Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-03-02
BUSINESS AT LEADING POINTS.

| Business studied from remote points
continues to show revival but I'M
provement is very slow. The tendency
| to cautious buying seems TO be wide
/ spread and general
| st. Louis-Buyers of dry goods ane
clothing are making fair purchases,
and are showing less conservatism
than few weeks ago. Millinery shows
most activity and footwear comes next.
In manufacturing lines the output is
larger and the working forces are be-
ing increased to a moderate extent
Collections in some sections are fair
The grain market is active, while
prices fluctuate.
ST. Paul-Demand for spring lines
broadens steadily. aggregate sales
comparing favorably with former years
and collections are fairly satisfactory.
Dry goods jobbers report many visit
ing buyers. and an active house trade.
Mems and women's wear, hat and
glove sales maintain satisfactory vol
,lme and millinery jobbers are busily
engaged Shoe factories operate on full
time. Harness trade is more active and
manufacturers report little idle ma
chinery.
Portland. Ore.-Retail business con-
f,i,. oil n1 hx,f
weather, but wholesale trade is less &C
tive than in the midst of the financial
trouble last fall. Much is expected
from the resumption of railroad build
ing in the spring and. until then, the
number of unemployed in this section
checks general activity. The erection OF
large packing plant here by the
Swift's means the employment of
large number of workmen. and will
promote the development of stock rails
ing industry in Oregon. Washington
and Idaho.
icago.-Unsettled weather and
continued difficulties in transportation
have interfered with and largely cur
tailed the movement of freight and
farm products, but there is more evil
dence of activity in the leading indus
tries and the demand for spring mer-
chandise is further stimulated by in
creased arrivals of outside buyers.
Manufacturing still suffers from
scarcity of new orders and little head
way appears in effecting larger out
puts in iron, brass and woodworking
branches. A better tone exists in steel,
there being more encouraging inquiries
for rails and structural forms, while
bookings in wire and pipe make good
aggregate. Pig iron prices are waver-
ing and this operates against the pac-
ing of orders for some heavy con-
sumers as they are holding out firmly
for further concessions.
Boston-Complaints of unsatisfac-
tory trade are still numerous, but are
less frequent than formerly. Some i'm
provement is noted in retail business
and for the season, under recent adj
verse circumstances, the volume of
sales is of fair size. In some instances
dry goods jobbing houses are having
better trade, retailers showing more
disposition to stock up particularly on
staple lines. Most buying, however, is
of the hand-to- mouth character Do
nestle demand for brown and bleached
cottons is still very quiet, and there is
a probability of a renewal of the poll
icy of curtailment when the agree
ment expires, as mills are not secur-
ing much new business. There is
slight increase in the amount of wooden
machinery employed, but conditions in
the industry are unsatisfactory, espe-
cially with the makers of mems wear
goods.