Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-02
BUSINESS At LEADING POINTS.

"NS SAAS >AoSAhiSAAS 1lSGAL pIONlueS.
BUSINESS At LEADING POINTS.
Chicago-Wholesale circles are quiet.
House trade has been light as whole.
but there was some good buying Of
woolens, blankets and 1eavy cotton
goods. Orders for spring delivery are
satisfactory, and the indications re-
main good for future activity among
jobbers. Many of the recent purchases
made by country buyers have been dis
counted, and mercantile collections are
steady The business situation gen.
orally exhibits less than the ordinary
slowing up looked for at this period
Western railroad earnings are bette,'
than a year ago, and tile volume o.
traffic makes steady Roadway. The
the east and west bound shipments.
but Notwithstanding this, there was
heavy movement Of grain, factory
product and general merchandise.
Manufacturers find new business COM
ing forward in larger proportions, and
the demand for iron and steel is with
out abatement, new commitments
reaching a large aggregate in cars,
railway equipment, pig iron and rails.
The hide and leather market RENAME d
active, and shoe factories and ether
leather using Industries report i'm :
provement in demand. Building MAJ
terials Of all kinds are rapidly goir g
into consumption, and cement, for
which there is much use, is dearer this
week. Receipts Of lumber, 25,959,0D0
feet, compare with 36,331,000 the pre-
vious week apd 15,217,ooo feet year
ago. Furniture and other wood work.
ing branches are fully engaged, and
there is improved demand for electric
output, hardware, wagons and car
riages
Philadelphia-With few exceptions
the textile factories are not running
to full capacity. Reports from sales
men are encouraging, and decided
improvement is anticipated after the
holiday season. Brick manufacturers
report only moderate sales, with prices
fair Cement manufacturers find very
little improvement in business, and
prices are still low Manufacturers of
clothing, ladies' suits and cloaks, re-
port trade quiet, but look forward to an
active spring trade. The wholesale
dry goods trade is active and coll'sc-
tions good. Importers and dealers in
heavy chemicals report fair conditions
with a good demand for future de-
livery and prices firm.
closes the year in better condition
than for several years. Glass is selling
at a better figure than at the opening
of the year and the demand continues
strong. A strong factor in relation
to this Improvement is the strike Of the
glass workers in Belgium. Consider
able Belgium window glass is impcrt-
ed to the United States and is in direct
competition with the domestic product.
Since April the export of glass from
Belgium has fallen off so per cent, and
only 34,471 boxes, or about one-half of
former imports were received in Oc-
tober. The call for glass has exceeded
anticipations and it is conservatively
estimated that the demand during Mo-
yember exceeded that of November
last year by at least 100000 boxes and
the excess demand for December, over
December 1903, will be close to that
figure. 1t is estimated that 1900 pots.
of the hand-operating factories. are in
blast, and that the machine making
factories are turning out about $4,000
boxes per month. 1t Is not expected
that production will overtake con-
sumption for several months. The
plate glass trade opened the year with
the demand slow and prices unsatis-
factory. Increased building operations
materially improved the plate demand.
and the years production will amount
close to 100000 feet, about the same
figure as last year. There is strong
competition as consequence Of which
prices are low.
Minneapolis-The usual pre-inven-
tory week shows rather more activity
than for some years. Many houses are
working overtime in the attempt to get
clear of old orders with the close Of