The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-01-18
Trade Has Not Recovered Much as
Yet.
STILL FEELING THE USUAL HOLI-
DAY DEPRESSION.
Prints and Ginghams Fairly Actiye-Dry
Goods and Clothing Show as the Best
Features-Collections are Slow All
Around-Bank Clearings, Etc.

"euies-CoiIecIions are SLOW All
Around-Bank Clearings. Etc.
New York, January l7-Bradstreet's
tomorrow will say: While general trade
has not shown widespread tendency to
revive from the holiday depressions, there
are favorable features in the revival in
iron and steel prices and continued heavy
cereal exports Except at Baltimore,
New Orleans. Buffalo and in certain
Minneapolis, jobbers in stable lines re-
port business slow. From travellers on
the road, returns are irregular, only in
few instances indicating the usual vol
ume of orders for spring delivery. Re-
latively, the greatest improvements shown
hats and shoes. Prints and ginghams
are only fairly active, with the mills at
work in spite of the demand In Rhode
Island, the woolen goods manufacturers
in some instances keeping their machin-
cry employed at loss rather than have
1t idle. Cotton goods makers report hav-
ing shaded the prices Of some goods on
hand, but hold quotations firm on or
ders for future delivery, the advance in
raw cotton being above parity with that
of the manufactured products.
RAW WOOL is STRONGER,
although the volume business is small,
bidding at the London sales having put
the price of choice feeoes up five per
cent. Hides are nominally firm at I'M
changed prices, offerings of leather being
Efreer and quotations have weakened, cir
cumstanoes which show themselves in
the wholesale price for shoes. Shipments
of shoes from six New England manu-
featuring centres last week amounted to
so, 0G0 cases, against $4,000 cases in the
like week last year.
Chicago banks report great deal of
money tied up in Iowa in Indian corn.
Merchants In that state are therefore
not selling as many goods as were ex-
pected and country collections are corre-
spondingiy slow.
Kansas City advices are that in South
ern Kansas a great deal Of Indian corn is
being fed to live stock. Tacoma tele-
graphs large quantities of cotton goods
are on the way to the Orient and orders
received from England for cedar doors,
fornia and the prospect for 10 continuance
causes rejoicing. t
The feature of the week is the ad-
vance in iron and steel and revival Of
encouragement at the outlook. Besse-
mer pig end billets are up from Csc to 75n
ton at Pittsburg, 81. 25 at Chicago. with
the outlook for further ad dvance The in
terests controlling the production of coke
and lake Superior iron ore, having de-
termined that the prices of those products
shall not react to the level of 1915, pro-
duoers of Bessemer pig and billets in the
face Of the restricted output of the fur
naoe and mill since the first of the year,
together with an improved demand with
in the week, find themselves able to ad-
vance prices. While the advances include
those for tobacco, due to occurrences in
Cuba, wheat is based on continued free
exports, pork and lard on the advance in
cattle and hogs.
Prices Of such staples as wheat, -four,
sugar, coffee, coal, lumber, hides, and
Rprint cloths are
PRACTICALLY UNCHANGED,
those for leather and shoes, as expected,
are lower, as are prices of cotton, petro-
leum, Indian corn, oats, copper, lead, the
last two based on competition between
producers.
The exports of wheat (flour included
as wheau) from both coasts of the United
States, amount to 5000, 600 bushels this
week, compared with 1864, 600 in week
a year ago.
BANK CLEARINGS
totals begin to record decline in the vol
ume of general trade which made itself
apparent now for more than a mouth.
Clearings throughout the United States
this week are 81, Oeo, ooo, 900, nearly per
cent less than last week, s5 per cent less
than the third week in January, 1896, Is
per cent more than the corresponding
week in 1894, 81 per cent less than the
like week in 1898, period in which the
volume of business was very heavy
The failures in the United States for
the week number 41S, compared with 37S
for the same week last year.