Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-27
INJECTION HAS Died OUT
BichIoride of Gold Is Not a Bus
mess Bracer.
COUNTRY STILL WAITING
Undue Weight Given to the Adoption of the
Money Plank at St. Louis.
BUT FAILURES ARE sTRfKlNGLY FEWER
Midsummer Dizziness Characterizes Opera
tions at Almost All Points-Improved
Demand tor Dry Good at
Memphis.
BUT FAILURES ARE STRIKlNGLY FEWER

moffOW Will say.
more hopeful feeling in trade circles
within the past ten days. explained as
due to the adoption of a gold plank at
st. Louis, has been given undue weight.
Interviews with merchants in staple lines
at twenty-five of the more important
distributing centers show that aside from
the increased strength of wool in the
hands of interior holders (refiected at
Boston and PHILADELPHIA, an improved
demand for hardware at Providence, for
clothing and shoes at Baltimore, shoes
and dry goods at Memphis, and in SIM
liar lines at st. Louis, there has been no
improvement in trade At Chicago there
is. a more hopeful sentiment, but no in
crease in business. A canvass of leading
jobbers at important cities shows no ex-
pectation of revival in general trade
until after the election, and at some
points no real improvement is expected
until next year.
There are 21s business failures report
ed throughout the United States this
week, striking decrease as compared
with week ago, when the total was 265.
One year ago the weeks total was 115.
The volume of general trade is no
larger than last week; in some lines 1t
is smaller, notably at Pittsburg and Kan
terizes operations at almost all points
Relatively the greatest activity has been
among eastern dry goods jobbers, who
have sacrificed prices to reduce heavy
stocks of cotton goods. Restricted pro-
duction of print cloths at Fall River is
likely to be followed by similar action at
Providence and at Augusta. New Eng
land rubber manufacturers are curtail-
ing production, and the situation and
outlook in the iron and steel industry is
CO 6 0Rta xrrtf I.
in the price of Bessemer pig iron and the
probability of the billet combination re-
ducing quotations and lower prices for
coke. In addition, there are reduced
prices for leaf tobacco, petroleum and
cotton, for wheat wheat -four, oats,
pork. lard. sugar and coffee.
Dun's Review.
New York. June 26.--R. G. Dun & Co.
will say tomorrow in their weekly re-
view Of trade:
Failures for the week have been 217 In
the United States. against S56 last year,
and "a in Canada, against 22 last year.
The monetary outlook is not yet clear
to some. The strength shown in recent
conventions by advocates of silver coin
age and the expectation that all the
elements favoring that policy may yet
be concentrated incline them to a wait
ing attitude. Their uncertainty retards
improvement, Notwithstanding the more
Wluefy pfeVaient ieellnS tnat the mOne-
tary action of the st. Louis convention
will be sustained by the people. But
many mills have waited as long as they
can with safety, and signatures have
been given by enough cotton mills of
Fall River 10 insure temporary stop
page, it is stated the nature of which is
now under discussion in conference with
the Providence manufacturers. Mean
while, the Pacific of Lawrence and the
Naumkeag of Salem have closed for
time, and practically all the southern
cotton mills will be represented at
meeting on Monday with the same OBJ
ject. Woolen mills are acting without
concert, but fourteen are mentioned in
dispatches as having closed this week.
There is no similar movement in other
industries. though the period of summer
closing is at hand In many of them, and
important controversies as to wages of
iron ptt1dlers and other hands make It
likely that the annual stoppage In that
industry may last longer than usual.
The great combination which, the Iron
Age wisely reasons. tends to cause dis
astrously low prices hereafter still con-
trolls the markets both for material and
finished products of iron and steel,
though it Is reported that lower prices
will soon be made for coke. owing to
better utilization of by-products, and for
nails owing to the heavy decrease IN con-
sumption. The billet pool reports no
large sale, but middlemen or outsiders
continue to undersell 1t. The new de-
mand for finished products is very
light, and while quotations average a
shade lower, most of them are cut to Sc
cure business. Bessemer pig is a shade
lower at $1225 at Pittsburg The textile
manufacturers. as has been said. are
generally devising curtailment of pro-
duction, and the only change in prices
is downward.