Evening star., 1922-10-14
SLACK IN BUILDING
ONLY TEMPORARY
Will Be Amply Offset by Ac.
tivities in Public Works
and Utilities.
BY J. c. ROYLE.
speei., p,sn,.,h to tn. Sea,

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, October 14.-Thc flood
tide OF activity in the building In.
dustry which has been the stronges
sustaining factor in the Industrial
commercial and financial situation
throughout this year. has begun t,
ebb. Like the tide. however. the re.
cession is merely temporary and sea
sonal- Reports from all sections o:
the country today confirm this con
clusion. The volume Of building op.
erations will fiow back to oven h,ghe,
levels after January /. Tho temporal,
slackening of building, which directl,
Or indirectly affects every househcle
in the United States, will be ampl,
compensated. however. by the demsne
created for public works and utilities
The letup in building will not b.
extremely marked because OF tn,
volume OF work still uncompIeted. lie
addition, each completed building unit
inevitably must provide new custo.
mers for water. gas. electric light
traction, telephone and power com.
panies.
Amy reduction in home building
therefore. seems destined to be coun.
construction or extension OF watc,
works, sewerage systems, roads
bridges. power plants. street paving
telephone lines and traction systems
which will not be materially affect
ed by winter weather. These projects
will entail expenditure of millions
of dollars this winter for materia!
and labor.
Employment Moro General.
ness life vitality affecting each mem
ber of every community, Is more gen
eral than at any time for over two
years. Sharp payroll increases are
in evidence in nearly every industry ,
Wage increases outnumber wage re-
ductions by 81 per cent this month
Strikes for the time being are sc
infrequent as to be negligible. but
prices are moving upward. the sup
ply OF labor Is short and in spite OF
the declarations Of both employer
and employees, further wage contro-
versies are in prospect.
The transportation situation is i'm
widely separated sections, but car
requisitions still outnumber avail
able car units by fully 10000. Over
5000 cars are urgently needed &c
move livestock to market after the
fall roundups In the west. Cattle held
off and delay is devastating the sea
sons profits for growers. Cars arr
moving eastward in fair volume, but
returns Of cars, empty or full, to the
west are not keeping pace.
Coal Prices Yielding.
Coal prices are dropping slightly
under adequate supply warm wealth
er and lethargy of householders 4,
%I,o;
prices advanced slightly during the
week and the trend is plainly upward
Production and demand are increas.
ing. The raw staple is being market
ed at the rate of $15.000,000 a day
Conservative statisticians estimate
the crop will bring one billion dol
lars more than that of 1921.
Woolens and worsteds are selling
well. either because of the recent
price advances or in spite OF them
Sales of both rubber and leather foot
gear are heavier than at any time for
two years. both at retail and whole
sale.
Grain prices have not experienced
the upward trend of prices so mark
ed in other commodities. Much grain
is being held until spring and there
will be heavy carryover from this
years crop. both because Of prices
and because of lack of transportation
LOIS tI are
ing and rotting in the northwest for
lack of cars to carry them to ware
houses and markets.
Auto Buying Holds Up.
Retail buying of automobiles has
held up remarkably except in the
farming districts. Dealers are resort
ing to shipment of cars under their
own power to obtain deliverie2 Gaso-
line prices in various sections have
been reduced and further reductions
are forecast. This is largely sea
sonal, although the overproduction OF
crude oil still continues.
Rivers are rising with the autumn
rains, and this is aiding transporta-
tion and the production OF hydro
electric power, which is in ever-;n-
creaSing demand.
In dry goods. buying for spring has
opened up auspiciously after some
years. during which the retail mer-
chants have followed a hidebound
policy of buying from hand to mouth.
Raw silk prices are high, but the
advance has halted. at least tempo
rarily. to await the effect Of heavy
imports on the American markets