Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-10-04

Prospects of the half billion loan to
finance further business has proved
bulIish news in all the markets and
thereby. Combined with normal fall
activities business is picking up in
all lines
Dun's Review says for the week:
Success of the foreign loan negotia-
tons foreshadows further extension
of American enterprise and emphasizes
the position occupied by this country
in the field of international finance.
With constructive factors multiplying.
prospects steadily brighten and actual
gains in business are now more in
keeping with the growth Of optimistic
sentiment. Almost without exception,
reports from the leading centers tell of
accommodating evidences Of progress
and only in isolated cases, such as the
lumber trade. is depression still mani
fest.
Pressure upon the steel mills is SO
great that producers are chiefly con-
cerned with the problem of making
deliveries, conditions in this respect
being further complicated by the re-
cent rush Of railroad equipment orders.
The industrial boom is not alone con-
! fined 10 the east; it has spread to the
west and south, and in the latter sec
ton manufacturing plants that have
been idle for years are resuming. This,
together with the phenomenal advance
in cotton prices, has caused a sudden
reversal of sentiment, which is now
as optimistic as it was pessimistic
short time ago.
Both the primary and secondary cot
ton goods markets continue very ac
tive, with values rising in sympathy
with the sharp advance in raw ma
| terial. Retailers report steady i'm
| provement, especially in fall lines,
while the mills are generally well en-
gagged for the coming three months.
| Higher prices are paid for woolens and
worsteds, underwear has moved rapid
| ly upward and silks are buoyant. Most
footwear manufacturers are receiving
an increased volume of orders, whole
salers apparently realizing that there
| is little prospect Of shoe values tend
! ing downward, owing to the strength
| and scarcity of leather. Moreover the
| large Russian contract for army boots
/ is expected to make heavy inroads in
to certain supplies Of leather
Bradstreets lends the same kind Of
testimony, saying:
Every day that passes without kill
! ing frost makes the prospect for the
corn crop better, but the plant is very
green and the prospect is for a good
deal of soft corn. The crop is about
natured in the central west and east,
but northern Illinois and most Of Iowa
need two weeks Of warm. dry weather.
Flour millers at the northwest are
sold ahead, some munitions plants are
working three shifts in twenty four
hours, Enachine-tool shops are taxed
to make deliveries. and in some centers
these interests are bidding against
makers OF munitions for needful labor.
Farmers, expecting higher prices, are
not inclined to sell wheat, altho it is
conceded that more would be moved
! from the northwest were it not for
wet weather; exports are heavy, and
the world will need our wheat. Leather
is active and higher, jewelry shows a
little more ne, large foreign orders
for shoes are noted and increased buy
ing of retailers is expected, but the in
dustry as a whole is only working at
So per cent CO capacity Textiles sell
well. stimulated in part by actual needs
rising superior to doubt, and in large
part to higher prices for cotton. Wool
is slower, Off grades being lower with
manufacturers we'll supplies for nearby
requirements, while prospects favor
larger exports from the antipodes.