Evening star., 1923-03-07
STORMS BIC BOOM
T0'RUBBERS SALES
Bad Weather. Cleans Off
Many Retail SheIves-Other
Business Activities.
BY j. c. ROYLE.

| Special Dispatch 10 The stor
NEW YORK, March 7-Thc heavy
storms in various parts of the coun-
Try In the last forty eight hours have
Drought lighter shelves and heavier
pock"tbooks TO shoe dealers and
| manufacturers OF rubber footwear
and have been worth millions ,o tho
| farmers
The bad weather has resulted in
the distribution of practically all the
orershoeS and rubbers in stock and
the carryoVer until next fall will he
negligible. This has been of distinct
advantage to some of the manufac-
| turers, such as United States Rubber.
who are well supplied with crude
rubber bought at low prices before
the recent advance showed quotations
above - cents a pound.
Thc SHOWS which fell came after a
period OF warmer weather which
thaWed the ground and gave the
fields III the south u chance to alb
SorD and hold the needed moisture
from the present precipitation The
condition of tn" farmers is amply
shown by the food of spring retail
buHinS WhiCh is reported from the
'niddl" west today. and by the actiV-
tiles of farm implement manufactur-
rrS. who after period of small
opera tionS have showed production to
above % per cent of the capacity Of
their plants.
Brick In brisk Demand.
| The storms have checked needed
shipments of brick i'll many sections.
and the Dutch brick manufacters OF
Gronigen have become factor in the
| market here The prices of Holland
| brick have dropped until Dutch max
. erS are confident they can compete
with American products, and ship
mentS from Amsterdam now are ON
| tn" way here.
~Haverstraw makers declared today.
However. that they had little fear OF
| foreign competition once the ice was
| out of the Hudson and bargcS could
| be towed to New York yards. Penn
sylvania bricklayers are booked NOR"
than three months ahead. with prices
! about 10 per cent above the level Of
| last March.
| OIL Field Activity Unchecked.
The report of the Senate commit
| tee predicting 81 gasoline and the
| assertions by presidents of at least
; two Of the Standard Oil companies
| that prices arc not likely to aG-
vance much above present levels.
! alike have failed to check activity in
! the oil fields and refineries. Drilling
operations are being actively pressed
| new wells are being brought in daily.
and refnerics are turning crud"
| stocks into gasoline as fast as pos
| sible in anticipation for a tremendous
! demand from mdtorist this spring.
: Independent retners are paying
premiums III practically every light
! oil field lit Oklahoma, Flush produc-
! ticn in California and the SmaCkovor
| field is making up. in part, for the
| falling off in Mexican light oils, but
! the gasoline oils are still in big de
! mand. The Pure Oil Company will
! begin at once construction OF
! 10, o,000-b barrel refinery at Smiths Bluff,
| Tex. and Will increase it's storas"
tank capacity. Tank facilities in the
| Smackovcr region are being provided
| as fast as possible.
| steel Wage Tendencies.
| The oil field activity has combincG
| with other factors TO keep steel man
ufacturerS on tip-toe to meet dClir-
cries. Ingot and semi- finished pro
duction is close to capacity. Mills
! are handicapped by lack of labor and
demands for forty y-cent-an-hour
scale for common labor are being
heard. although they have not been
formally presented. The present
scale is Sc cents and the increase
would amount, therefore, to about u
| per cent.
| Zinc is scarce and production o.
| the smeiters has been hampered by
cold weather. Some sales have been
made as high as s cents Il pound.
| the highest price touched in two and
! a half years. Tin and lead also are
strong and lead producers are strain
! ing every effort TO increase produc
!! ton.
The possibility of an advance IL
/ automobile prices. already made in
/ these columns. was sustained today
| by the statement of Alvan MacAuIey.
! president of the Packard Company.
| who declared that deliveries of raw
! materials now could be obtained in
! most cases only hE payment Of pr