Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-03-09

The reduced rate of mortality in
business is a conspicuous feature of
the current weeks transactions.
Failures last week were only 1856,
against 251 in the same week last year,
and the failures for the month Of Feb
ruary, while larger than in January,
wero,. nevertheless, smaller than in
any other February ON record. They
| numbered no, against 1.15o last year,
with liabilities of only S9,0l2,G0l.
These are the statistics given by Il. G.
! Dun L. Co., who say OF the situation
generally that 'the business for the
past month was far the greatest ever
known in February. CLEARING House
exchanges were about $1,000, 900, 900,
against s., 553,Si4 last year, and
81. 2 larger than in 1892. In all the
years of weekly commercial reporting
| there has been no other week in which
the reports from all parts of tho
country have been, on the whole, SO
good as they are this week. Moreover,
during the past week there has been u
| general advance in wages, immediate
or prospective. y Bradstreets tomorrow
| will say. IAN enlarged volume of
spring trade, particularly in dry goods,
due to spring weather, special strength
in tho demand and price for cotton
fabrics, an immense and urgent cali at
soaring prices for IRON and steel and
all its products, and substantial ad-
vances in wages, chiefly affecting tho
above mentioned INDUSTRIES, and bene-
fitting at n conservative calculation
10000 operatives, ard among features
of tho week, going to show that the
producing elements Of the country g
population are sharing in the present
favorable conditions. From many cities,
East and West, come reports of al
active demand from iobbers for spring
dry goods. From the cotton manu-
featuring industry of tho East come
reports of activity, inducing manu-
facturers to grant advances to Their
operatives, while tho list OF advances
in prices of iron and steel products,
whether of cruds, Of manufactured OF
even of old material, is "a virtual roll.
call Of that industry's products. Al
encouraging feature is the small mum
} Der of strikes for higher wages re
ported, partly owing to advances being
} already conceded as a result OF sliding
scale agreements, the only importan
labor, troubles being reported in In,
coal mining industry in the South
west. Additional proof that the expor
anu Dttbt
features will be checked by recent an,
pending price advances is not lacking
. Wheat, including -four, shipments 70
, the week aggregate 5, SIS, 5S5 bushels
against 3,Sl4, 1853 bushels last week
, 3, 252, DOB bushels in the corresponding
! week Of 1893, 2,075, 433 BUSHES in 1897
! 2,407, 679 bushels in 1896 and 3, 272, 90
: bushels in 1895. The subsistence il
! stock, cereal and cotton speculation
and the smaller number Of bushes
days, worked toward reducing Feb
ruary bank clearances from the i'm
+ mense aggregate reached in January
= In the South and Southwest inclemen
weather caused many decreases, an
only two-thirds Of all cities show gain
over year ago. The total clear
! ings at seventy nine cities for Februar
: aggregated Sc 96l, 1928, 26S, o decrease c
. 1913 per cent from January and fallin
/ off OF 5 per cent from December, but
gain of 30 per cent over February las
a year, I'M increase of 50 per cent owe
1897, an increase of lis per cent Owe
g 1894 and of "a per cent over 1892. -