Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-12-25

New York, Dec. 24.-tBy A. Ply
While the holiday season has served to
quiet the chief financial markets ap-
probably during the past week, it has
brought distinctively ective retail
trade and has remarkably little
| checking effect on the majority indus
tries. Thus stee! production continues
to approximate so per cent. of capacity
and trade reports state that the year
end closing down Of plants will be for
briefer periods than usually is the case.
Most of the producers will reopen their
plans Tuesday rather than wait the
week which more commonly elapses be-
fore operations are resumed.
Steel makers are confident. further
moro. that their present satisfactory
scale of operations will lie maintained
throughout the first quarter of the new
year. Order books are fairly we'll filled
and prices of finished products remain
firm. Even pig iron prices, which have
been recedlng ever since the coal short
, age began to be relieved. have turned
upward. a circumstance which sug-
gests that the bottom If this market.
for which both buyers and scelers
have been reaching for a number of
weeks, has been reached. One factor in
hardening the pig iron market is a
stiifeninS in coke prices. which in turn
is due to quickencd demand for soft
coal with the advent of cold weather.
Railroad car loading meanwhile con-
tinues to hold up remarkably well, al
though the normal seasonal slackening
| is making itself felt. Loadings for
the week ended December aggregated
$50, 600 cars, which is IT'S, 900 cars more
than were loaded in the corresponding
week year ago and $1,000 cars more
than in the same week in 1920, when
the railroads were setting a record for
traffic movement. Bituminous coal
production is being maintained at the
rate of 100000 tons week and the
amount made available to- industry
seems wholly inadequate TO all reason
able needs.
Commodity prices have shown dis
tinct strength during the past week.
lnsistent buying of the more distant
futures carried May up to approx
mately 26a cents: it appa rently was
based on the idea that 10000, 600 bale
crop and the present rate of consump-
ton. which is high, means shortage
before new cotton can be obtained
from another crop. A census bureau
report placed the amount of cotton
ginned to December 10 at 9.493.O00
bales, and this was taken as confirming
prevalent views as to the final yield
influences were mixed in the wheat
market and it seems probable that the
hrmncss in prices was due largely to
general optimism. Thus the DEPART
ment Of agriculture revised it's estimate
Tor the 1922 crop upward, adding some
4o,0O0000 bushels. It's first report on
the new winter wheat crop placed the
acreage at slightly more than 4G.OOO,-
900 acres and the condition at 79.5 Der
cent, as compared with tie figures for
the previous crop, acreasage is reduced
about ) per cent. and condition in
creased by q like amount. This first
estimate is only, of course. sucgcs-
tive.
AS the holidays approached, the alb
sencc Of any pressure to liquidatc was
noticeable in the several markets.
technical conditions apparently had
been greatly improved during the past
two months. Most observers are look
ing forward to the now year in
cheerful mood.