The herald., 1896-12-04
Local, Eastern and Foreign
Commercial Dealings
WALL STREET SPECULATION
Leather and All Products Thereof Very
Firm
Advice as to How to Test the Purity ant
Merits of Many Lines of Goods Sold
by the Retail Trade.

The Central Passenger association has
knocked the 5000 mile interchangeable mife-
age book over the ropes. and our friends,
the travelling men, will have to continue
their fight for 2-cent rate. Go in boys,
and win. We're with you.-St. Louis
Grocer.
The following wrinkles regarding shop
practice will be appreciated by dealers IN
hardware in the provinces, who handle
most of the goods referred to:
Do not put rubber goods In shop WIN
dow exposed to the sun. or they will quick
ly perish. Hose and tennis balls are soon
spoilt by heat Put emptey tennis bal!
boxes in. and a notice to the erect that
these goods are in stock but not shown in
the window. owing to the heat spelling the
same.
The brush trade is full of deceptions. An
experienced hand will by touch tell il a
broom or brush Is all hair. or a mixture.
But if ever in doubt. pull out or cut off
suspicious hair. and apply a match. How
ever well doctored. the deception Will he
shown at once. Hair will burn roll up ball
like. with the well,knowh smell Of OF burnt
sumo. leaving the charred portion like a
burnt match.
Do not expose in the sun OF air-tight case
u.
knives. Jam spoons. etc. they have fancy
handles cemented On. The heat will loosen
every, one. Solid metal can be shown in
stead. Cemented goods only safely so in
the winter.
When getting samples of glue put each in
water and leave for twelve hours or more.
The glue that has kept its shape best with
out sprawling in every direction is the
best A bad glue absorbs much water, and
will expand almost half as large as when
dry. Glue will bend withoVt breaking pre-
vious to rain.
The oil trade is also one open to gross
deceptions. unless you know the firm you
do business with being above suspicion.
When getting samples put same in a
freezer, failing hat in the coolest place you
can find. friendly confectioner may do
the freezer trick for you. I have known
oils blended together of different graVities.
and also those that will freeze or thicken
one more than the other AS soon as cold
is brought to bear you will note either two
distinct layers of oil in one case. or one por-
tion frozen or thickened to a greater extent
than the other. Hence. an oil sold as pure
by this means Is proved an adulteration.
Samples kept till the winter will give evil
dence likewise.
Do not put anything even of the weight
of an ounce in the scale of spring balance
an6p leave it there. Nor should q spring
balance be ever hung up by its hook. To
do one or the other for any length of time
in shop window or store. tends to put the
balance wrong by the continued strain,
however slight. The inspectors demur
quite enough about spring balances; do not
give cause needlessly for it.
Do not put price tickets on woodward.
such bread boards. etc. nor on leather
hags. or many other articles liable to fade.
Place above or suspend from, never on. the
articles. otherwise the sun fades uniformly
all around and leaves exact impression
of the price ticket, unfaded. Let anyone
who doubts II try ii on good bread plat
ter and see how customer will reject 1t
IN consequence.-Maritim Merchant
Higher prices are still the nll-absorbne
feature of the shoe and leather trades and
they are occasoning niue uneasiness in
wholesale and manufacturine circles.
Mems grain goods are now held at 17% to
20 cents higher than last season: women $
grain shoes are 10 cents higher: mems calf
shoes 7la cents and kid split boots 81 to 81. 50
per case of twelve pairs. These prices are
held too stffly by some eastern manufac-
turers while others are compromising by
accepting a haif-seasons order from job
bers at little more than half these ad-
vances. the ioboers agreeing to take the
balance of the seasons goods later on at
prices then prevailing. This makes the con-
tFition very unsatisfactory and difficult
one to estimate.
Eastern manufa cturers are confident that
the prospects are such as to make lower
prices an utter imposs' 'blity for year or
more at least. They have an unimpeacha-
bic argument in the low status of retail and
jobbing stocks. The trade revival that has
set in with such tremendous rush is an
other point in favor of the permanency of
present or higher prices and ii is admitted
even by iobbers that had trade been es'en
satisfactory year ago the slump in prices
would not have occurred. Scarcity of
leather is dubitable and hides are abso-
lutely hard to get at the very sky-rocket
prices asked. There seems in truth moth =
ing lacking that is essential in bracing
higher prices. The law of supply and de-
rand is operative here and the advanced
figures held to firmly by packers tanners
and shoe manufacturers find ample just
fication theroin.--Shoe and Leather Ga
Zette.