The record-union., 1897-09-04

NEW YORK, Sept. 3.-Bradstreet's
tomorrow will say: Precious activity
in all lines of trade is maintained.
Some wholesale merchants at Western
centA-s report the largest volume of
August trade on record. There has
been an increase in the consumption of
cotton by Southern mills.
Western iron and steel mills have or
ders to keep them busy until January
1st. In the Central Western States the
bitumirous coal strike has had de-
pressing effect on the general industrial
situation At the Northwest some COM
merciaI houses have had to work over
time to meet the demand for goods, and
the warm weather is reported to have
practically assured the Indian corn
crop. On the Pacific Coast wheat ex-
ports have been Stacked by inability to
secure crews for vessels. Mercantile
collection have greatly improved in
some sections.
Last weeks general and unprece-
dented expansion Of prices for staples
is continued Wood cotton and wOOlen
goods, hides, leather, white pine lum-
ber, sash and doors, iron and steel bars,
billets and rods, wire nails, barbed wire
and Southern foundry iron, wheat, corn,
lard and sugar have advanced, and
higher prices are expected for boots and
shoes. Lower prices are recorded for
cotton, wheat, -four and coffee, while
those for oats, pork, print cloths, petro-
leum and coal are unchanged.
This weeks exports of wheat are the
largest, with two exceptions, the second
week of September and the fourth week
Of August, 1891. The total shipments
amount to 6,26S, PAT bushels, against
5,149. G53 bushels last week, 1859 ,S63
bushels last year, 2,260,261 bushels in
1895, 3, ,207 800 bushels in 1894 and f.,
902, 600 in 1898
There are only 1876 business failures
reported throughout the United States
this week, against 30 last, 336 in the
week one year ago, 1S4 two years ago,
207 three years ago and $40 in the like
week of 1898. There are 80 business
failures reported from the Canadian
Dominion this week. Last week the to-
tai was SO and a year ago it was 80.
NEW YORK, Sept 3.-R. G. Dun &
Co.'S Weekly Review of Trade will
say tomorrow:
Failures during August were in num-
Der not II per cent. less than in Au-
gust, 1896, but in amount Of liabilities
70.S per cent. smaller. July and Au-
gust show a larger average of liabilities
per failure than have ever been known
in any year, or even in a quarter, of
the twenty three years r. G. Dun &
Co. have kept quarterly records. The
improvement IS also we'll distributed,
extending to nearly every important
branch Of business, but including jew
elry and unclassified trading, only two
months of the past forty-seven have
shown smaller failures; in general
stores and furniture only three; in gro
ceries hats and iron manufacture, only
four; in chemical manufactures, only
five, and in clothing manufacture only
six months of the forty-seven. The ra-
ito of defauited liabilities to payments
at clearing houses has been smaller in
July and August than in any other
month since early in 1893. August was
the first month in which the daily aver
age of settlements through clearing
houses exceeded materially that of the
corresp spOnding month of 1892 the ex-
cess at the principal cities being 1913
per cent. Nor is this due, as might be
supposed, to activity in stock specula-
tion, for the Stock Exchange clearing
house now disposes of a very large
share of transactions, so that they af-
feet bank exchanges far less than five
years ago.