The age-herald., 1898-10-15
BUSINESS NOT DECREASING
Actual Payments Through Clearing Houses
 Larger Than Eyer Be'Ora.
INCREASE IN THE OUTPUT OF IRON
Orders for Finished Product Include Very Heavy Demand for Plates. Especially for Ship Building
 Purposes-Failures.

New York October 14-R. G. Dun x Co s. weekly review of trade will say tomorrow:
 With actual payments through clearing houses 1922 per cent larger than in the same week of 1892, 1t cannot be said that busl- ness is in any sense falling off, and yet many are complaining because the amount realized as profit is smaller than was TOT merly realized in good times. In almost every branch of business trade Is now transacted on a narrower margin of proht than in any other time of fair prosperity. There is a great change and perhaps permanent one, in the percentage Of prohts derivable from trade and manufacture as well as in the profits obtainable by trans porters.
 Progressive civilization calls for lower range of profits and of prices as the volume of business transacted increase in order to make possible improvement in the condi- ton of the working millions. Wheat IS active, with prices cents higher for spot. Very heavy purchases have been made within the past few days have not as yet reflected in the official record of shipments, but the exports from both coasts, flour in- cluded have been 4101,7 bushels against 4SS6 015 for the same week last year. It IS especially interesting that in spite Of the general disposition or farmers to Holu poSh their wheat, the western receipts have been for the week much larger than last year and for two weeks, 2O790,49o bushels, against 16,696,554 last year.
 Large Return for Crop
 While little attention is now paid to the official reports they seem to foreshadoW larger return for the crop than has been made in any previous year. The price or corn has advanced about cents, though kl-- Tor ago. The price of spot cotton is 1-16 cent. lower than a week ago, and the January option has also lost a few points, while there is a weaker market for goods.
 This is particularly due to the official ad- mission that the prices of print cloths, now a sixteenth below 2 cents, cannot be sus- tained without a selling agency which Is now proposed Although the production at Fa.. River is in excess of demand, the diff ficulty in prices is probably more largely due to the benef that big yield of cotton must reduce.ehe price of the material
 While some wooden mills have started op- erations during the week, quite as many have stopped Although wool is about 10 per cent. lower than on February l. the manufacturers are not buying and the mar ket is remar--..-4y dull, with sales during the past two weeks of only 6,179,70O pounds at the three chief markets against A,331 500 pounds last year ana 145 300 pounds in 1896 and 13, ,703 800 pounds in 1892. The gen. eral feeling is that the price of material must decline before the manufacturers can much increase it's sales. Orders for goods have been little better and a few mills have resumed operation, but there is as ye, no such demand as is necessary to sus- tain current prices of wool
 Iron Industry
 The iron manufacture again reports a small increase in weekly output, 2l5 ,635 tons, against 213,043 tons a month ago, and with the decrease in quantity of unsold stocks on hand outside the great steel industries, .-e apparent consumption for the month of September was S33,940 tons against 9S0000 tons in August There are quite heavy eastern orders for foundry iron, fully sup porting prices, and at Chicago prices of local iron are strong, with less disposition to sell southern pig at quotations. The or ders for finished products include very heavy demand for plates, especially for ship yards, several of magnitude for structural works of 15,000 tons and an un- usually heavy demand for bars on account of orders for car works, although there has been an expectation of a big break in prices of cotton ties
 In pipes, Pittsburg has been able to place orders for thir1y miles of 101s-inch pipe and other orders for 100 miles are practically closed.
 Failures for the week were 2O5 in the United States against 2S3 last year.
 BRADSTREEr'S REVIEW
 New York, October 4.-Bradstreet'S to-