Evening star., 1924-07-17
STEADY GAINS SEEN
IN Foreign TRADE
Japan Orders SteeI-Fruits
and Canned Goods in
Heavy Demand.
BY j. c. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, July 1.-THE foreign
trade OF the United States has respond
cd to the pulmotor of sales effort and
now is commencing to breathe more
naturally. Dispatches received within
the last "a hours give evidence Of fresh
buying of steel by Japanese interests on
a fairly large scale The American
Sheet and Tin Plate Company has re-
ceived orders for approximately 5000
tons OF light-gauge black sheets and
10000 boxes of tin plate.
1t is believed in steel circles that
these are forerunners of further pur-
chases, since Japanese buying usually
Is of an assorted nature, and orders are
generally combined in order to make
fun cargoeS for their ships sailing from
the Pacific Coast. Other bids asked in
clude one for 10000 tons of steel rails,
and inquiry has been made for black
and blue annealed sheets.
Heavy Exports Reported.
Trade with Japan has been further
simplihed by the adoption by imperial
decree of the metric system, which be-
came effective the first of this month.
The Japanese government has conduct
ed a. campaign of education in the effort
to do away with the old complicated
units of weight and measure. but it is
time to populariZe the metric system.
Replacement of the scales used on the
government railways alone will require
expenditure of over 100000.
PruneS. ia iSinS and dried fruit are
being exported to European countries
from Pacific ports al the rate OF sew
eral hundred tons daily. According
to San Francisco shipping men. the
movement is almost double that of
last year. 1t is expected that the
> canned goods shipments for Europe,
which viii shortly get under way,
will exceed those Of dried fruits.
Dried pears and peaches to be sent 10
England will not be ready for two
weeks vet, but cannerieS already are
preparing the vegetable output for
export.
MEXICO Good Market
Mexico and other Latin American
countries are taking excellent volume
uf american manufactured goods. the
trend being specially strong in Cen
;raI America Producers and export
ers are expressing the hope that the
American advertising men who have
been meeting in London viii gather
on their trip data which viii make
possible the adequate advertising OF
American goods abroad.
This attitude was expressed by Z:
{ Martin of the National Paper and
Type Company. who said: ~ have
known good advertising to sell the
most expensive highly competitive
American goods in !ow-priced foreign
markets flooded with similar goods
from half a dozen countTies."
The fact that building begun in
the first half OF this year in 81
cities OF the country involved e~pen-
dture OF nearly two billion dollars
and that the volume of building Tor
the remaining six months Of 1924 IS
expected to be heavy Is not being
overlooked by furniture men. Thou
sands Of furniture dealers are crowd
ing. The annual shows at Grand
Rapids and Chicago this week max :
ing preparations TO meet the demand
expected this fall.
One conservative dealer here esti-
mates that 20 900 families in this city
and environs will move this fail.
$4,000 new apartments VIII be opened,
24.GOo new homes viii b" occupied
and $50, ,G0p rooms must BE- furnis ned.
There has been Z slowing down IN
building in many places, but TINS mas
been counter balanced by the gains
in cities like New York. Chicago.
Detroit Phiistde lph;a. Cleveland. Nil-
waukee, Buffalo aud Denver, NhlCh
made gaius in June compared with
last June.
Furniture manufacturers as
whole have been please! with the
business done at the midsummer
shows over 100000 feet Of hard
woods will be converted into furnl-
ture used in this country. This has
been caused by high wages iii the
building trades which have induced
furniture workers to seek building trade
employment.