Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-04-09
HOLDS IT'S OWN.
General Trade Maintains an Even
Coursc-Fnilures for First
Quarter of 1901.

New York, April S.-Dun's Weekly Re-
view of Trade says: while the general
business world has looked with amaze
ment at the performance OF the stock
market. trade has maintained Its even
course. and there are many more points
OF gain than of loss. with even slightly
steadier tone in the dry goods market.
There some sellers have withdrawn offers
at recent low prices. though buying Is
small as yet. Collections In all lines are
unusually prompt. and in the building
trades contracts have been entered into
sufficient to furnish decided impetus In
allied lines during the spring season. No
sign of lessening demand is perceptible
in any branch of the iron and steel in
dustry. Mills are accepting contracts for
the closing months of the year. and there
Is every indication that 1901 will surpass
all records in the quantity of pig iron
consumed by manufacturers. Though ca
pacity has been wonderfully enlarged
during the past five months, there are
still many extensions and new plants
contemplated. 1t is also probable that
the customary summer repairs of fur
naces and mills will be accomplished
within shorter period than usual. as
contracts call for heavy deliveries right
through the season. Permanence of
prosperity in this industry is becoming
more certain as there is less evidence of
inflated prices.
Aggressive manipulation of corn forced
prices to an unreasonable point, from
which the fall was severe: and wheat
also weakened, although exports from the
Atlantic coast continued liberal Pork
products did not show the usual SYM
pathy with corn when it reacted, for Chi
cago operators absorbed offerings readily.
Commercial failures in the first quar-
ter of 1901 were 1885 in number and $751;
1855 in amount of defaulted liabilities.
of which 40 were in manufacturing, for
S12 222, and 2.46S in trading, for sl4,-
552.906. with Isl others. not properly in
cluded in either class. that owed $685.
1858. Banking defaults numbered y, with
liabilities of s3.44l,3S9. While exceeding
=; the same three months of last year in
number, failures We're much smaller in
amount: commercial and financial In
, solvencies together showing a decrease
OF 81. 532. 100. Only two years of the last
20 made better showing either in aggre-
gate or average indebtedness to each fall
urej while the proportion OF S26.74 to
each firm in business. and $1.09 to each
LOCO Of solvent payments through clear
ing houses are records that were sur
passed but once in two decades. For the
month of March. total liabilities were
much smaller than in the corresponding
/ month OF any year since monthly state
msnts were first published. These fig
ures indicate most undeniably that the
new century has opened with business
on no uncertain foundation"
Braistyeet's says: Speculative activ-
| ity, seeking expression in the markets for
! securities. cereals. raw cotton and some
| hog products. has rather tended to obs
| scure interest in general distributive
trade, which has. however. been tempo
rarily disturbed in retail lines at leas,
by widespread unfavorable weather con-
ditions. While the general tendency OF
this speculation has been bullish. a
f; marked exception was that furnished by
= bearish movements in wheat and corn.
| which have lowered the level of these
| products for the time being. The gener-
| al consensus Is that retail Easter trade
1 has been to some eXten! curtailed by
I, rains in the cities and by bad roads in
| the country districts. but. as above noted
| these are really only temporary phases
and the general outlook. alike as tc
| crops and as to spring trade as whole
Is in high degree encouraging.
! weather conditions, except In the
northwest, have been rather unfavorable
to planting and ground preparation. This
is particularly true in the south. where
cotton planting is retarded. Heavy fer
tilizer shipments point to large increase
in acreage in the south Atlantic states
On the other hand heavy SHOWS in Kan
sas and Nebraska. and no less heav!
rains in the central west, have benefte
winter wheat prospects, which in Kansas
Nebraska and Missouri are reported eS
| cellent Ohio's wheat condition show
marked Improvement over last year l
California weather conditions have nc
been favorable, and deciduous fruit
| have been hurt by froSts.