Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-22
WEEKLY REL|EW OF TRADE UnmiSta kabIe Evidences of Im-
 pi Eement at Hand. IRON SARkET LOOKING UP Cotton : s and Print Cloths Unchanged and d Very Low-Pool to Advance
 Ig Prices Not Confirmed
SARKET LOOKING UP


 say: Unmistakable evidence of im- proVement comes from the general in-
 crease of commercial loans, mostly for
 eastern merchants or companies although some houses in the market appear with considerable re-discounts from the south. Not for a long time have commercial loans been fully half the whole. The distinct change gives proof that new business has been larger than many have supposed. Receipts of money from the interior exceeds shipments s1500000, mostly from the middle west Exports | of gold have no influence and only sig | nihcant willingness of Russia to pay | price for the gold needed. The excess | of merchandise imports to answer de- | mands for half year to come involves | greater excess of exports when the | anticipatory movement ends and crops | begin to move which fact renders large | outgoing of gold less likely, and gives the country stronger position in nterna- | tional markets Meanwhile there is a | large increase, distinct, though gradual, in the volume of business in demand for products of manufactures and consider
 ing the time of the year in movement of grain and product
 Western wheat receipts exceed last years for the week 2,1S3,9S0 bushels against 1,73S,9S6 and Atlantic exports were 1,670,S13 bushels flour includad) against 1902, 491 last year, and for three weeks 4,77S,722 against 3,3S5,910 for the | same period last year. Western receipts Of corn were 1,655.677 bushels against l. | 495,670 and Atlantic exports 21SSS25 | against 1,60S,74S last year, notwithstand- | ing the enormous increase hitherto. Wheat again cheated hopeful buyers | and fell nearly 4c, closing 31sc lower for | the week. Corn was shade weaker. Cotton once more hopefully advanced | to 7Ac, but fell back to TAG with poor | support here or abroad.
 Both the volume of stocks and the con- dition of domestic and foreign markets | for good hinder advance and later acre. age reports are better.
 The iron industry has made an increase in new business though not in all branches. Part was due to the rupture of the steel beam pool and the fall in price from 1.55 to 1.25, nominally quoted, and some good structural contracts were | at once secured. There is also some in- crease in rods, though the season for | wire and nails Is nearing an end because l of an expected pool of rod mills. Low | southern freights marketed a little more l iron at the north and eastern foundries, 1 slightly lower with grey forge only $S.25 | at Pittsburg.
 The Carnigie works are now turning | out 5000 tons of rails daily, nearly all on | old orders and exports of finished pro- ducts increasing. Sales of copper, said l to be nearly 60O0O 900 pounds, have stiff fened the price to HIS for laka and tin rose to 131ac in spite of large arrivals though lead was weaker and tin plates at $3.30.
 Coke is also a shade lower.
 Sales of wool decrease though still greater than when all the mills were busy, but manufacturers are doing scarcely anything, almost all of their | possible demand for months ahead hay | ing been supplied. Western holders be- | gin to offer at to 1hc lower than of late. | Woolen goods are dull, but prices are l firm. The strike of clothing hands here | somewhat restricts the new demand. | Cotton goods are without change in | prices and print cloths are still at the l lowest on record and the demand is in- l different with talk of temporary closing | of mills at the south
 Failures for the week have been PAS in | the United States against 227 last year | and 37 in Canada against 2S last year. BRADSTRBET'S REVIEW. | New York, May 21.-Bradstreet's to- morrow will say: The slight improvement | in trade Is in the tendency of business | to increase at a few cities in the north- west, on the Pacific coast and South At l lantic and gulf states. There Is increased | buying at Baltimore Atlanta, Rirming- | ham and at New Orleans, where trade l has revived on the announcement that northern Louisiana Mississippi ard Ar kansas flooded districts are being placed under cultivation, and that the damage done is less than expec ed. There are in- creased sales at Milwaukee, Omaha, Chi- | cago and St. Louis, and exports of gen. era merchandise and lumber from San l Francisco have increased. Advices from ] California are that the lack of season. 1 able rains and long continued dry winds | have injured the wheat, and fruit crops. 1 Larger eastern centers report the move- l msn. of merchandise slow and trade dull. | The season is so far advanced that rio l general gain Is looked for until after fall l buying sets in
 l The usual industries, no:ably clothing, 1 mining, iron and steel and manufacturers l of woolens are we'll stocked with raw ma l terial but owing to slowness of orders 1 prices are easisr. Makers of cotton goods are at a disadvantage, owing to the rela- lively high price of CO ton and the in- | crease in production of products. There | is no gain in the demand for iron and steel prices for which continus low. The report that the steel, nail wire and bill
 makers are seeking to form pool to ad- vance prices Is not confirmed.
 Exports of wHlea:, flour included as wheat from both coasts of the Unitsd States and from Montreal this week amount to 2,655,S62 bushels, compared with 2,1SS,0o0 bushels last week. 1,906.0OO bushels in the same week a year ago. 2,754,000 bushels two years ago, 2,31O,0O0 bushsls three years ago, and as con- trasted with 3,106,000 bushels in the like week of 1893. Exports of Indian corn amount. to 3190043 bushels, compared
 with 3.O96,O00 bushels last week, 1.656, 900 bushels in the week Year ago. l ,032, 900 bushels in the week two years ago, 507,- 900 bushels three years ago. and as con- tras:ed with 765, ,000 bushels in the like week of 1893
 There are 245 bushes failures through out the United States this week. which is not far from what may be called the normal. This total Is compared with 251 last week, 216 in rIhe third week of May, 1896, 206 in the like week of 1895, 237 in 1894. and PAT in the cOmpa rai-iVe week of 1893. There are 21 business failures reported from the Dominion of Canada this week, compared with 31 last week. 2S in the week year ago and 25 two years ago. M SELF-CoNFESSED MURDERER. Winston, N. C., May 21.--Henry Love, colored under arrest here, has con- fessed that he is Lewis Mason, who killed Peter Dui.A while under arrest at Atlanta on Christmas day, 1895.