Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-24
CONDITION OF ONAHA'S TRADE
Rainy Weather Keeps Puyers at Home and
Limits Business,
COUNTRY COLLECTIONS GENERALLY SLOW
Farmers TOO busy with Corn rlnnt-
ing to spend Time to DO Any
TrndInp-GrOwinE Confidence
Everywhere Manifest.

The past week has not brought about any
material improvement as regards the amount
Of business doing in a juDbing or rt'"l' way
In the first pace the weather haS ueeI,
against it, the continued heavy rams j" ~,
sections having rendered the country iJHdS
very heavy. preventing the rural popu''"1,
from visiting the towns FOR the purpose VI
buyinr merchandise or selling country pro-
duce. There Is also a large acreage OF 81"
to be planted and considerable oil th"i az
ready planted has been washed out % "'H'i-
wise injured by the rains ana VIII E"Ne "
be replanted, so that the l"thi'IS 20 "
large amount Of work on hand That Is i'htlY
To- keen them away from the towns Tor some
uttIn time TO come. with the CONSEQUENT re-
suit tina. The retail business OF the S'at' WI
be smaller In volume. During the pIsl Nt'h
retail merchants in most sections o. tuG HS"t p
rennTt a light business and tho SITUATION III
the country is reflected In a modtlalt Nto't
sale trade, which shows "A DECREASE ~ "a
good many lines as compared VIII previous
The feeling. however, is very good ana
merchants Of al classes arpIaro - ir y in n
This section. The rains. which nave htu 'hE
immediate effect Of reducing thS 'tu',T ",
business doing, have aCcompilsnei a. SIoa,
deal toward restoring business cohii!thSt
and merchants are willing 10 wall iIt Um ,nS
so long as they feel That ii is DouNu 10 GUM
In the very near future. H. 81,
Gagged by bank clcarinBs, business IN inc
wear ago. the total clcariuEs for the Who'll,
SSo ont .howing a material reduction. ~
the same time Omaha is running ,tIiuvraHH ~
ahca1 Cf Ia [ yea s record. 1t Is oNlutht Una
Omaha is in better shape as regards business
recovery than the country AT larSe' put 'il
he rnnditions are taken into considerations
Omaha experienced the fun ettectS OF tnt
panic and the genera zen, a. suSehPi Ttiss,oou mmnn had
a crop failure TO contend with when maht
the situation here much worse N9w L bnet n
effects of the failure In crops ~ me past are
over and the prospects for the future are
exceedingly good, there, Is some rScovsrS
and Omaha is on an equal footing win 9lhei
localities having onlx-the general business
depression to contend against. T..
the east is not good and the season is now SC
far advanced, and without the hoped ioi
recovery in trade. that business men nay
Ing viii be necessary. There has been moth
ing in the nature of a boom in spring trace
and while II is possible to have a considerapl'
revival later in the summer, it generally hap
pens that there is little change until fan a'te'
an unsatisfactory spring.
BICYCLE BUSINESS.
Local iobbers have done a large bushes
in bicycies, not only in this state, but IL
more distant SECTIONS, as the BLACK H,iis
a large number to the retail trade OF l(eA
yer and the whole state Of Colorado IA.
been a very liberal buyer of wheels. INT
spirit of economy that has been develops,
within the past two or three years in Ne
braska has cut short tbs, purchase OF WheeI
to some extent, and still II is surprising u
glance over the books of the jobbers an'
note the number of wheels sold. Every 1t
tie town has bought from one to a dozen o
more, wheels.
travelling men representing other line
complain that the bicycle business is hurt
vests in a bicycle and goes without a watch
Women spend less money on dress ana pu;;
wheels. The Injuries are cut down IN a. !
which to buy whee,s. and when ii is takel
into consideration that sometimes severa
wheels go into ne family. representing a,
outlay of $500, $500 or even $500, It will b
readily appreciated what inroads have bee
made upon other lines of business. Most Q
with money that would otherwise have bee
spent for dress or ornaments, or housekeeE
ing expenses, or lunches or amuSementS.
The profits in bicycle making have hithei
to been enormous. TIL cost of making
first c'ass 500 wheel is said to be $35 to $A
and even less, Large sums are spent on &C
vertising and commissions. but, notwith
standing, the profits have been unusual
handsome. As a result, the industry has c
stage Of overproduction or diminished profit
does not seem to have beer, reachet
Whether that period iszapproaching or ne
no one dares predict. That the wheel ha
come to stay is beyond dispute. yet its us
is undoubtedly stimulated by popular fast
ion, and how long that will last nobody ca
PLENTY OF HAVANA TOBACCO.
Omaha cigar manufacturers are congratl
latine themselves on having a cons!derabl
stock of Havana tobacco on hand, beside
contracts with eastern firms calling fc
considerable more. in view of the recent o.
der Of General Weyler forbidding Tobacco
exports. The Cuban crop is very short an
that fact is thought to have been one res
son for the order to stop exports. Estimate
as to the amount of Havana tobacco in II
United States vary considerably. but II
general opinion appears to be that the SUI
ply of Havana wrapper tobacco is ver
light, pr badly not more than two or thrt
months supply in al. The amount of fill,
tobacco Is larger, the supply being estimate
as sufficient for two years.
PRODUCE AND STOCK.
. The same causes that have brought abO1
n reduction in the volume of retail trat
in the country have operated to cut down Il
amount of produce arriving on the marke
Part of the time II has been too rainy fl
the farmers to bring in their produce, al
when it has not been raining, they have bee
too busy to leave home. AS a result, the +
ceiptS of butter, eggs, poultry and some 9th
lines of produce have been light for the pa
week or more, and prices have in some /
stances shown considerable firmness.
Bus ness at South omaha has | cen in pr I
fair shPpe. the receipts being fairly large al
the demand good. As a matter Of fact, pric
have been very low on some kinds of stoC
but, aside from that, the market has be,
In satisfactory shape.
MAHA GENERAL