The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-11-19

Tales OF business revival continue 70
| pour IN from all sections Of the coun-
| try; from the cotton mills Of the South
! from the textile factories of New Eng
! land and from the great iron manufac-
/ turing centers between Pittshurg and
! Chicago and as far south as Birmins-
| ham, Ala.
Not only are the evidences of in
! creased production conclusive, but the
/ great jobbing and distributing centers
report a much heavier movement IN
| seasonable goods, the hand-to-mouth
character of the buying before the cleo
ton, having given way to more lib
eral policy ia preparation for the con
sumptive demand that has already ma
terialized.
George 4. Nicholson, vice president OF
The Atchison, Topeka and Stanta Fe
Railroad Company, who is certainly VI
a position to be able TO Judge Of any III
creased movement IN a business way In
the great territory covered by the At
Gibson system, from Chicago to the Pa
ciflc coast, has this % say:
There has been a real revival OF
business since the election. The largest
increase has been In merchandise freight
Since the panic OF last year, as is rea-
s0nably we'll understood. merchants
have been carrying hand-to-mouth stock
no more goods than absolutely neces-
sary. Many orders were placed cOntin-
gent on the election result and these or
ders are now being filled and the
freight is. moving. There is also q large
increase In the handling Of structural
steel and building cement. The crop
mo hE pa
ger traffic 10 California did not suffer
In 1907 ard We are looking for a busy
year in 1909
What Iron Age Says.
The Iron Age. the great authority on
the iron and steel trade, 10 be Issued IN
New York city today will have this TO
say:
One Of the features CT interest dur
ing the past week has been the heavy
buying. on the part or three OF four
open hearth steel works in Eastern
Pennsylvania, Of basic pig iron, for de-
livery during the hrst END second guar
tsTs. SO far as We can trace the pur-
cIases, they aggregate about 5000 tons,
and were made on the basiE OF gle de
livered for tho first quarter, and SI525
Tor what little iron was bought for the
second quarter. Some basic iron has
also been taken IN the st. Louis dis
trict. and some large inquiries, including
one for 1900 tons. are under negotia-
ton. The leading distributing markets
along the lakes-BunaIo. Cleveland, and
ChicagC-repOrt large sales OF foundry
and malleabie irons during the past
week. and now have generally put up
their prices for delivery during the first
ana second quarters, but the new sched-
ules have not yet Deen seriously tested
Indeed. tie impression is spreading
among buyers that the rise has been
somewhat too rapid. Practically all the
principal meters, large and small, have
been covering at least minimum require
ments, and many who entered the mar
keJ before the election nave made fur
ther purchases since then.
There has been activity, too, in some
of the special irons needed By steel
makers There have been some further
round sales OF low phosphorus pig iron
at S20.75 delivered at Eastern consuming
points, and the market is now 81 10
S2laG. There have been pretty large
sales Of feTromarganese at close to 81,
but now higher prices are Icing asked
and obtained.
The movement IN finished iron and
steel is somewhat better in some ines.
but on the whole the buying g lsveloD-
Ing slowly. In some OF the staple lines.
distributed chiefly by jobbers, the buy
log has been more confident snd IN
greater volume. IN the semI-fn.shed
lines the interest Is increasing Pitts
burg reports that a local interest has
contracted for large quantity Of muck
bar for the whole OF 1903.
We note the placing OF the order for
a large number OF bridges for the Phil
ippine railroads. There has been heavy
buying OF old material IN the Chicago
district, one mill alone purchasing in the
last two weeks 1900 tons Of railroad
wrought scrap. There have been large
railroad offerings throughout the Coun-
Of. For much OF this material cOnsum-
ers were overbid by dealers.
The Cast-irOn pipe industry Is mOdeT-
ately active, Among the recent larger
Contracts was 400 tons for Milwaukee.
In Detroit the bids for $500 tons were
rejected, and new bids calico Tor. Am
steTdam. n. Y, is in the market for
100 tons. ana a copper company for
1000 tons. The Southern Cast-irOu pipe
prices 81 10 s. per ton"
Big Chicago Contract.
From Chicago comes the story OF one
Of the largest contracts for plainplates
and shapes for the construction OF a
freight boat. that has ever been let.
The Jones & LAughlin Company has