The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-04
ONLY DEPRESSING NOTE
COAL SITUATION SOLE BAcksET
TO BUSINESS PROSPERITY
Outside of This the Returns Of Finan-
ciaI, Commercial and Industrial OPP
erations Are Uniformly Favorable
Results of Unprecedented Fall Trade,
Moving of Larger Crops, Etc.

NEW YORK, Oct. 3.-Bradstreet's
tomorrow will say: In the almost
uniformly favorable returns of nine
months financial, commercial and ia
duStrial operations, the only depreSS-
ing note is the growing acuteness OF
the coal situation, which has passed
out of local and state cognizance and
become of national Importance and in
terest. The returns of failures, clear
ings and the other items bearing upon
the results of the three quarters OF
the years operations at hand point to
conditions having been largely favor
able.
Activity in stock speculation and COM
parison with a period year ago, When
deplorable occurrences at Buffalo had
thrown a damper upon general BUSH
ness activity, do not entirely explain
the immense increases shown In widely
separated sections, and the only re-
naming conclusion is that unprece-
denied fall trade, the moving of larger
crops at higher prices, immense cattle
receipts and unsurpassed industrial
activity are chargeable with the nu-
merous and heavy gains shown.
Failure returns, too, are almost en-
tirely favorable, the number of en-
barrassments being the smallest, with
| two exceptions, in ten years, and the
| liabilities being the lightest, with one
exception, in twenty years.
Fall and Winter Trade.
Trade kilograms to Bradstreets this
week, while pointing to some letting
up in the heretofore active jobb1ng
| demand at nearly all centers-partly
the result, by the way, Of religious OBJ
| ServanceS-all testify to the fall and
winter trade already booked having
been exceptionally good, in most cases
| in excess of preceding years, and crop
| yields, except in some sections, guar
anteeing a full volume of business in
the remaining months of this year and
the early part of 1903. Personal buy
| ing at leading Western jobbing CEN
| tiers is not so active as some time ago,
| but increased sales by travellers result
in a very heavy business for this time.
Except for a few scattered pessim1s-
| tic reports from the South, advices
| from that section are generally of a
| fair to good trade, with improved col
| lections. At the East a large distri-
button of dry goods is noted at such
cities as Philadelphia, New York and
Baltimore. Hides and leather are
strong and active, and shoe manufac-
| turers are pretty generally employed.
Rather less strength is noted In some
| lines of the iron and steel business
! than heretofore, but the quoting down
| in the cruder forms Is due to scarcity
of fuel and Of pig iron, necessitating
| shut-downs of steel mills, as much as
| to the flood Of foreign iron, which APP
pears to be steadily increasing. Spe-
cial investigation shows that receipts
of foreign iron and steel in August
exceeded 100000 tons, but it is worth
noting that exports Of iron and steel
and their products, mostly machinery,
are still more than double the imports
for that month. More inquiry for pig
iron for the last half Of 1908 is noted
at Chicago, and 1t is also observed
that new orders for rails, structural
anteed delivery until the last half Of
| next year. Many steel mills in the
Pittsburg district have closed for want
of iron.
Some Prices Lower.
This has resulted in rather lower quo
| tations for Bessemer pig and steel
| billetS, prices for which are not as
large as a year ago. The refusal of the
tin workers to accept lower wages in
| order that Welsh plates may be shut
out has resulted in the shutdown Of
number of mills and this is expect
| ed to throw some additional. tonnage
of the crude material on the market.
Structural and plate mills are crowded
with ORDERS but sheets have been cut
! So per ton.
Eastern cotton goods manufacturers
report quiet demand, but this is as
much due to their own unWillingness
| to sell freely ahead as it is to the con-
sumers' desire to wait on the raw cot
| ton market, which, more noticeably
than in recent years. seems to regulate
the course Of the manufactured prod
ucts. The strength Of the foreign de-
mand for this staple has largely offset
the much heavier and earlier moving
of the crop to market. Wooden mills
are we'll employed both on recorders
for winter trade and as regards bust
ness, and large interests are reported
to be actively buying wool this week.
Wheat including flour, exports for
! the week ending Oct. 2 aggregate
6,S70,57S bushels, against 5,077,O70 last
week, 5,195,749 this week last year and
4,450,167 in 1900. Wheat exports since
| July aggregate 67,4S4713 bushels
| against 64,847,946 last season and A.
212,667 in 1900. Corn exports aggre-
gate 141,4 23 bushels against 1882 last
week, 907,924 last year and 2,364,249 in
1900. For the fiscal year exports are
1,197,234 bushels against 13,626,564
last season and 44,311, 661 In 1900.
Business failures in the United
| States for the week ending Oct.
number 1914 as against 172 last week,
| IT'S in this week last year, 1T in 1900,
| 17S in 1899 and 1853 in 1898.