Weekly journal-miner., 1916-01-12
PROSPEROUS YEAR PRE-
 DICTED FOR ADVERTISERS
(From Wednesdays Daily) (By Wm. H. Rankin of the Mahin
 Advertising Company)

Duslnc>S- Durng the early months or the year business was not good. Near ly everybody was pessimistic. War orders helped little. but. taking it altogether. business for the first six months of 1915 was far behind the corresponding period of 1914.
 Early in the Summer favorable crop reports were received from the North west. the Central West and the South The harvest was much later than us ual. but the general result was splen- did.
 Nevertheless. general gloominess continued. The weather was bad. dip lomatic complications were threaten ed. and capital was disposed to be timid.
 After a depressing August there was sudden change for the better In September the wheels Of commerce began to revolve once more, the pes simists ran for cover, and the opti- mists. after having had an enforced vacation extending over two or three years. were back on the job. Busi- ness became good. healthy conditions were restored. the fog of doubt lifted.
 One of the big reasons for the en- couraging change was the improve ment of conditions in the South
 The Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis reported that after hay ing had practically no Southern busi- ness in August, trade in the South was nearly normal in September, while in October. business everywhere, North South. East and West. exceeded not only that of 1914 but was ahead of the banner year. 1913, 'before the war
 Representatives Of such houses as Marshall Field & Company. whole sale. The Royal Typewriter Co.,, The B. F. Goodrich Company. Haynes Automobile Co.,. and Hart Schaffner X Marx say that business has been so good during the past six months that they will not only show a large increase over the corresponding six months Of 1914. but that they will be able to report total increase for the year 1915 as compared with 1914.
 Out on the Pacific coast prosperity has not as yet become as firmly es- tablished as 1t is i-l the East and Gen. tral West. Prosperity there depends largely on lumber. but in the North west the price of lumber is from 8 to S350 per thousand feet higher than it was year ago.
 Mills that could not be operated at a profit last year, because of the low prices of lumber, were closed and have remained closed. With the increase in price and the demand for lumber increased naturally because Of the re- sumption Of building in fine East nun dreds of mills will resume operations very soon. and the result will be bene fcial to workmen and businessmen throughout the Northwest.
 With improved financial conditions in the East. the market for California oranges. canned fruits. olives. walnuts. raisins. Oregon apples, grapes and other products will give the growers better prices for these commodities. and businessmen along the coast will get their share of the general pros perity.
 It is safe to predict that in l9l6 the automobile and accessory manufac- turers will nave the best year in the history of their business. Nearly ev- cry manufacturer was oversold in 1915. Take the Haynes Automobile Go. Of Kokomo. Ind. for instance Mir. A. c. Seiberling of the Haynes Com pany, has assured me that he would have sold 10000 Haynes cars in 1915 ii the factory facilities had not been limited As it was the Haynes Auto mobile Company made and sold more cars in 1915 than were produced and marketed by all other Indiana manu- lecturers combined. This coming year the Haynes Company will double its output and is sure to sell all the cars it can make.
 Nearly every automobile manufac- turer underestimated the number of cars that would be bought in 1915. hence the entire industry benefited The cars that were best advertised were the first to be sold out: but the unadvertised cars-the cars that were little known-got the benefit of the excess demand. If prospective pur- chaser could not get Haynes. a Pathfinder. Cadillac. a Cole. Hud son, a Chalmers or a Chandler, he bought the next best car on the list The manufacturers of the Overland. Studebaker, Dodge and Hupmobilc were at no time during 1915 able to supply the demands Of their agents.