Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-01-04
1T WAS A RECORD
BREAKER IN TRADE
Past Y ear Was Without a Par
allel in Business, Brad
street Declares.
THE OUTLOOK is BRIGHT
Tho Remarkable Commercial Ex-
psnsIon in 1901 Is Reviewed and
Analysed Bradstreet's Annual
Resume Of Trade.

New York, Dec. 30.-The annual re-
| view Of American trade. finance and In
dustry prepared by Bradstreets and
given publicity yesterday declares 1871
to be a record breaker among the hve
succeeding years OF commercial ex-
pansion enjoyed by the United States
Its pre-eminence, the review states, was
all the more notable because 1t SUFFERED
from q combination OF happenings that
in a normal year would have proved
distressing, IL not disastrous. Among
the latter were the machinists' and
steel strikes, the stock panic OF May,
the failure OF several imprudently man
aged combinations, the efforts OF some
combinations, including that In "copper"
to fix prices, the shortage In corn, cot
ton and oats, and the assassination OF
President Mckinley:
Summarizing the general situation
the review y
Briefly summarized the year has
seen transacted an aggregate OF bust
ness. as reflected In bank clearings,
far in excess of any preceding period;
has witnessed stock speculation, ram
pant beyond the dreams OF old time
brokers, checked and curtailed by one
OF the sharpest stock panlcs In ms
tory, and yet with a remarkable mini
mum of disturbance OF general man
cial operations, a watched genera
industry and production grow steadlly
until new and larger figures we're need
ed to express the outputs or coal ana
ore and iron and steel and leather and
lumber and a multitude OF other
branches; has seen the freight trans
portation facilities of the country
strained to tie breaking point, prove
insufficient TO handle the volume or
business offered; and finally haB Wit
messed a volume Of holiday business
passing all previous bounds both IN
the quantity and quality and the vastly
increased purchasing power OF the pup
lice in late years. From the standpoint OF
the present estimates the clearlngs TINS
year will exceed the highest records OF
preceding years by ~one-fourth. Gross
railway earnings have increased II per
cent and net rcturns have gained ~
per cent over the best preceding year
Pig iron production will be not tar
from one-seventh larger than the
heaviest ever before recorded. Shot
production and shipments, n there
fore. presumably leather production,
show almost as large a gain. Iron ore
production and shipments were never
before equaled. Certainly lake ship
ments were never so large. Anthracite
coal production will be fully 10 per
cent larger than last year and D per
cent heavier than the record. The bi-
luminous production promises as heavy
q gain over past records. WooIleh
manufacturing has been helped by low
cost of material and good demand for
clothing.
"All the returns are not so ~faNoraDlo'
There has been less money in cotton
for the south this year, and the mar
gin OF profit in manufacture a occa-
stoned complaint there ard In New
and old England. The agricultural IN
~terests are favored by heavy advances
I'm farm products, which have done
much to Sounterbalance reductions In
yield. Export trade has shown signs
OF hesitation. after years of steady ad-
vance, and imports have increased, but
mainly in materials intended for do
nestle manufacture, and the margin
In favor Of exports Is still Enormously
heavy" -,
The bank clearings were estimated
at S11S.0 900, 900, 900, Il gain Of 80 per cent
over last year and 2f per cent over The
record OF 1899. The middle states
showed the greatest increase In clear
ings.