The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-15
TWO ELEVATORS BURN.
BUSINESS CONTINUES SATISFACTORY
Heavy Losses Through the Elements Being Rapidly
Replaced.

NEW YORK, Feb. AR. G. Dun &
Company's weekly review of trade to-
morrow will say:
Business continues to progress salts
factorily, notwithstanding heavy losses
through the clements The new year has
been unusually handicapped in this way,
floods and snow blockades being closely
followed by fires and explosions, destroy
ing much property and retarding traffic.
1t is only another evidence of the solid
basis upon which the nations industries
are established that in each case plans
for rebuilding on a grander scale were
made before the shock of the catastrophe
had fully passed. The labor situation has
distinctly improved during the past week.
Disputes at wooden mills were adjusted
except as to the WeaVers, threatened dis
turbance in coal mines averted, while
some railway employees received Yolun-
tary advances in wages. A slight 1e-
crease of 3.5 per cent in railway earnings
for the first week of February as COM
pared with the same of last year was
not surprising Il view o. the many severe
storms and the diminished movement of
grain.
In the iron and steel industry it is now
being demonstrated that there is sue a
thing as too much prosperity. During the
last few years there has been such
marvellous expansion in domestic business
as wSIl as transporting facilities have
failed to keep pace. The result is grad
ual falling behind with deliveries, and q
tendency of buyers to send orders abroad
whenever needs are urgent. One case is
now in evidence of steel rails to be de-
hvered at a Florida port, which, after
paying the duty, will cost abo;.. s. a
ton more than the regular domestic price
Yet home producers are fully sold up to
about Sept. 1. According to the Iron Age
pig iron production during January was
at the record-breakng rate of /, $50 600 tons
and the reduction in furnace stocks indi-
Gated that consumption was still greater.
1t is remarkable that these stocks are
now only 1920 tons, against 670531 tons
on Oct. /, $780, while during that time
the weekly output increased from 22S. 169
tons to 340,612 on Feb. 1. 1902. Unfortun-
ately the present production Is below
these notwithstanding figures, because the
recent storm disorganized the freight
movement and many furnaces are now
banked through lack of coke.
An unusually large number of buyers
in the Boston footwear market promises
much business, though there is some hes
itation about paying the recently adj
vanced prices. In the textile industries
there is notable strength and activity in
silk goods. despite a slight shading of
raw silk Liberal jobbing distribution of
dry goo0s has brought a gradually ex-
panding demand, except on Southern
orders which are below expectations.
STOCKS of cottons, light weight wooden
goods and worsted fabrics are short and
deliveries are often later than the speci-
fed date. Print cloths advanced, but
quotations are generally steady with the
tendency against buyers and many lines
of woolens have already been withdrawn.
Higher prices were the rule in the
markets for the leading agricultural
staples. Interruption to movement by
deep snow and the holiday was not suf-
f1cient explanation of the decrease of
Western receipts of wheat to 1924, 1872 bu,
against 2,940,S68 last year, or of corn to