Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1904-12-01
THE WOOL SITUATlON'
t;reat shortage Now
the Eastern Mills.

OWS.
Tha situation in wool ls a most re-
,,,hja one heing seldom if ever be- ,
re para!Ieled in the hist ry OF '''e
40 Tbe demand has continued &C
iva for so long time, ana th's yea
.,;.s ,,ovo bsen taken so freely by large
.,esumers that there remains 10" l"
~, oh,o,d market but a small per-
rantaoe of tie stock usually on naho a'
this time of the year.
In fact. there is less wool III '''o
p,ston market today than is usually
{ ,nnd there at the beginning OF reo'u-
o-v There is every indication OF
very large consumption OF wool our'ns
tho max, six months, as the mills are
e,iovipg generally good BUSINESS anu
tho nrospects are that there will be an
excellent heavyweight season lot '"o
az the result of the clean
in ND of the stocks in the hanas OF We
+roda caused by the exceptionally cola
weather experienced last winter.
With a large consumption OF "oo'
facing the trade. and with supplies re-
dpced TO such low limits, there is IN
creased anxiety as to where they are 10
obtain sufficient stock to meet the
wants of their usual customers.
The buying of the past few months
has been mostly by the large cohsu'h-
ora and while the wants OF the latter
,nust he. bv this time, pretty we'll sup
n,;ad the fact that a lumber OF them
aro stil] in the market looking for deslr-
ah,o selections. and that the smaller
concerns have not yet by any means
supplied their wants, renders it pretty
corta;n in The minds of the wool mer-
chants that they will be "down to pare
boards" before the clip of next year oe-
comes available, and that to meet the
needs of this country it will be neces-
sary to import large quantities OF iore'e"
wool.
Rnt il is not easy to secure large and
desirable selections abroad except at
continuously advancing prices. ibis IL
especially true of coarse wooIs. when
bavs enioved the best demand for the
past two years.
Seldom have foreign markets been sc
well Cleaned up as they are at present
the war in the East having stimulated
demand tor many Tines of wool which
are usually available for export to th'f
country. The situation, in fact, In
creases at adily in strength as the
weeks pass by, and holders OF "ha
wool remains hero are TeluCIon' ooo
except a. advanced prices.
It ia perfectly natural, therefore, tina
there should have been more or les
suppressed excitement in the wo'
trade the past week, and that in thel
desire to make suitable provisions 10
f,tpre wants. some wool men shou
have Welded to the temptation to con
tract for the 1905 clip.
This has been done to some extent
Idaho and Utah as wei as IN Orego
and Montans. Never before, at sue
an eary date, has the attempt bee
made to ntrsct for woods OF the 10
lowing season, and it is. perhaps nee'
| ,ss TO state that these contracts have
q number of cases been made at vel
i high prices.
The conservative members OF II
trade, however. regret this tendency,
Il Indicates to their minds the increa
of a speculativ, spirit, which, if co
timed NAV r suit in a scramble for 4
| clip of Ii, xt year, even before it il
4 fhe sleeps back.
4 lis, Of course, absolutely impos-it
to determine what the character OF t
i next years clip will be-whether 1t "
! be well grown or short, whether
strong or weak staple, whether
I heavy shrinkage or light shrinkai