The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-08
Wheat Crop Advices Have an I'm
favorable Effect.
QUIET IN IRON AND STEEL
SHIPMENTS OF WHEAT AND
FLOUR FALL OFF.
Business Failures Same as Last Week
and Remarkably Small For First
Quarter-Reports of Bradstreet
and Dun-Increase In Bank Clear
ings-Famine In Iron.

New York, April 7.-Bradstreet's to-
morrow will say:
The quieter tone OF distributive trade
is even more marked This week than
last, testifying to the unfavorable eff
feet upon retail trade and indirectly
upon jobbing distribution of the cold,
backward spring and less favorable
wheat crop advices. While reports as
to the damage to winter wheat are
most numerous from the southwest,
the influences of the backward season,
frost in the ground and other unfavor-
able conditions have tended to mod
crate the hitherto very cheerful tone
of advices from the spring wheat
states.
Other features Of the week are a
further quoting down of the excite
ment in iron and steel, though here
lack of supplies, and not lack of con-
sumption, is assigned as the chief rea-
son. A strike of iron ore. miners in the
Lake Superior district seems likely to
complicate the ore supply question.
Strikes involving $4,000 men have been
fgeature of the weeks operations.
Lumber'is feeling the influence of ex-
panding spring demand at many mar
kets. and prices are very strong.
The situation in textiles is little
changed. Cotton is slightly lower on
fuller crop movement, but the manu-
featured goods are firm, though some
speculative lots of gray cottons have
been offered at concessions. Wool and
woolens are rather quiet, though fall
orders for Women's wear goods are en-
couraging, and the raw product is
Steady, the view being that the pro-
posed goods combinations have not
gotten very large supplies of wool.
The situation as regards prices is
still very favorable one, the list of
staples advancing or remaining steady
being by far the most numerous, while
bank clearing statistics, railroad earn
ings and all other obtainable measures
of trade progress point to an immense
business, speculative and otherwise,
having been done during the first quar-
ter of the year 1899.
Throughout the west and northwest.
with few exceptions, complaint is made
of unreasonable cold weather affecting
distribution, particularly at retail. Ac-
companying the reports, however, are
numerous statements that the business
done during the first quarter is con-
siderably in advance of that handled a
year ago. Complaints of bad weather
and roads come from the south Texas
trade, and agricultural operations be-
ing unfavorably affected, and New Or
leans reports that spring trade is likely
to be disappointing Tor like reason.
Wheat Gncluding four shipments
for the week aggregate 3,3S4,S00 bush
els, against 3,9SS,23S bushels last week,
3.11S,726 bushels in the corresponding
week of 1898, 2,0S6,777 bushels in 1897,
1,764,S05 bushels in 1895, and 2,9S4,17S
bushels in 1895.
Since July 1, this season, the exports
of wheat aggregate sS,345, 800 bushels,
against 1S3,846,27S bushels last year
Business failures for the week num-,
Der 100, exactly the same number as
last week, but compared with 22O in
this week a year ago, 232 in 1897, 231 in
1896 and 227 in 1895.
Business failures for the week in the
Dominion of Canada are light, num-
bering only 81, as against 33 last week.
39 in this week year ago, 80 in 1897,
80 in 1896 and IS in 1895.