Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-05-13
oUN.s COMMERCIAL REPORT

AprIl-SpeculatiVe Business is Small
The Volume of Legitimate Trade Shows
No Corresponding Decrease-Crop Pros
poets Little Better-COttOn, Wool and
Iron.
NEW YORK, May s.-R. G. Dun s.
Co.'S weekly review of trade to-day
says:
Nearly all will be astonished to learn
the actual sales in April by leading
houses in each line of business in the
principal cities east of the Rocky
mountains average only about 10 per
cent. less than in April, 1892, the year
of the largest business hitherto, and
were 81 per cent. more than in the
same month last year. Yet this is the
summary of 357 reports, each cover
ing actual sales of leading mer-
chants in a line of business in each
of Ii cities. They are especially en-
cOuraging in view of the great fall of
prices within the five years and with
exceptional floods and other retarding
influences this year.
While speculative business in nearly
all lines is small and does not swell
clearinghouse returns as in previous
years, the volume of legitimate trade
shows no corresponding decrease and
the fact is one of the highest import
ance in all business calculations.
Moreover, returns of failures for April
by branches of business, given only
by the mercantile agency, show
decrease in number, amount and aver
age of liabilities in almost every branch
of trade and in nearly all branches
of manufacture except c, ton. although
failures of five New Bedford mills for
1890, 734 make the total defaulted liza
bilities for the month 40 per cent.
larger than last year, go per cent.
larger than in 1895 and 81 per cent.
larger than 1894. The value of reports
tracing failure to particular lines of
business is impressively illustrated.
Crop prospects are a little better for
cotton, because of the passing OF
floods and the increase of acreage else
where, and for spring wheat because
the customary accounts of injury to
winter wheat begin to appear and slim
ulate larger sowing of spring wheat as
usual. Western receipts continue larger
than last year, 2,34s, COS bushels, against
2.2OS, 972 and Atlantic exports also
increase, amounting to 1,49S, 1877 BUSH
els, flour included, against 1, 040, 1877 last
year. The weeks exports of corn, D.
725 043 bushels, are smaller than in
other recent weeks. The wheat mar
ket declined two cents until Tuesday,
and then rose II cents. Liverpool
speculations, lifted cotton to 7.75, but
it has lost a sixteenth, and the con-
sumption in manufacture does not ap-
pear to be increasing.
The demand for cotton goods has not
met expectations and neither the pro-
longed curtailment of production by
many mills, the large distribution of
goods since November, nor the great
auction sale has yet suficed to reduce
the surplus of goods. Print cloths are
again lower at 2:44, the lowest point
ever reached in previous years, and
though some kinds of goods have found
sufficient demand to advance prices
little, the expectation of better prices
and larger occupation in future still
seems to push the mills to exceed pres
ent wants.
The same is true of wool manufacture
in many branches, for orders and sales
thus far do not call for as large produc-
ton as appears, though it is yet
much below the maximum, but the in
creasing demand has been encouraging.
Sales of. wool at prices firm but no
longer rising, fall much below recent
records, indicating that spectators
are growing less sure of early profits
in view of enormous supplies on hand.
At the three chief markets they were
S,025, 200 pounds, of which STA, 900
were foreign and in five weeks the
sales have been 49,737, $50 pounds,
against 23, 327, 100 in the same weeks
of 1892, when the mills were we'll en-
ployed.
The anticipation of better prices and
great increase in demand pushed pro-
duction so far in iron and steel manu-
facture that four furnaces in eastern
Pennsylvania and others in the Pitts
burgh region and Ohio have stopped.
Bessemer pig at Pittsburgh has de-
clined to $40 and gray forge to SIS. 40;
pressure to sell billets lowers them to
S14, tank steel plates have sold be-
low one cent, per centand common bars
at 90 cents per 100 pounds
with black sheets in light demand
at 81. so for No. %. Yet the structural
works are well employed on old orders
with others coming in of 10000 tons
for the Montreal bridge and others at
the east and at Chicago. The rail
works are all busy on orders taken
months ago though there are efforts to
revive the pool. One contract for TO-
900 tons steel plates is reported, and
some of the tin plate works are sold
ahead for the year.
The visible supply of tin ha S in
creased 5000 tons in April, and the
price is a shade lower at S13.25. The
heavy sales of lake copper are believed
to cover some large consumers for most
of the year.
Failures for the week have been 221
in the United States, against 23S last
year, and Sc in Canada, against p last
year.