Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-31
TRADE REPORTS
SHOW A DECLINE
Internal Commerce Less Favor
able Than for the Earlier
Months of Year
LUMBER SHIPMENTS HEAVIER
Number of Idle Freight Cars Now
Reaches Highest Since
August of 1909
LUMBER SHIPMENTS HEAVIER

WASHINGTON, May 30.-Commer-
cial movements within the Onlteu
States during the month of April, as
renorted to the bureau of statistics Oh
the department of commerce ana laDol
indicate a rather unsettled condition OF
trade. AS a result the general traiIlc
situation, as measured by the nulnDe,
of surplus cars as Wen as tile 80 Ioes
number of cars handled, shows less
favorable picture than for the carrier
months of the year. -,.,.,,.,,
livestock arrivals at seven primary
interior markets during April assIe-
gated 2,234,gO7 head, being more tnail
half a million head below the NUMBER
received during April of the two pre-
ceding years. OF the total, 625'S0a6
were cattle: S2,274 calves, 1,0S2,9oo
hogs. 51S,595 sheep and POTTS horses
and mules The decline appears "
have been continuous since the peslh-
ming of the year.
MEAT STOCKS LOWER
April shipments of packing mouse Use
products from Chicago, 1oS,4z1' q 20
pounds, differed but niue 1o0a 1G0n 1k4e
quantity reported LOT APiii' A'V''
Stocks of meat in five principal pack
ing house centers on the last OF the
month totaled 165,86O,492 POUNDS,
quantity nearly so per cent pelow ne tne
total reDOTlSu lOI COii SSRS'A-o
of the previous two years. -
Anril receipts of live stock at lour
nrincipal Atlantic seacoaSt cities, Dol
569 head show similar uecr doo
when compared with the April, !9Q9 9Vo
and 1908 figures of 63l,494 and 900, I'D I'd
head. the figures for both cattie anu
hogs showing the lowest monthly rec
crd for the year. .,. 81
Grain receipts during the mohth at
fourteen leading interior marhe.s,. ri ~,
7bO.O53 bushels compare faVoIaoly
with the corresponding 1909 receipts OF
"a 076 o05 bushels, though falling
slightly below the corresponding, LSO9
. figures of 41,859,4S0 bushels. Whea, ca
receipts during the month l0,oo9' Z q
bushels. excee led those Of April OF tne
two preceding years ana was pal P.Loo+
larlv heavy at the leading spring WhGat
markets. of Duluth and Minneapolis.
'rhe receipts of corn and oats TOT l,ie
month 13112,555 and IL, ,70O16O BUSH
els respectively. while heavier thaii
during April. 1909. fell below the cor.
responding monthly recelpts Vi wv
years ago.
FLOUR SHIPMENTS DECLINE
Flour shipments during April from
thirteen milling centers In the llleLloi s-S, ;
. 71s O6O barrels, show decline from
the high level attained during the ear
lier months of the year, falling peioW oo
the amount reported for April, 1sOS'
of 2,S75,755 barrels a,,.tn, +be
month at four principal Atlantlc sea
coast cities, 10,401,S26 bushels Slput gu.
IitfIe from the corresponding lso9 re-
ceints of 10, ,435. 1853 bushels, though the
months receipts of wheat alone =
613632 bushels, were almost oouOie
those reported a year ego.
The coastwise arrivals or southern
lumber during April at New YORK, So 10,
o16 565 feet. were slightly below those
ranorted for April, 1909. the tour
months total, 150,117.542 feet, Is also
below the corresponding l9O9 totaI VI
1862, $685. ,125 feet. ,,.,,
redwood shipments during the month
from Northern California, 39'4f4'oo1
feet, indicate operations on IaIse
scale than during the eaillei pc beai cor
the year. as we'll as during the cor
resnonding months of the preceding
wear Pine and fir receipts during
Anru at California points, 121,6l7,4i9
feet. were likewise heavier than year
ago. and the same is true of the coast
wise lumber shipments from TacOma'
Wash, 12,695,O0O feet, and from PORT
land. Ore, 9219,000 feet.
Anthracite coal shipments during the
month from eastern producing terri
tory, 6.224.396 gross tons, were exceed
ed only once in the history OF the
trade. COW
nellsyilIe for the four weeks OF April
1858, S37 net tons, shows some apale,
ment when compared with the record
OUTPUT for the earlier months OF the
year. ,,,D,Nc
Operations in the textile field indicate
reduced activities, more pronounced ~ II,
the north than in the south. Tne Aprll
|, were
90 333 bales, as against 162,l63 Dales III
AnrU 1909, while southern mills are
credited with 19336l bales, is against
21S.748 bales in April, 1903.
The volume of building operations
during the month, measured by the
value of permits granted by muhlclpal
authorities of 1O9 cities In various partS
of the country, $936O4.514, shows gain
of AZ per cent over the total for the
nreceding month and of 7.3 per cent
over April, 1909, although some of the
largest cities, such as Chicago, Phila-
delphia, Boston and san Francesca,
show smaller activities in that Held
than year ago.
The general freight situation reflects
somewhat the unsettled state of affairs
in the industrial field. The number or
surplus cars reported by the American
railway association for April q was
2,OS5 cars, and fortnight later l2i'-
148 cars-a total larger than any re-
ported since August, 1909. Reports
from twenty-seven car service associa-
tions and demurrage bureaus in vari-
Gus parts of the country show total
of 2.O697 769 cars handled during the
month. compared with 2,226S52 cars
handled by the same organizations dur
ing March and 1,753.04S cars during
April, 1909. The number of cars han
died during the four months of the
wear, 1885, 17S, was about 19 per cent in
excess of the corresponding 1909 figures
and about S5 per cent in excess Of the
number reported for the corresponding