Milford chronicle., 1920-12-24
BETTER CONDITIONS
NOTED in BUSINESS
TRADE REVIEWS REPORT AN IMPROVE
MENT in BUYING AND ALSO In THE
GENERAL OUTLOOK.
AGGREGATE TURNOVER HUGE
FARMERS SELLING THEIR WHEAT AND
SHOWING MORE DISPOSITION TO
DISPOSE OF CORN.

Some improvement is noted in gen.
eral business conditions by the week
ly trade reviews. Buying in certain
lines is beginning to pick up and
while the improvement is slight, it is
regarded as an encouraging sign.
There are still many unsatisfactory
factors, but they appear to be dimin-
ishing.
In commenting on the situation,
Dun's Review says, in part:
THE signs of betterment in busi-
ness. if outnumbered by the unsatis-
factory features, are becoming more
distinct. A change is seen in certain
primary textile branches. where the
movement is freer. and some buyers
in the leather trade are showing re-
newed interest. Whether the indica-
tions of improvement mark a definite
turning point in the lines affected is
not clear at the present but the symp-
toms are encouraging. 1t is not to be
expected that revival will come sud-
IDENTIFY, or in all quarters simultane-
ously.
THE economic readjustment has
been irregular, having gone further in
some directions than in others, and
the process of recuperation will prob
ably be gradual and checkered. That a
solid basis for recovery exists is a
conviction strengthened by the weeks
crop estimates, disclosing unusually
abundant harvest and the powerful
banking resources and better trans
portation facilities are important con-
structive factors.
Even with its recent shrinkage, the
business of the country bulks large in
the aggregate, and prices are working
toward a basis where goods will seem
more attractive to consumers. After
liquidation has been completed, and
1t apparently still has some distance
to go in retail channels, buying may
conceivably develop to an extent
where orders will flow freely again
to producers, thus putting in action
machinery that is now idle. When
this demand appears, it will not be
marked by repetition of the former
extravaganza, because the purchasing
power has been lessened by unemploy-
ment and wage reductions, and re-
trenchment is necessary"
Bradstreet's notes the same drift to-
ward better conditions. In speaking
of the situation with regard to the |
farmers, this review says:
Wheat producers in the Winter |
wheat section have sold about so per |
cent of their crop and secured better |
prices for the majority of it than last |
year. liberal percentage of the |
Spring wheat crop has been sold, and |
farmers are selling wheat more free |
ly than recently. In one day the past |
week 100000 bushels were bought in |
the Southwest from farmers and re-
sold for export at the highest prem
iums of late.
FARMERS are showing more disposi-
tion to sell corn in Iowa, parts of Illi-
nois and the Northwest. The main diff
hculty with the farmers at present is
the low price of corn, the Government
report making the farm price Dec.
677 cent per bushel, compared with
1.349 last year. Western farmers, how
ever. are not getting an average of
the Government price as it applies to
the entire country. Feeders are buying
corn in Nebraska at so cents and in
Iowa around so to Ga cents.
Hogs and cattle have dropped to /
the lowest point of the year and are
lower than at any time since 1916.
There is loss to the packer in kill .
ing hogs, as pork is selling 50 bar
rel below production cost"
The committee of the NJ E. Sunday !:
school has decided to give the funds,
usually used for a children's Christ
mas festival, to the Near East Relief ,
for starving children. I
Mrs. Thomas Carpenter and daugh- )
ter, Miss Sarah, are visiting in Phil
ldelphia.
William White has purchased the /
good will and fixtures of Richard
Beebe, Fourth and South streets.
Nathaniel Evans, a Philadelphia ap-
prentice on the pilotboat, is suffering
with badly-cut finger He came :
ashore to consult a physician. l
Friends have received news of the j
sudden death of Walter NAPLES in the
Theatre, Washington, D. c., :
Thursday evening. Mr. NAPLES was a
native of Lewes and well known thru
tut Delaware. having been chief clerk !
It Hotel Henlopen for many years, un-
il last summer, when he was employ
ID at the Metropolitan Hotel, Wash d
ngton. Mr.. NAPLES was the youngest II
ION of Lemuel NAPLES and wife of =
his town. His remains will be brought
o Lewes and inferred in St. Peters u
7