The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-10-09
BUSINESS SHOWS
 RECOVERY FROM
 EUROPEAN CRISIS
All Signs Now Point to Further Improvement in VouIme of Production and Indus-
 trial Activity
By Assocrnfed Presn

New York, October s.--with the Turkish crisis apparently yielding to negotiation. financial and business sentiment showed distinct recovery during the past week. A sharp rally in securities prices undoubtedly was a factor in the matter. but a greater disposition existed to look at the fa- uation.
 Practically all available signs point to a further improvement in the volume of industrial production. Car loadings for the week ended Sep tember 23, total 973,000 cars. a new high record for the year. The new figure is nearly 100000 greater than that of the corresponding week a year ago and is only 35,oo0 smaller than that for the similar week in 1920, when the greatest traffic move- ment in the country's history was under way.
 Bituminous coal production con- tinued to hold close to the 10000, ,0oo tous Weeh -leNel. lt WOulu De greater If coal cars were more plen- tiful. Nevertheless. the amount mined seems reasonably adequate for the present industrial activity since the steel industry reports that coal shortage is no longer a limiting fac tor and since the price of soft coal has shown a tendency to recede slightly during the past week.
 In the steel trade, the loss in blast furnace capacity occasioned by the August fuel shortage has been made good. Pig iron prices. as well as those of coal are easier; the supply of iron evidently is meeting the de- mand. Where this industry now feels the pinch is in the supply of freight cars for it's finished products. In- ability to obtain such cars is caus- ing some restriction in filling mill operations. This slowing down is not, however, large.
 Cotton Advances
 The grain trade, too, is meeting with some difficulty in moving it's products. Prices for grain continue, however, to hold at the better level, attained during the recent war scare.
 Cotton prices also have advanced well. partly in response to the re- cent bullish government crop report and partly because of trade buying which seems to have been delayed, pending a clearing up of the Turkish crisis.
 It is clear that anticipated car shortage has arrived. As a corrol- 1ary, it may be stated that industry at present is going ahead as rapidly as the countrys transportation fa- cilities will permit. Fortunately, this permission Is fairly liberal. Finan- cial circles are now interested to see whether the improvement in the amount of freight moved will con tinue.
 Money rates remain slightly higher. The increase so far amounts to about one-fourth of one per cent and is considered to reflect fairly well the increase in loans and in the volume of commercial paper and bankers acceptances outstanding which has accompanied the prepara tions for fall trade. The reserve ra- tio of the combined federal reserve system has fallen per cent below it's high mark reached in August, but is still some per cent above the level of a year ago. No sharp in- crease in rates is expected this year. Banking circles stress the need for a stabilization of the European sit- uation, as may be seen from the speeches at last weeks convention of the American Bankers association. It is pointed out that definite and workable plan to cover the status of both the reparations and interallied debt problems is essential to the re- turn of active prosperity.