New-York tribune., 1910-07-17
TOPICS OF THE STREET.

COPPER TRADE CONDITIONS--We al
ksr,s copper letter says: Copper Is VeaA
and fractionally lower. Lake is 129so lzeac
and electrolytic IS 1214d 125sc pound 1e
reduction Of its price week ago from ISc
to 12I5c by the largest selling agency sp-
rssrentIv nut another check on the buying
demand Consumers are now endeaVorlns
To defer new purchases Of the metal, hoplnx
for or fearing a further decline IA 80 -
price. There is SO little copper IN IN
hands of consumers a present Ho"esJL
that buving must continue. and monta2
deliveries will represent almost exactly tle
actual current consumption Inc state
ment Of the Copper Producers AsSoclauOl
for June showed an increase in the Amer
lean surplus Of 7.s50,044 pounds, compsrSd
with an increase of over 1S.eoV,O0O pouhu5
over Is 900 900 pounds in March A study
of the figures makes II clear that oVerpro-
duction alone is reSponr1ble for the P-e-eHII I I
and depression Of prices Consunaptlon
continues to increase steadily. notably so
in Europe. In the first six months Of last
supply Increased 2s, $50 pounds. and in
the corresponding period this year II de-
creased 1885. 500 pounds In the first SIX
months of 1909 the worlds surplus IN
creased 5S.713,275 pounds. or at the rate OF
nearly 10. 900, 900 pounds monthly For com
parison. the worlds surplus has increased
only 15,274,3W pounds since January !,
1910, or at the rate OF only about 2.0OO,OO0
pounds monthly. Consumption. therefore
has been gaining on production, but the
surplus is now over 4DOD.on pounds The
portion Of this which IS actually available
for consumption. however, Is not over
500, 000, 900 pounds, or about two months
production. II the producing companies
were to curtail their output 10 10 Is Per
cent. the available surplus would probably
and the price of copper should advance &c
a pound 1t is indeed TO be regretted that
conditions in the trade are such that a
curtailment agreement cannot be reached
and put into effect Immediately"
INCREASE IN IDLE CARs-The bull
letin Of the American Railway Association
states that On July the net surplus OF idle
cars on the lines OF the United States and
or about 1o.2 per cent over two weeks ago
The number Of idle was 1f5, ,&4. compared
with 125.SH The shortage decreased from
2,129 TO $50. Coal car surplus jumped from
8. 7S2 to 567J5. while the number of box
cars tOtalled S5,07s. compared with IS. Sill In
the general increase OF freight cars re-
one the greatest change occurred in the
Middle Atlantic States Here the gain IN
available carriers was about ZOO, due prin-
cipally 10 the lessened demand for .coal
cars The change in the Middle West was
small What decrease there was can be
attributed 10 smaller offerings of general
Northwest reported an increase In idle cars
the surplus amounting to 1872 A year ago
there were about $500 surplus freight cars
in this section. Like dininution of freight
traffic was reported by the lines operating
in the South. Southwest and the Far West
Ihese decreases were evenly distributed
and averaged small. Canadian roads Op-
Grated under similar conditions.
CANADIAN BANK MERGER-Negotia-
tions have just been concluded by which
the Royal Bank OF Canada. whose head
ONCE is in Montreal, absorbs the Union
BANK or Halifax Notices have been
sent TO shareholders of both institutions
calling for special meetings 10 ratifv the
deal As a result OF this combination The
Royal Bank of Canada. which is ALREADY
one of the foremost banks OF the Dominion
VIII nave a capital and reserve OF nearly
s!5Uv:Gv, with total assets OF over so Goo-
90 The bank will have 40 branches
which, aside from those in Canada and
Newfoundland; located in every important
IN Porto Rico. one in Nassau. Bahamas.
and one, in Port Of Spain. Trinidad, also
an agency in New York City.
BANK CLEARINGS. The total ha,t
ciear1ngs for the United States for The
week ended July l6 1870 one dsV esriT1a,a5
according to The FInancisi Cbrn-,ta,Ts
were SS49.Os6,46S as compared with g. 81
Vss 20 the preceding week and S0Is a.. sis
lot me week ended July Ii. 1929 Coulpareyi
with lsst year, the total bank clearings de-
creased Z-5 per cent. New York CITY re-
ports a decrease of as per cent, CHICAGO ~
- l. per cent and New Orleans OF OS per
of Us per cent, Baltimore OF "a per Se1r
and ST. Louis Of 10 per cent
STRUCTURAL STEEL-The demand for
structural steel is active The T-nitsI
states steel Corporation booked last nont6
between 0o0n and 5000 tons, which is ar
the rate of approximately $40 On ,o,s -
year orders now on the books ~ ,ha
Various companies assure activity well into
OF the finished steel industry In most