The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-02-15
THE CONDITION OF TRADE PRosPECTs IRE GITRr OUT BY
 BRADsTREET,s AGENCY.


 BRADsTREET,s AGENCY.
 General Business Docs Net Meet Antici- pations-Teatures of tho General situn-
 ton Are Explalned-sales Are Slow and Collections Somewhat Discauraging. New York. Feb. 14.-Bradstreets to- morrow will say:
 The general business throughout does not meet anticipatons. and except ill q few cities-Baltimore and Plttsburg it the east, Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha at the west. Galveston, Chattanooga and Atlanta at the south remains dull for the season, in most instances dis appointingly so. Improvement in de- mand and prices is confined to hides, leather and boots and shoes, which are conspicuous in the short list of staples. for which prices are higher.
 Features or the situation are those resulting from unfavorable weather in the east, but reaction in the prices of iron and steel, further complaints by Woolen manufacturers, an outlook for more idle machinery, maintenance of higher rates for loans notwithstanding the favorable differences drawn from the heavy oversubscription to the govern ment bond issue and restricted produc- tion of pig iron.
 January gross railway earnings are very encouraging, showing larger per centage of gain than in any previous month but one for three years. Total January earnings of 126 companies with 92,91S miles of road, aggregate s37,926,- ll0, a gain of 11.3 per cent. over January a year ago, which in turn showed q decrease of f1ve-tenths of one per cent. from January, 1894 Among the favor able features are gains in the southwest where improvement had been improved, large increases by the granger and Pa cific roads and more numerous large increases and fewer decreases reported than for months past.
 Makers of cotton goods insist prices must advance or the cost of the raw material decline in the fact of which jobbers are cutting prices of cotton goods. Wholesale dealers in paints and glass anticipate heavy building opera l tions in the spring, and report large l orders placed in anticipation thereof. Lower prices are recorded for pork, lard, corn, wheat. wheat flour, and live stock, in addition to cotton, steel bil- lets and Bessemer pig iron, indicating a partial reversal of the general tenden- cy of prices of leading staples to ad- vance exhibited in last weeks. No change in quotations for coal, lumber,
  | while in addition to the advances for leather and for hides prices of .aots. coffee, and sugar are higher. Exports of wheat C1our included as wheat from l both coasts Of the United States this week amounted to 2.718O0O bushels against ,572, 1000 bushels in the week one | ma have fallen off as millers there have large supplies ! Portland, Ore, reports orders placed with wholesale seed merchants indicate the anticipation of a prosperous year. The weather in California has been fa- yorable, a condition from which the grain and fruit crops are expected to benefit. The value of bank clearings l dropped off 10 per cent. this week, the total being $906, 1000, ,O00. As compared | Nllli l1AC SCSOAa eWCCh OL Y GDA uuI lcVu5 this shows an increase of 10 per cent. The number of business failures re- ported throughout the United States this week is 381, or 85 more than in the second week of February, 1885, The condition of general trade throughout the provinces of Ontario and Quebec ap- l pears to be unfavorable. Sales are slow and collections somewhat iscouraging. The long list of business failures is con- 1 tinued and dominion banks are curtail- ing credit. Favorable features of the business situation there seem to be small stocks in the hands of dealers and the absence of imitation. General | trae seems to be improving in Nova Scotia, where the country roas are in excellent condition. Bank and Labrador codfish are lower, owing to the impor- tations from Newfoundland. Bank clearings at Winnepeg, Toronto, Mon- treal, Hamilton and Halifax aggregate l $19, ,2O6 900 this week, about 15 per cent. more than last and more than p per cent. in excess of the corresponding total year ago. One of the largest weekly totals of business failures ever reported for the dominion is that for the week 70 as compared with 8 in the sec- ond week of last year.