Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-10-12
BANKS SET NEW MARK.
Aggregate CIcnrances for Year Ending
Last Month Breaks the Record.

New York, Oct. 7.-"September bank
clearings returns" Bradstrcet's say
today, confirm early adviccs of
the maintenance OF the country's gen.
eral trade and productive industry III
exceedingly large volume. When its is
recalled that owing to holiday observ-
ances at leading cities the number of
business days in September was the
airy, the facts that the aggregate clear
ings at seventy-siN cities exceeded ST.
0O0,000,00O and were larger than those
OF August and nearly as heavy as those
OF July. are evidence, in absences of
any particular activity in stock or 9th
er speculation, of the immense volume
of business which was done.
As Illustrative of the great advance in
business in this over preceding years.
the nine months clearings returns. are
no less significant. The total clearipgs
for nine months this year aggregate Il
sum greater than the entire 1898 total,
though there are three months yet to
elapse before the year is complete.
in this connection The annual report
of Manager Sherer of the New York
clearing house shows that the aggre-
gate bank clearings in the year ending
with September We're the heaviest ever
known, exceeding BY nearly S9,OoO,o0O.-
800 the record total of 1881; and this
too. in the face of the faci that now
less than ever before do the New York
City bank clearings represent spccula-
tive Transactions, and, on the contrary,
more accurately represent Legitimate
business transactions than at any pre-
ceding period.
"The aggregate clearings of seventy
six cities for the month of September
were $7.0l3,s9S,221, i gain of nearly 2
per cent over August. of $50 per cent
over September year ago. and 81 per
cent over 1897, while they are slightly
more than double of those of Septem-
Der, 1894. and nearly Al per ceut in en-
cess Of these of September. 1892.
"As indicative of the fact that the
expansion in the country's business is
OF a particularly even and general
character. it is further to be noted that
the gain in clearings at cities outside
of New York is almost identical with
the gain At all cities. Gains by groups
of cities for September are more pro-
nounced than were those for August,
owing mainly, however, to September
last year having shown drop from the
total in August, whereas this year 4
contrary movement occurred.
'rhe heaviest gain by any group is
that made by the far western cities-4O
per cent-followed by the New Eng
land and middle states with gains of
respectively 3O.s and 29.5 per cent, and
at a longer distance still by the west
ern, southern and northwestern cities
by gains of respectively 25.7, 25.5 and
"a per cent. The smallest gain of any
group, 10 per cent, is reported by the
southwestern cities.
"Here, again, the EVENINGS OF the
trade development the country over is
illustrated by the fact that five groups
of cities show gains within the compar-
atively narrow range of 81 to 81 per
cent
For the niue months, as already re-
marked, the clearings are very large,
exceeding, in fact, the aggregate for
the entire year 1898, which is the heav-
lest there is any record of. AS COM
pared with the nine months returns of
1898 this years returns show Il gain of
Al per cent, are ~ per cent larger than
those of 1897, are III per cent heavier
than in 1894 and 55.6 per cent heavier
than in 1902