The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1896-02-05
CONFLICTING VIEWS.


Dun Notes an improvement In Ir00e-
Bradstreet Ii Disappointed.
New York. Feb. 1.-R. g. Dun & Co..
IN their weekly review of trade, say:
Though business is stin waiting. there
sre some signs of definite Improvement
II Is now believed that the first payment
fer bonds viii cause no further pressure
and the money markets are easier as re-
snects loe,,s collateral, though the diff
fieuity Of making commercial loans still
checks operations. But large maturities
at the end of January have been met more
satisfactorily thin was expected and mer-
chants and tanFers report that the signs
promise good spr il trade.
No Increase appears as yet in the de-
mand TO- the p inciIal products. unless for
some forms Of iron and steel. in which good
contracts have been made this week. Do
nestic trade recorded through clearing
houses is 65 per cent. smaller than year
ago. Signs Of Improvement in the iron and
STEEL business are gratifying, even though
they spring from combinations which have
raised the price of coke and allotted the
output Of lake iron ore. Pig iron is rather
weaker, southern works competing sharp
ly,while speculative buyers of some months
Ego are selling below present furnace
prices, but the average for all products is
practically unchanged and LA per cent.
below the highest last year
THE demand for boots and shoes does
not enlarge, though prices still decline
about per cent for the week and hides
and leather are both lower The cotton
mills are discussing curtailment Of pro-
duction, as goods continue weak, with an
output largely exceeding distribution,
though the week has brought considerably
more inquiries and larger spring trade is
still hoped for. Woolens are practically
unchanged. Sales of wool at the three
chief markets have diminished of late,
needs.
Wheat has again advanced about
cents for cash, but only ~ for May, al
though Atlantic exports are little larger
than year ago. Neither this fact nor the
continued excess Of western receipts ex-
plain an advance for which the basis or
the excuse must be sought in foreign re-
ports. Corn has ceased to "sympsthize,"
and records little advance. Cotton is a
shade lower than week ago.
The earnings of railroads in three weeks
of January were 90 per cent larger than
last year. The stock market has been
lifted by these returns and hopeful none
tary conditions, SO that the average for
railroad stocks is s.. "a per share and for
trust sl.A per share higher than a week
ago. The expectation of an anthracite
settlement has been a powerful factor,
and 1t is generally supposed that prices
will rise after the bond settlement.
Failures in three weeks of January
show liabilities of ST.. $50, 51l, agains. Sl0,-
6S5, ego last year; in manufacturing Sc, 661,-
12S this year, gainst s.. as, 1873 last year; in
trading, $40, 81. 800. against sS,165,267 last
year. Failures this week have been 404
in the United States, against 354 last year,
and 20 in Canada. against "a last year
Bradstreet's says of the trade situa-
ton:
The features of the week are continued
retarded demand for merchandise and
checked industrial operations. Least sat-
isfactory is the waiting attitude of some
OF the more important industries. Shoe
factories at Philadelphia are shutting down
or running on part time; cotton-goods max
ers regard the outlook for their product
unpromising: there is a reaction in the
price of steel billetS; among so pig-iron
furnaces in the Pittsburgh and Shenango
districts IA are idle, and the position of
woolen-goods manufacturers is shown by
the fact that foreign wooden goods are rel
atively the most active
General trade at the close of Janu-
ary proves disappointing, particularly in
central western, western and northwest
ern states, where the movement of mer-
chandise from jobbers has been slow and
unsatisfactory, II being only fair at few
points. The volume of spring goods dis
tributed from Chicago in January falls be-
hind expectations, although larger than
in January, 1895. Some traders IN terri
tory tributary to Chicago are making or
ders small, owing to having carried over
large stocks and to a desire to confine pur-
ohases to actual requirements. At St
Louis spring demand is slow and general
made is characterized as only fair by the
most sanguine. The condition in the north
west is such that grain moves freely in
some regions, irrespective of low prices
A result of all this is shown by the cuts
by New York, Chicago and St. Louis job
hers in prices of standard cotton goods
" hich demoralizeS demand