El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-02
BUSINESS FOR
j. s. IS GOOD
Greatest Amount of Money
in Circulation in U. S.
History.

ses a larger falling off. according to
a general letter on trade conditions for
the month of August. issued by the First
! National bank. Slightly abated activity
is TO be noted in some quarters. and
there are definite evidences of read
I iustment and a closer approach TO nor
nal the statement continues
4 Rank clearings at 1872 cities during
June aggregated nearly q billion dol
! lars compared with ii billions IN June
f. of last wear. a gain Of &c percent. This
is a new high record in clearings for
9 the month of June. CIearings outside of
I New York city were eight billion dol
/ lars compared with six billion dollars 4
J wear ago. a gain of 80 percent
: Exports of merchandise during May
i totaIed 472 million dollars compared
with PA million dollars in May of last
! year while imports We're 229 million
dollars compared with 142 millions a
! year ago, making a favorable balance
/ of trade for May of 243 million dollars
| compared with 1872 million dollars for
! May. 1915.
4 Building operations during June at
142 cities totaled 90 million dollars COM
nared with 6S million dollars in June OF
| last year. a gain of 30 percent
Railroad Earnings.
Nav gross earnings Of 113 roads to-
tailed 800 million dollars compared with
, 2S7 million dollars in May year ago.
a =
these roads aggregated 1913 million dol
lars compared with 20 millions in May
4 wear ago. a gain of A percent Gross
earnings of IS railroads in June were
IS million dollars compared with So
millions in June last year. 4 gain of %
percent The railroads are not only
benefiting by the general business &C
= tivitv but the movements of grains and
cotton have been larger during recent
weeks than in the same period year
There was net surplus of $4,000
idle cars in this country on July l,
compared with $4,000 month pre-
vious This decrease. which was prin-
cipaIlv in flat cars, follows successive
increases for the previous three months.
The railroads ordered 5I3 thousand
tons of rails in June compared with 22S
thousands tons in May and 225. 600 in
June. 1915 June locomotive orders
numbered 326. compared with 32S in
May and $50 in June of last year
There were 6S57 railroad cars ordered
during June compared with 1852 cars
ordered in May and 29.S64 cars in June,
1915 Electric railways in the United
States purchased 1924 cars in the first
half Of 1915 compared with 1878 cars
In the same period of last year
Iron. Coal, TIN. Etc
Lake Superior iron ore shipments dur
ing June again set new high record
totaling 950S thousand tons compared
with $3.50 thousand tons in May and
sOO5 thousand tons in June. 1918.
Production Of pig iron in June totaled
1912 thousand tons compared with 1851
thousand tons in May and 1881 thou
sand tons in June OF last year. There
were 1928 furnaces in blast on July l
with a daily capacity of 107 thousand
tons compared with 1OS thousand tons
a day for the 321 furnaces active on
June !.
The federal government estimates the
production of bituminOus coal in the
first half of 1916 a PSI million tons
compared with 1874 million tons in the
same period last year. an increase Of
rs percent. and a new high record for
any half yearly period
Domestic consumption of tin in June
aggregated 639S tons compared with
5455 tons in May and $500 tons in
June of last year
! Receipts Of zinc and spelter at the
principal market in June totaled 56i
thousand slabs compared with 55l thou
sand slabs in May and 3SS thousand
slabs in June a year ago while ship
I compared with $50 thousand slabs in
May and 36s thousand slabs in June,
1915
Our crude oil production in the first
half of 1916 is estimated a 14S million
barrels compared with 145 million bar
rels in the same period Of last year and
a total production in 1915 of 291 mil
lion barrels.
Prices Lower; Fewer Failures
Commodity prices continue to recede
although. rs previously noted in these
reports. il may be some little time be
fore these lower prices are felt by the
consumer. Bradstreet's Index Of com
modify prices stood at S11.53 on July 1
compared with $11.69 on June I and the
third successive monthly decrease since
the high point OF S1176 recorded on
April l of this year. The present index
compares with 1897 on July l a year
ago.
June business failures numbered 1888
with liabilities OF ten million dollars
compared with 1922 failures in June a
year ago with liabilities of nearly 70
million dollars. As the assets OF the
concerns failing in June this year were
less than five million dollars compared
with not quite I million dollars in June
a year ago. net liabilities were five mill
lion dollars compared with eight mil
lion dollars last year
Financing by corporations in June to-
tailed $50 million dollars compared with
81 million dollars in June of last year,
an increase of nearly 125 percent
New and large corporations formed
during June have a total capitalization
OF S2S million dollars compared with
231 million dollars in June of last year,
an increase of ~ percent.
Dividend Disbursements.
Dividend and interest disbursements
curing July will total 292 million dol
lars compared with go million dollars
IN July, 1915, being the largest July dis
bursements ever recorded. July dlvi-
dend disbursements will be los million
dollars compared with 81 million dollars
year ago. while interest payments VIII
be 1874 million dollars compared with
lf6 million in July. 1915.
Money in circulation on July in the
United States aggregated 4O1S million
dollars compared with 1924 million dol
lars on June l and 1855 million dollars
on July I. 1915 This is the first time
that the circulating medium has ever
passed the four billion dollar mark The
per capita circulation on July 1 was
sS9-23 compared with 1856 a month
previous and $3.50 a year previous.
The population of the United States rs
estimated at 102423 thousand persons
compared with 1OO,725 thousand a year
ago.
business Better; Earnings Increases
Sears, ROebuck & Co. report June
sales at S9.424Ss1. an increase of % per-
cent over last year. F. W. Woolworth
company's June sales were S6.S0l. 845,
gain Of II percent over last year.
Western Union Telegraph company
reports net earnings for first six months
of 1916 at s6.1S0.752 compared with
S4,112.437 in the same period last year.
American Te1er.hnua Ta1au-ra nh