The Washington times., 1911-07-09

! ket or the past week, ali lnlIlBS SohSAN
cred, gave an excellent account OF IT
self. Activity. to be sure, was mucf
curtailed, but that was to have beer
expected in an interval broken midway
by the holiday, and characterized BY
such oppressive weather that all per
sons, who could leave the city, and
had the means of doing so-stock brok.
ers and customers alike-dropped bust.
ness and fed from sitting Offices Deal.
ings were narrow; trading was sug-
| gestive of professionalism; prices were
| irregular; but over and above all the
| characteristic features of the security
| list were strength and reouperative
! power.
I 1t was a severe test to which Wall
| Street was subjected. Advices from
! abroad were anything but reassurinS
| in the early days. With the political
| side of the Moroccan controversy be-
tween Germany and France, and with
affairs in the Balkan provinces, this
| country fortunately has no direct con-
Germ, but there is nothing so sensitive
as the financial markets: and foreign
| bankers took notice when British con-
soils fell suddenly to the lowest point Of
biiS SCol, anu, dllGI lhe IcSuIlp-
tion of business on Wednesday, Lon
! don. Paris. and Berlin all seemed Wy
ing with one another TO sell on the
local exchange such American shares as
enjoy an international market.
A Hot Weather Market.
But the disturbing foreign situation
proved to be a very short-lived incident
and affairs in that quarter cleared up
quickly, leaving the local market free
to consider what TO us is a matter of
far greater importance. namely. the
harvest situation. Crop news was an
important factor throughout the entire
week in Wall Street. and the real test
of the security market came with the
sensational reports of damage, owing to
excessive heat in the corn. spring wheat
and cotton belts. which reached the
market promptly on the resumption Of
business on Wednesday, when corn shot
up nearly cents a bushel
The psychology of a weather mar
ket was never better illustrated than
when the brokers turned up on the
Exchange after their July 4th out
ings Three days of sweltering heat,
under a temperature ranging any
where from 95 to 100 degrees had
gotten everyone into a frame of mind |
suitable to be impressed with crop |
damage story. A man who, over the !
holiday. had read of 1O0-degree |
temperature spreading over such a |
wide area of crop territory as Mis- |
souri,. Iowa. Michigan, Kentucky, |
Ohio, Kansas. and Nebraska, with |
in passing to his office found the |
street so hot that his feet left clearly /
defined impressions in the soft as
phalt pavement, was very nearly pre- |
could be left alive in the harvest |
country.
No Real Liquidation.
Naturally stocks broke with some
severity on Wednesday when corn
made its sensational advance in the
Western commodity markets, and car
ried up the price of wheat and oats
with it. But 1t was speedily made
apparent that no real liquidation in
securities had been forced by the SELL
ing movement. and 1t was this fact
rather than the slightly better wealth
er advices of the succeeding day. t
resulted in Thursday recovery and
the strength of the general list in
he following days of the week.
Doubtless the extent of crop damage
was exaggerated. but the course of
commodities to the end of the week
:learly indicated that the harvests
lave suffered to some extent from
he awful scoTching to which they
lave been subjected.
The Government crop report, due on
ionday. naturally will not reflect any !
# the effect of the unusual spell of
Ugh temperature, for 1t gives the con-
itions as of July l. Still it is a very
report particularly as to
orn, Of which 1t gives the first au-
hentic information of the present |
arvest year. Corn, of course. as the |
argest crop-and in some respects
he most important-of the cereals ,
rom now on, and until its outcome Is
definitely determined, will hold the I
enter of the stage among the COM I
1odiues. Though not as readily con- {
ertible into cash as wheat, or as val
able as an exportable commodity,
orn reaches the markets in the shape :
f live stock and meat products, and {
IS wonderful utility for feeding an r
attening purposes is of such vast T
that 1t must always be r
n anxious time for this country an I
ually, until the outcome of this slow
Y maturing crop is determined. v
Brilliant Cotton Prospects. i
But the crop news of the week was r
OF limited to the cereals, nor was 1t 1
Il of a character suggestive of uncer- Y
linty or impairment. At the very out
It of the interval, the financial and
markets received a surpris- 7
gly favorable Government report on L
otton. Persons concerned with the
ereals may extract a great deal of
'mfort from the cotton report, for
espite all the dire predictions made
lring the early part of June, that I
le drought, particularly in Texas, had A
sstroyed all chances of a bumper cot s.
n crop and that d drastic reduction IL
ust be made in estimates, the Gov OF
nment exports report a higher con- o
ton for the end of June than for the II
Id Of May. d
The June condition for cotton. SIS per tc
mt, was the highest for the month p
nee 1898, and 1t is applicable to
anted area 100000 acres above the b
CHEST previous record. The July con- oN
ton given in Mondays report is SS.2
r cent, which is rs per cent above a
e condition a year ago, and SIS per Z
mt above the ten-year average an al
ying this condition to the planted b.
ca of about 100000 acres and theJ
dicated yield of cotton for the pres A
I year is estimated at 14,425,OOO bales n
far in excess of the bumper WELD
1905, which was 13,S500O0 bales. of
urse, the final outcome of the cotton
op is largely dependent on weather
nditions in July, August, and Septem-