The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-07-17
VACATIONS AND
|. HEAT co FAR TO
HOLD BUSINESS
Bradstreets' Food Index b Up
2.o Per ent-Duns Wholesale
List Has a. Recessions.

List Has ~ Reoessions.
Heat and vacation influences COM
binsd to bring about Inactivity In the
general business situation during the
past week. according to the trade re-
Views made public last night.
Trading in light summer wear has
been the leader in the retail and Job
bling trade here. Bradstreet's weekly
food index showed gain OF 2.s per
cent, compared with the preceding
week. Dunn's list OF wholesale prices
items and advances In thirty-nine.
Bradstreet's index number based on
the wholesale price of thirty-one
articles used for food was s2s3. com
pared with $2.S5 in the preceding
week OF the seventy.nine commodi.
ties of all kinds quoted. twenty one ad-
vanced, fourteen declined, and forty
four remained unchanged. Advances
were recorded In flour, wheat. red
wheat, spring corn, oats. barley, rye
flour, hams, short ribs. lard, butter.
sheese. cotton-seed oil. 1--we hogs. oleo
oil, cotton, gray goods~ hnseed oil.
nlQe0, nay anu ycioW Pihc.
The Items which declined were corn
flour. coffee. eggs. prunes. macaroni
union leather, Bessemer pig Iron.
southern pig iron. old Philadelphia
car wheels, wire nails. coke, tin.
spelter and Pennsylvania hemlock.
Prices Unchanged.
The following items remained I'M
changed during the week: Mess pork,
tallow, raw sugar. refined sugar. tea,
tapioca. beans, peas. apples. potatoes.
rice, molasses. raisins, currants, lem
ons. live besvss. live sheep live lambs.
Pacific hops. N. Y. hops. condensed milk
evaporated milk, print cloths. brown
sheetings, ginghams. Ohio delaine
wool, Ohio half blood wool, crude
petrol, refined petrol, basic big iron.
Bessemer steel billets, OH steel bill
lets. steel rails, steel bars. old Chi
cago car wheels, Pittsburgh steel
scrap, Chicago steel scrap. Chicago
cast iron. tin plates. copper. lead.
anthony, Adirondack spruce and
Douglas fir.
Commenting on the general bust
ness situation during tho week Brad
streets notes the following:
Continued high temperatures and
vacation influences reinforce other
CAUSES. notably cautious buying for
Immediate needs and disinclination to
deal heavily as to the future pending
a clearer view Of crop outturn and
prices generally, tho result being that
trade. except in light summer wear
lines OF dry goods. has been held down
to a low midsummer level. Industry
In, II anything. . shade quieter than
heretofore. but the trend OF collections
has been q trifle more prompt and crop
reports are rather better. Summer
dullness pervades the stock market.
but the undertone IL fairly firm At the
slight rally from the low points of June
reached In previous weeks. and this
despite the rise in call money ratss,
attributed to the transfer Of some
money to the West for crop moving
purposes.
Foreign Exchange.
The continued downward trend Of
foreign exchange does not seem to
carry the depressing influence at
tached to IT in previous periods. In.
deed. the disposition Ia to charge the
weakness in sterling and most Con-
tinental currencies to reported Eu.
ropean buying Of wheat and cotton.
the former due to reports Of drought
damage to crops abroad. the latter
10 renewal Of buying by British man.
ufacturers. who are reported to be
busily engaged In attempting to re-
gain advantages lost to Continental
manufacturers by the epidemic of
strikes. and particularly by the
paralysis of operations growing out
Of tho coal stoppase.
Foreign buying Of wheat. indeed,
Ia said to have been evoked more by
damage abroad than because. OF the
widely heralded injury to the Ameri-
can crop. Shading of figures Of
American Yields, outside Of spring
wheat, IL not 30 active AZ a while
ago, and the rather better tone Of
Canadian advices and the reports Of
large Yields In the Pacific Coast
States rather tend to balance these.
The corn crop 10 at . critical stage.
tasselins. but aside from the central
Ohio Valley. the trend Ia to believe
that . big. II not record. yield IL pos-
sible, with its inevitable effect on
production and fattsning Of meat.
yielding animals.
According to tho report made by
Dun's, the following feature, were of
outstanding Importance during the
week:
Inactivity Expected.
AN inactive summon having been
expected and discounted. the continued
quietness of most markets occasions
no special comment. Oppressive heat
and humidity over a wide area have
added to the various restraints pres
ont. while crop damage through
drought In reported both here and
abroad. Awaiting the results Of the
harvest makes for some further con.
traction Of business. and any early de.
cided change for the better 10 highly
improbable. II ID possible, however, to
discern progress In some lines, and
current adjustments OF one kind or
another are regarded az shaping the
way for tho anticipated revival.
with prices and wages still under.
going revision. more natural condi.
lions are being steadily restored. and
benefits will ultimately accrue from
the transition. Supporting this con,