The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-08
WEEKLY TRADE REVIEW
SUMMARY OF THE COUNTRIES
 BUSINESS
Good Increase is Shown Despite Serious Interruptions Caused by Floods and Snow Storms.
 Cotton is Strong.

New York. March 7.-Bradstreet.s to- Spring trade increases despite serious interruptions in the section adjacent to the Aileghenies caused by floods, snow storms, interrupted telegraphic and rail facilities and crippled railroads. Western and Northwestern advices are, of course, relatively the best received and there dry goods millinery. clothing and kindred
 Eastern markets textiles have felt the
 quickening demand and prices have
 strengthened in many lines. The strength
 of textiles generally but of cotton and
 ond only to the strength displayed in iron and steel All available measures of
 mfd-winter trade point to exceptional ac-
 tivity despite unfavorable weather con- ditions. February clearings as whole,
 notwithstanding reductions at the metrop-
 oils due to dullness In speculation are
 slightly larger than year ago. Failures
 are no more numerous but few large
 bank suspensions. due to mismanagement or worse. have swelled liabilities 1-4 above
 year ago. Prices have felt the quick
 ening influences in slight increase in strength of textiles. dairy products among provisions. live stock. coal and coke and building materials. All signs in fact fa- vor the indication that legitimate trade and industry Is, except in few in- stances, considerably more active than year ago at this time. Although there is less apparent tension in iron and steel the situation is really a remarkable one. Floods and high water have interfered with production. limiting supplies of fuel. hampering. productive operations and
 checking shipments. Most grades of pig iron are higher in prices by from 8 to 50 cents per ton. Finished products are active. Steel rods sell at the highest prices for many months; bar iron is high CT. cut nails have advanced and light rails have also been put up. A favorable feature Is the settlement of the wage scale by the tin plate mills. It has been narrow week, for price changes are few and the government crop report of March l on supplies in farm CTS hands still hanging over the market speculation has Naturally been almost ab- l sent. Wheat. including flour exports. for the week aggregate 4,095,9A bushels | against S.234,54o last week and 4,229.52S in
 l. 1901. to date 0hirty-six weeks) aggre-
 gate B4.2s2.377 bushels, against 137, 47S, 2os | last season. Corn exports aggregate 352,-
 aoS bushels against 312.664 last week and
 corn exports are 2s.471,6so bushels against l 1345a, ,73 last season. Raw cotton has continued on It's upward march aided by bad weather conditions. checking the in-
 forced to cover almost continuously. While crop equal to last years is more generally conceded. the fact that exports are 16 per cent larger Is taken to indi-
 
 supplies. reversing the position of. two | years ago when foreign manufacturers held on and lost money. Cotton goods
 are very generally strong and tend up- ward. The outlook in the Fall River print cloth industry is not settled as yet. wage scale difference constituting a menace to continued activity. Woolen goods are | fairly active. plain woolens are in limited supply and f1rmer with Australian grades tending upward. The boot and shoe and | leather trades are exceptions to the more or less general activity in other lines. Shipments from Eastern markets are slightly larger for the week and per cent ahead of last year. but new demand is quiet and leather shares the dullness this being reflected in shaded prices in
 February for hides and for union and oak tanned leather.
 Business failures in the United States for the week number ITS as against 204 last week. POS in this week last year. 1S9 | in 1900. IF in 1899 and PAT in 1SsS Cana dian failures for the week number g as | against 2 last week and B last year. Dun's Review.
 New York. March 7-R. G. Dun & Co.'S | weekly review of trade will say:
 Unsettled weather was the most un- | satisfactory feature of the weeks bust ness A sudden thaw following an ex- | ceptionally heavy snowfall produced freshets and floods. Manufacturing and | transporting interests suffered severely | and consumers were urgent for shipment | of delayed goods, while great quantities | of merchandise became stalled in transit l Preparations for an enormous spring trade continue undminished There Is still some uneasiness regarding the labor sit | uation at the coal mines and at Fall | River there Is disagreement as to the | length of the cut in cloth although in | creased wages is assured. Not only is | there no improvement to be recorded in l the iron and steel outlook but floods in
 the Pittsburg region added to the pres
 sure by completely closing many plants | and damaging much costly machinery. | Supplies of coke failed to increase be- cause the railways were badly disorgan- 1 ized and the net result was week of l light output when requirements were mo- | tably heavy. Recent destruction by the l elements makes an unusual demand for | structural material and on spot business l buyers gladly pay premiums of $6 ton l above list prices. The situation has be- come so abnormal that 1t is impossible | to gauge the market by ordinary stand | ards or secure quotations of any value | for comparative purposes. The encour- ! aging feature is that despite present ex- | orbitant prices the speculative element ] is not prominent and orders are accepted
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