The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-05
BUSINESS is ACTIVE
BRADsTREETs SUMMING UP OF
TRADE RESULTS FOR MONTH
OF April.
COMPARISONS ARE FAVORABLE

stock Speculation Was Rather
Quieter Than in March or the
Preceding Months - Aggregate
Bank CBearings for April Showed
Tremendous Gain Over the Cor
responding Month of Last Year.
NEW YORK. May 4.-Bradstreet's of
May will say:
Widespread business activity and
heavy financial transactions, resulting
from or consequent upon. the large num-
Der of industrial combinations planned
or executed during the month of April,
seem to have been largely responsible for
the heavy bank clearings reported for
that month, because stock speculation
was rather Quieter than IN March or the
preceding months. The April clearings,
in fact, deserve special notice. because,
though they were smaller by per cent
than the aggregate for March. this was
owing chiefly to the smaller number of
business days In that month, because the
average daily clearings were heavier than
the like average for the month Of. March.
In percentage Of gain, too. the increase
shown over April a year ago was the
heaviest noted this year,. and the result
is further enlargement of the gain re-
ported for the calendar year over recent
preceding periods.
The aggregate bank sclearings for the
month just closed were $S,266, 469, 069,
gain of Sc. per cent over April one year
ago, an increase of 102 per cent over the
month of April, 1897. a. gain OF 122 per
cent over the corresponding month in
1894, and an increase Of SO per cent over
the like period Of 1892 The heavy gain
for April compares with an increase of
54.6 per cent during the month Of March,
Of 25.7 per cent IN February and Of 41.3
per cent in January over the correspond
ing months. Other considerable gains
are those Of % per cent in the Southern
cities, 1877 per cent in the Western group
and 11.S per cent in the Northwestern. AS
for some time past the gains of the
Southwest and far Western groups have
been comparatively moderate, but even
here the increases have ranged from 9 to
per cent.
A rather better showing is naturally
made by the individual cities than was
reported in March. The gain at New
York is heavier than it was in that
month, "a per cent In April against 72
per cent in March, and the increases In
the rest OF the country in April was 2s2
per cent, against q per cent in March.
In the Southern group the large gain by
Baltimore, per cent, is largely account
able for the increase in that group as a
whole, although fewer Southern cities
show larger decrease than in March.
In the West the heavy decrease reported
by Omaha, 20 per cent due to the with
drawal Of some bank clearings from cur
rent totals, Is notable feature. Boston's
clearings in April were very heavy, and
a notable one. The gain showed by
Philadelphia equals this, however. Chi
eago shows a gain Of 145 per cent over
O year ago.
Activity IN the from trade is reflected
by the gain of 78 per cent at Pittsburg.
st. Louis shows a gain Of Is per cent, as
does San Francisco, which is almost alone
among Pacific coast cities in showing an
increase over April a year ago.
For the four months period of the cal
endar year the clearings aggregate sS2,-
405 4S7,S65, gain of 464 per cent over
1898, of 81 per cent over 1897; Of 120 per
cent over 1892. In the four months COM
pilation, as In that Of April the Middle
states group, containing the metropolis,
shows the heaviest increase, 5S.4 per cent.
The gain in New England Is over 20 per
cent, while the increase In the North
west an In the South exceeds 20 per cent
in each case. The gain in the far West
for the four months period closely ap-
proximates that shown for April, ga per
cent, while the gain in the Southwest Is
also moderate one, S.2 per cent
Canadian bank clearings, while smaller
than those Of March, note a heavier pro-
portionate gain in April than for a num-
Der of months past. The clarings of
Canadian cities for the month aggregate
s11s;sse,564, and increase Of 10 per cent,
compared with a gain of only per cent
in March; of less than per cent in Feb
ruary, and Of less than 10 per cent In
January, while for. the four months per-
fod the bank clearings aggregate $491, 1884,
1856 AN increase of 95 per cent.