The age-herald., 1898-08-13
BRADsTREET's REVIEW

New York, Aug. 12-Bradstreets tomor- row will say:
 Changes in general trade and business this week have been very generally toward improvement. Notable in this respect has been the iron and steel trade, which has passed firm the stage of promise to that of fulilment on increased demand and marked advances in values. From all the leading centers east and west come reports of tmore or less improvement in tone, de- man or prices. Steel billets have advanced $1 per ton steel rails have had advances ranging from 12 to 15 cents and sympathetic advances are likewise recrded in eastern iron, wrought iron pipe, steel beams and other structural material and steel plates.
 Further encouraging features have been the accentuated demand on foreign account for wheat and corn, which is reflected in advances for these cereals. Popular esti- mates tend to allow of an underestimate blythe government in wheat fully equal to that of last year and point to total crop of not less than TOO 900 900 bushels. Effects of the holding of wheat by farmers for bet- ter; prices are found in the reduced volume of grain carried by railroads during July, with some complaints of interference with collections. The price strength is also feature.
 Oats. lard. beef, coffee L<ed. rubber, cop per and cotton, in addition to those men, tioned, are advancing. Cotton prices are higher and contrast with the government report of an unchanged condition as re- suit of July weather. but this Is practically due to complaints of too much rain since August l. the date of the government re- port.
 Business More Active
 Business at the west is, if anything, more active than last week, dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, groceries hardware, lum- Der and hats and caps all sharing in swell ing the fall demand.
 Complaints of collections being affected by farmers holding back their wheat come from a large number of markets.
 Too much rain for cotton is complained of in the Mississippi valley, but in spi of this the general tone of business is good. Cereal exports are of a satisfactory vol ume and are still ahead of last seasons liberal movement. Wheat shipments for the week. including flour as wheat aggre- gated 4,3S6, ,535 as against 4,460,519 last year. Corn exports for the week aggregated s,517,952 bushels against 3,275,652 one year ago.
 Business failures number only 157, against 1S9 last week, 219 this week year ago, and 25S in 1896.
 Business failures in the Dominion of Canada for the week number thirty-three against thrty-one this week a year ago.
 ?. FINANCIAL REVIEW
 New York, Aug. 12.-Bradstreets finan- cial review tomorrow will say:
 Successful progress in the peace negotia- tions with Spain and reassuring news as to the crops produced further buying move ment in the railroad share list. The activ- ity was on decidedly larger scale and ths outside public was much more of fac tor than for some time past. London was seller here on the advance in the early part of the week. but the later develop ments included not only an increase of transactions in Americans there, but an in- creasing interest in them on the part of the London public. The speculation here pre- sented many indications that large profes- sional interests have resumed operations on the bull side, and signs were not lacking in the closing days of the week that such people were realizing speculative profits. A slight temporary hardening of call loans rates cannot be said to have had much effect in sentiment in the street, nor is at fention paid to the steadiness of exchange ann postponement of gold importations for the present at least. The principal factors vere fhe growing certainty that the Span