The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-12
Bradstreets Report Spring
and Summer Trade Not
up to Expectations.
Business Conditions We're Mach
Better Than Those Which
Prevailed Last Year.
OUTLOOK IS MUcH BRIGHTER.
Tkeir Are More People Employed than Prior
to the Last Presidential Election and the
Prospects Are Encouraging.

New York. June 12.-Bradstreets
says: Notwithstanding cool. wet
weather, which checked the distribution
OF seasonable goods, disappointment at
the restriction o. distribution OF mer-
chandise In the spring and early sum-
mer is giving way to hopefulness for the
fall trade. Business is better than year
ago. The volume is larger and there
are more people employed than prior 10
the last presidential election. TIE
movement or merchandise In tho past
five months has been disappointing. but
jobbers are beginning to report fair or
ders for fall delivery. The encouraging
features announced this week are the
Improvement in May railroad earnings
and the advance in the price Of Besse-
ner pig iron, although the latter Is less
significant than some reports indicate.
Manufacturers Of woolens are more
hopeful. the outlook for higher prices
stimulating speculative demand for
both raw and manufactured products.
Crop prospects, except In Oregon and
Washington, where rain is needed, con-
tinue favorable. Hot and forcing
weather, with showers throughout the
Gulf states, has had an excellent effect
on cotton and corn, which has stimu-
lated demand for merchandise.
Gross railway earnings for May make
1.-The best showing for any month since
last summer. Gains by American COM
panies proper are at last beginning to
assume Importance. Total earnings of
1877 companies. with 1000 miles OF road
aggregate $39.2SS,7 703 a gain over May
a year ago of so per cent.
This weeks total bank clearings,
81, ,008 1S2, ,516, show an increase of IL per
cent over last week, of z per cent as COM
pared with The like week one year ago,
and no material variation from the total
in the second week of June, 1895.
Bradstreets prices index number,
June 1. covering quotations for SO staple
articles, merchandise. produce and live
stock, is 72,S2S, compared with 74,193 on
May /, thus continuing the downward
tendency of quotations which had be-
gun to show itself by April this year.
after an advance from 67,182 on July 1.
1896 (the lowest point during the period
Of depression). to 1904 on Jan. 1, 1897.
Out of LOG articles quoted only 21 were
higher June than on May 1, 81 were
lower and "a unchanged. Among those
which were lower are % food products,
leather, wool, cotton goods, steel, tim
ber, chemicals, COAL coke and rubber.
This weeks prices movement includes
advances for tea, wheat, Indian corn,
oats. coffee, sugar and pig iron; steadi-
ness on the part Of prints, coal, lumber,
steel, billets, petroleum, pork and flour,
and declines for cotton, lard, turpentine
and rosin, pointing to a tendency to re
verse last months weakness I'm quota
tions.
There are 256 business failures re-
ported throughout the United States
this week, compared with 1877 last week,
234 in the week year ago, 232 two years
ago. 227 three years ago, and as COM
pared with S03 In the like week Of 1893.