Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-01-11
GREAT PROGRESS
IN MANUFACTURING
Unparalleled Advancement In
the Industrial World the
Past Year.
is
Nothing Approaching Il In the His-
tory OF This or Any Other Coun-
try-Dun's Annual
Review.

1900
will say:
email evidences of advancement In bust
ness during the yea was the progress
made In manufacturing. 1t Is impos
sible to be too e~xtravagant In delineat
Ing the movements Of the industrial
world. Never in the history Of thii
or any other nation has such develop
ment occurred within the space o.
a twelvemonth. The expansion Of pro
ductive capacity was enormous, thu
improved methods or work and organ
ization were conspicuous, wise econo
mics were introduced. but more thar
all factors that made for permanent
prosperity was the conservative resist
ance 20 price imitation.
After the reaction of 1900 the level o.
prices remained depressed for som,
months, but gradually responded to the
increasing demand as excessive accu
mutations were absorbed. From q con
dition OF glut there arose almost G
famine, greatly exaggerated by thu
stubborn strike. Some idea of the
changes in size OF supplies may be haC
from the comparison of furnace stock!
Of pig iron as reported in the Iron Age
which amounted to 54S, 663 tons in Jan
uary. These figures steadily declined
throughout the year until only 223, AZ.
tons were held on December 1.
Aside from the slight fall during thu
period affected by the strike, there ap,
pears Utmost n steady gain in produc'
ton, closing with the maximum guam
tity on record. While the output or
December / was at the unparalleled
rate OF lO,SS7, 572 tons yearly, 1t Is OBJ
vious that the actual production of the
year was much smaller, although quite
sufficient TO establish a new record
n judging by the amount of bushes:
already placed for 1902 the current
years yield nay not unrosonably be
expected to surpass 1000, 900 ons TIL,
output Of rails was beyond all records
yet contracts for 1902 already indicate
another high water mark Of probably
5000, 900 tons.
Readjustment Of quotations was Sc.
cured during December, after a year OF
unreasonably Inflated prices. Copper
was s%tubbornly held at II cents mos,
Of the time, but when the reaction
began there vas a fall of 4 cents with.
In a few days. Tin was advanced tC
2S& cents in June, but fell to % cents
In December. Similarly with lead, the
nominal price OF 4ss cents was cut e
4 cents. Tin plates closed the year
where they opened, but In the interim
NiiO wa III "aN hllNG " % vi uSGOuIl
of the famine that followed the strike
Big Coal Output.
All records OF output for hard ant
soft coal were surpassed during 1901
despite the scarcity of cars hat re.
tarded operations. A feature OF grear
advantage was the expanding export
movement, which reached more en-,
c~ouraging proportions than In earlier
years. In ten months the value OF
shipments was 49, S7, 1853, against SIT,
800, 1874 the year previous. Coke ovens
made a phenomenal record, establish.
Ing a new high water mark OF weekly
output at 244.529 tons late in Novem.
Der.
An entire year of activity and ar
era Of high prices characterized the
leather market, but there has beer
no boom such al existed during 1885,
n resulted In one CT the most dis.
astrous slumps ever known in leather
history. The rise In values was steady
n by easy stages and entirely legi.
Innate, inasmuch as 1t was based or
the laws Of supply and demand.
Further declines occurred in the
price of this staple during the opening
months Of 1901, and the bottom was no.
reached until July /, when 100 grades
according to Coates Bros circular
was quoted at 1903 cents. This repre-.
sented n loss Of 81 per cent from the
high point of 2.70 cents in December
1899. With the absorption Of surplu,
stocks and general revival in the in.
dustry the turning point was reached
In September. Further strength ant
activity was In evidence each succeed.
ing month.
In Agriculture.
While 1900 was the best year ever expo.
rtnnnAH nv Hnrnagtla -
ests, the opening year of the new century
was in many ways more profitable, and
the two together nave put the farmins
population In much the most satisfactory
position in the nations history. Former,
ly, the season Of harvesting and cror
moving brought heavy borrowing of fund.
at the east, but interior conditions havt
changed to such an extent that western
banks are lenders at New York and Chi
cago, and while there is still n larg,
movement OF money away from the cas-
during the fall months, It Is of funds tina
were held here for the account Of interior
correspondents. There is a steady tend
ency to enlarge the acreage sown in thu
leading crops, yet supplies do not In
crease, owing to the better demand boil
for home consumption and export. Hea
n drought caused a serious curtailmen
OF the corn crop, which proves the mos
important event of the year. While thi
influence naturally induced and advanc
In price that particularly prohibited ex
ports and thus seriously affected foreigl
commerce, 1t was by no means an un
mixed evil, since the return to grower
was even larger than In year Of norma
production, while the enormous yield o
wheat was absorbed by stock feeding AM
foreign consumers In place of corn. Hence
instead OF a low price for wheat In pro
portion TO the heavy crop, there wa.
maintained an even higher average quo
tation than in the short crop year pre-
ceding. Meats naturally reflected the ex
pensive condition Of fodder and 1t wa
gratifying to notice hat exports wer
not materially reduced by the high level
Cotton passed a season OF wide varia
tions, in the early months attaining tn
highest price Of the decade, but fallin,
sharply as the spinning situation wa
rendered unfavorable by exorbitant raw
material.
Crop estimates were also far apart
causing ~irregularity and a tendency t
await more definite information. The out
look grew much more cheerful from tn
producers point of view, when the clos
ing month brought a higher price thai
s cents.
Coffke and Sugar.
Equally erratic was the course of cot
fee, on account of heavy Brazil receipt
and reports of extensive disasters. Op
ton trading at the coffee exchange ros
far above the quiet condition of recen
years. Expanding crops of sugar had tn
effect Of lowering prices, while competi
nA~L tn DrHZI~