The Washington times., 1922-11-11
DEMANDSF0R
7. GOODS SHOW
4. LARGE GAIN
Retail Buying Increases
With Raise in
-" Wages.
by HARRY GUsACK.

Dy nhNnh oSotSn'
Marked increase iu the demand
for goods. as well as gains in
wholesale and retail buying. Is re-
ported by the Department OF Com
Inerce. 49,.
Current wholesale distribution OF
goods Is said to be far I'm excess
OF this time last year. Increased
employment and higher wages have
been largely responsible for'the in
creased demand.
The comparatively low prices for
farm products have checked rural
buying to a certain extent, but
the large crops, produced at COM
paratively low costs, will give the
farmers margin OF profit which
viii ultimately be reflected In mer.
chandizing lines.
Final figures indicate that manu-
featuring activity declined some.
what In September. Out OF fifty.
two commodities reported, eighteen
showed increased production com.
pared with August, thirty declined
and four showed no change. In
August. thirtyrnine OF these same
commodities y sdvanced over July,
twel e decliH%t and one remain
unchanged. +l1any Of the declines
reported In September were small.
while others were purely seasoned
reactions. r,
The transportation situation con.
tinues to bs of prime, Importance
10 industry, Car loadines have con:
tnued to increase, reaching point
almost equal to the peak OF 1920.
The growing shortage sof coal ana
box cars Is limiting production and
dtiaying the shipment OF needed
material.
although there WAS a substantial
increase IN the reported activity OF
all classes of wooden machinery In
September, the actual mill consump.
tion of wool. as reported by ths
Bureau of the Census, declined.
September wool consumption totaled
54.771,0 900 pounds, compared to 81.
340, 600 pounds in August and 1924.
900 pounds In September last year.
Imports OF wool during the first 81
days of September amounted to 27..
SS2 900 pounds, compared to a..
4f2 900 pounds in the full month OF
August.
The number of active cotton spin
dies increased. in September, com.
pared to recent months, although the
number of active hours was con.
stderably less than in August. Ex-
ports of cotton cloth totaled 81 1902. :.
600 square yards in September. This
represents a slight increase over
August. but IN less than In other re.
cent months.
!, Iron and Steel Exports Less.
Exports of Iron and steel were the
smallest in September for any month
this year except February. Imports
showed a marked increase and, at
10000 tons in twenty-one days, repre-
ssnts the largest inward movement
in any month In recent years.
The production Of crude petroleum
tdtaled 45,245.000 barrels in Septem-
ber, compared with 4G,521 900 barrels
the month before Consumption of
crude also fell off slightly, while
stocks again Increased, reaching a
new high record at 273.264.00o bar.
rels.
Gasoline production in August was
slightly below the record figure In
July. Domestic consumption again
Increased. reaching another new high
record of 5S3.6SS,000 gallons. Gaso-
line stocks fell to 703.7Ss, 900 gallons,
or nearly 100000 gallons below
the peak reached last April.
Reports indicate growing scarcity
Of labor. particularly unskilled work
ers. The number of factory employees
continues to increase.
Prices declined slightly in Septem.
ber., This was particularly true Of
fuels and farm 'products. Manufac.
tured commodities for the most part
Increased slightly or showed no
change. -'- -.e
Larger sales were reported by mail
order houses and chain stores, while
the wholesale trade reported greatly
increased demand. .sSs a.