Norwich bulletin., 1922-09-18
Weekly Review of Finance andBusineSs
Heavy Industries Are Making Better Recovery From Ef-
 fleets of Strikes Than Was
 Anticipated.

New York, Sept. Fli.--(By the A P-)-' Reports received in financial and busl- ness quarters during the past week ln- dicate that the heavy industries are making a rather better recovery from the effects of the strikes than had been anticipated Soft coal output is running close to 10,O00,000 tons a week and supplies of this commodity are such that the steel industry, which falls in the | lowest class of priority, is now receiy- ing sufficient fuel to run at 50 per cent. capacity instead of the 50 per cent. of tTo weeks ago. More blast furnaces are being blown in ard the trade expects all iof August.s losses in this respect to be 1 made good presently. The limiting fac !. tor in steel works operations Is now, in ] fact, not a shortage of fuel but | scarcity of the kind of freight cars need
 ed to carry the industry's products. l With soft coal mining in swing and with anthracite mining in the process of
 resumption, the railroads are carrying the largest amount of freight in nearly
 two years. Car loadings for the week ended September 2 totalled 932,000, an i increase of 41,oo0 cars over the previous 1 week. Part of the gain Is due to the ac- | celerated, movement of soft coal; never l theless. the value of general merchandise carried also has continued to gain. The
 present traffic. has been exceeded only l during short periods in the autumn of l 1929
 l Accordingly it is not surprising to ] fipd that the supply of idle% cars Is reaching the vanishing point; with the l partial settlement of the shopnlen' 8 | strike, with gains in working forces re- ported on other roads, and. with the equipment companies pushing their opera tions, the opinion is held in financial cir tcles that the car repair situation should improve gradually and that while car
 shortage is inevitable, the railroads
 Twill move very large portion of the freight offered during the fall.
 Cotton consumption is encouraging August's takings by our domestic mills amounting to 527ooo bales, the largest
 in any month since June, 1920. The latest
 total is 69,000 bales greater than ir July, and was recorded before the recent restoration of previous wage scale wen into effect The showing suggests ont reason why the manufacturers were will
 ing to restore the higher wages, It may
 be assumed, in addition, that consumption , has increased still further since worl was resumed in a number of the New , England mills.
 Wheat prices continue weak under tn . influence of crop receipts, hedge sellint
 and the continuation of favorable weath CT. Official estimates place the Canadian crop at close to 400, ,oo0, 900 bushels, a fig ure which indicates an exportable surplu l, of nearly 300, 100000 bushels. This show i ! ing naturally has it's effect On the pric . of our own grain. fair amount of for ] eign buying is taking place on tn
 breaks. but this buying is not auhic' entl; , , strong to more than check the decline : and usually, is followed by weakness i q i the foreign exchanges when the core f spending commercial bills are placed i . the market.
 A somewhat similar condition exists i
 the case of cotton, although this com
 modify recently has felt the supportin f force of unusually bullish private cro - reports. Some quarters seem to believ - that this years yield will amount [ k only 10000, 900 bales, as compared wit
 the governments September Lfigure (
 10,575.0o0 bales. In any event. it l. considered that the price of America l. farm products is suffering materially O x ditions in Europe.
 = After several weeks of slight decline
 the reserve ratio of the federal resery
 system has come to standstill. It Ina !. not. however, vet showed the usu; recovery from Labor day demand, poss :, bly on account of the proximity of u if tax date. New capital issues are inerea: if ing after a period of summer inactivit
 and this movement Is expected to COT
 tinue. It is thought that the next wee
 or two should show whether the none = market has reached turning point.