Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-28
DUN AND BRADSTREETS
Trend of Trade Continues for
Better.
HOARDED MONEY LET OUT
Bank Deposits Increase and Plenty Of Money
Is "for Sale.'
MAIL AND BEAM COMBINATION COLLAPSE
Makes an Opening for Greater Demand for
4 Iron and Steel Products General
Increase of Business oil
Over the Country.
HOARDED MONEY LET OUT
lsIL AND BEAM COMBINATION COLLAPSE

New York, Nov. Pr. G. Dun & Co.
will say tomorrow in their weekly re-
view of trade:
When the rush of orders after the elec-
tion slackened many began to think busl-
ness dwindling. But subsistence of de-
ferred orders is not a decrease of busi-
ness. Disappointment is observed In the
iron and steel industries, because various
combinations have been abandoning and
retarding orders by prices which buyers
believe cannot be maintained, and the
same Is true in boots and shoes and in a.
few branches of textile goods. But bust
ness Is, on the whole, enlargng, and the
employment of many more hands will ex-
tend purchasing power. The settlement
of the window glass controversy, starting
many thousand hands, and the collapse
of some of the important iron combina-
tions, with the same effect, gave promise
of more business. The gain has been
greater than anybody expected, and it is
not surprising If a small part of it is in
excess of the present consuming demand.
Reports from all parts of the country
show clearly the enlargement of trade,
not at all points in the same branches,
but everybody helped by more confident
feeling. Monetary difficulties have van
ished as II by magic and banks with an
are hunting borrowers, as the borrowers
were recently hunting lenders. Enor-
nous gains in bank deposits, $37 ,OOO,0 600
in two weeks, indicate something of the
amount of funds recently boarded.
Cotton has gained only a sixteenth,
considerable decline, and the remarkably
heavy movement puts the spectators for
an advance In constant difficulties, and
yet there is all the time to be remembered
the fact that the crop was nearly one
month earlier than usual and the present
excess of last years movement may be
materially reduced hereafter Neverthe-
less the. fact appears that northern mills
are taking much less cotton than in pre-
vious years and the demand for goods
is evidently disappointing 1t cannot bs
said that prices in this department are
the hindrance, for even with some recent
reduction in quotations the sales of staple
cottons are compare lively small.
Wool was and is still bought largely for
speculation, and earlier purchasers are
unloading on the latter, but the mills are
not yet doing much more than in Octo-
ber. A few more have been started, but
there Is scarcely more demand apparent
for staple goods. The boot and shoe in
dustry Is still hindered by the general
refusal of dealers to pay the advanced
prices demanded by manufacturers, ex-
cept for the limited quantities which ara
Immediately required, and while most
manufacturers are working on orders
taken weeks ago at lower prices, which
will keep them busy for some weeks to
come. very little new business Is coming.
No further advance of Importance has
been made in leather, and the market for
hides has sharply reacted 50 that the
average of prices is slightly lower than
Nov. H.
The collapse Of the nail combination
and probably of the beam combination
and considerable reduction in quotations
In nails and beams give reason to look
for q larger demand for products of iron
and steel, but at present the sales against
speculative purchases made some time
ago are depressing prices, and Bessemer
pig has sold at $1225, and according to
some reports little lower at Pttsburg.
The demand for such products as are not
controlled by the combinations is some
what increasing, but by no means as
rapidly as expected.
Failures for the week have been 300
in the United States against 279 last year
and 38 in Canada against AZ last year.