increase in wages of industrial em- ployes, heavier shipments of wheat abroad and rush of the volume of the weeks bank clearings above the S1,0O0, 900 mark are evidences of the continual tion of the better feeling in trade cir cles and returning confidence in many lines of business. The list of increases of quotations of staples, including hides and leather, with a prospect for further advances, one result being extremely firm views of makers of shoes, cut meats at western points, as well as for cattle and Bessemer pig iron and steel billets fifty cents per ton, which result in better demand for car, wagon and implement iron, as well as for pipe and finished material generally.
 The prices are higher, for hog prod ucts, coffee, copper and cotton De creases of mote are for lard, lead and fractionally for wheat and oats.
 ,,t,, rne t1, ao1r GOO, 900, are 14 per cent. more than in the preceding week, 8 per cent. heavier than i'm the corresponding week a year ago and 30 per cent. larger than in the first week of April 1891, the period when the effects of the Barring embar- rassment were being sharply felt. The weeks clearings aggregated, however, 15 per cent smaller than in the cor- responding period of 1893, just prior to the panic, and IS per cent. smaller than in the like week in 1892, when the vol ume of business was very heavy.
 Bank clearings for March show a moderate gain over last year, increases being reported by more than two-thirds of the cities covered, the tendency to decrease being noticeably south. Heav-
 
 western states. The increase over March a year ago is "A per cent, but the de- crease from March, 1893, is 20 per cent Bank clearings for three months aggre- gate $11, ,749, PAT 596, an increase of "A per cent. over 1894, but 2S per cent. less than in 1893.
 Rather less of improvement in feeling and volume of distribution of merchan- disc has been felt at the south, pro- portionately, during the past few weeks than elsewhere, the central western and some of the eastern Industrial and commercial centers continuing to report relatively greatest increases in demand and prospects.
 Some New England cotton manufac- turers have sold aiyear's output for ex- port, and have cheap material to meet the contracts.
 Boston reports prospects for continued favorable business and active trade in lumber The weather at Pittsburg has checked spring trade At Omaha and Des Moines the commercial community as well as country districts have been benefited by rains. No change is re- ported from Milwaukee, but from St, Paul and Minneapolis come advices of milder weather, a brighter outlook for business and favorable progress of spring seeding. At Tacoma exports and imports for March were of large volumes; general trade is improving, but collections are slow. General trade is unchanged at Portland, Oreg., but the new steamship line to China and Japan, to start June 1, is expected to stimulate exports from that point, Nou features are reported in commercial lines at San Francisco. Prices are fair at Charleston, where demand is best for phosphates and there is improvement at Memphis and Nashville under the weather stimulus No change Is reported from Augusta; at Savannah business Is quiet, except for naval stores, while at Jacksonville the volume of trade has decreased. There is better request for dry goods, shoes and groceries at Atlanta, where one cotton mill is doubling It's capacity. fails to record special i'm while Chattanooga refers to gains in several lines. Wholesale business at New Orleans and Calves ton shows moderate improvement. dry goods and groceries receiving perhaps most attention.
 Exports of wheat, flour included as wheat from both coasts this week amount to 2,S5393S bushels.
 Advces show that domestic avail lble wheat stocks have decreased within three months 25,3OO.O0O bushels, twice the corresponding falling off in 1894 and i've times that of 1893, American, Canadian, European and afioat availa- ble wheat stocks decreased 22,2OO00O bushels during the past year, more than in any like period for four pre- 3eding years.
 There were 22O business failures in the United States this week compared with 199 in the corresponding week of 1884,