The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-21

NEW YORK, Dec. 29.-Bradstreets to-
morrow will say: Retail trade has easily
held the center of the stage this week,
stimulated as it has been by the. dual
influences of. exceptionally cold weather
throughout. the country and a rather
more pronounced holiday demand which
promises to be of record-breaking char
acter, not only as to volume, but as TO
quality and grade of goods purchased.
While jobbers in many lines, notably
shoes, clothing and rubber goods, re-
port a good recorder business growing
out of the above conditions, wholesale
trade as a rule has been seasonably quiet,
exceptions to this being noted in WOODEN
goods, raw wool, lumber, leather, coal,
and last, but by no means least, iron
and steel in a myriad of forms. The
spectacular feature of the week in prices
has been the continued marking down
of copper, and Sympathetica1ly herewith
the drop in tin and lead.
Slow but steady aceretions in the price
of pig mon are proof of the heavy buy
ing going on. Despite the record-break-
ing production, buyers are still eager and
the familiar car shortage cry is heard
most loudly in this trade.
Cotton Speculation Lively.
Foreign cotton Spectators apparently
surprise given them by the government
estimates. Liverpool estimators claim a
crop of over 11,G00G90 bales, against the
9,674,0G0 bales Indicated, and prices are
now a dead center awaiting a new
impulse. The higher range of value has
induced a moderation of consumption es-
Inmates, but these are still 100000 bales
in excess of the estimated out-turn. Actu-
al cotton is still nearly lee above near
futures. Cotton is 11ac below a year ago,
while print cloths are only &c off. Man
ufacturers will not sell largely ahead and
cotton goods are frmer
In speculative staples the visible sup
plies are now larger than year ago,
but the export demand is little fr@er.
Corn and oats have sympathized with
price movements within narrow limits.
Provisions are irregular with pork
slightly higher and lard lower than
week ago.
Wheat, including flour exports for the
week, aggregate 4,3S2S32 bushels, as
against 3,S79S09 bushels last week and
4,125,350 in this week last year. Wheat
exports July l to date twenty-five
weeks aggregate 140,636,547 bushels, as
against s9,0S4,0I9 last season. Corn ex--
ports aggregate $50, 941 bushels, as
against 27S307 bushels last week and
5,465,57S bushels last year. July to date
corn exports are &c, 126,174 bushels, against
SO, 167, 239 bushels last season.
Railroads Doing Well.
Tales of rate cutting at the West con-.
trast strangely with reports of car short
age. and incidentally returns of earnings,
which show that fifty roads earned s
per cent more in the first week in De-
cember this year than they did last,
while for the second week forty-two
roads show a gain of $780, 900 over the
middle week of December 1900. Again,
October gross earnings of los systems in
creased 1862 per cent on total of s1l9,-
212,776 while net took on % per cent
the total being s4e,O92, s55, as against SIS, :
24s.095 for October last year when the
coal miners strike held sway.
Business failures in the United States
for the week number 262, against 2S3
last week, 2e2 in this week last year, 211
in 1889, 2l2 in 1898 and $50 in 1897. Cana
dian failures for the week We're a. as
against % last week and % in this week
a year ago.