Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-10-20
The Business situation.


says that while the advent of cooler
weather in most sections of the coun-
try has undoubtedly been instrumental
in causing some of the improvement in
the tone Of distributive trade percepti-
BILE at most markets this week, the
beneficial effect upon general business,
and particularly upon agricultural prod
ucts, of the reported improved demand
abroad for our staple cereals should not
Z be lost sight OF. AT most Western
centres an improvement in the retail
and iobbiug trade in seasonable dry
goods, clothing and shoes is reported,
and more seasonable1weather at the
South is responsible for some relaxa-
ton of the absurd guarantees, which
have done so much to cripple trade in
that section. Particularly prominent in
this connection is the loosening of the
guarantees in the lower Mississippi
Valley, where it begins at last appar-
emily to be appreciated that the quar-
antines are worse than the disease they
aim to fight.
"a favorable feature in the foreign
trade situation has been the apparently
satisfactory progress making in de-
veloping trade with out new possess
sions ia the Atlantic and Pacific.
Large orders on Cuban account are
said to have been placed recently in
New York, and heavy shipments to
Manila and other Pacific Ocean points,
with the reported starting of new lines
of steamships to Honolulu and Aus
tralia, all bear testimony to the ener-
getic efforts Of American business men
to build up our trade abroad.
Railroad earnings and bank clear
ings continue to furnish favorable
measures Of current business, showing,
as they do, healthy increases over cor.
responding periods one year ago, when
activity was especially marked. The
general tone of prices is firm, all the
prominent cereals figuring in the list
of advances, while cotton, the South's
great product, is conspicuous because
of the decrease in pri4 shown for the
week, due primarily to the heavy crop
movement, foreshadowing another very
large yield.
"The leather situation has attracted
more attention this week, because of
| the reported intention to shut down
large numbers of tauneries, in an effort
| to affect the price Of hides, which are
now said to be relatively higher than
| the finished product LIS,
| "Bank clearings, while smaller than
last weeks heavy total, which undoubt-
| eddy included many monthly settle
ments, aggregate 81, $3.50, 261, 652, 5 per
cent less than last week, but per cent
larger than last year, 40 per cent larger
| than in 1893, 20 per cent larger than
1895, A6 per cent in excess of 1884, and
81 per cent heavier than 1893. Com
pairing with the next heaviest corre-
spending week on record, that of 1890,
the increase this year is 3.2 per cent. 7"
r. G. Dun a. Co. IS Review says: "It
has never been possible 10 make more
satisfactory quarterly report of failures
during the last five years than can be
made for the past quarter. While
very few heavy failures swell the
aggregate for the last quarter, those in
real estate brokerage or speculation
alone counting for more than IL per
cent of the aggregate, with as much
more in operations not at all rejecting
the general state of business, the ag-
gregate was, nevertheless, smaller than
in any other month covered by our
returns from any branches of business.
| In some branches the failures in Sep
| TENDER or in August were the smallest
in any month, and also in many others
| failures for the quarter were the small
est in any quarter. Failures for the
first week of October were remarkably
small, excepting those in wollen manu-
facture, which account for 5000, 900,
and the aggregate are only 4,390, 045
this year, Of which S2,692, 135 was of
manufacturing and s1,760,91 of trad
ing concerns. Failures for the week
were 2O5 in the United States, against
223 last year, and 20 in Canadasagainst
36 last year,