Evening star., 1929-06-30

| dinary volume of business and increased
profits. This buying has been for re-
| placement as well as for original equip
ment. Much of the time the main
producers have had to run at capacity
and customers were clamoring for de-
liveries. Production in the last six
months has been more than 80 per
cent ahead of that of the correspond
ing months of 1928.
Tire output in the last half year has
been at higher rate and more produc-
tive of profit than any similar period
for years. For the first time In some
years the crude rubber price situation is
favorable to the majority of manufac-
tlrers. Original equipment demand has
been high, and replacement demand has
kept dealers stocks low. The tire con-
Germs are rushing construction of big
new cord and fabric mills in the South.
Production has been running between
100000 and 5,600,000 ca5ings a month
for the last six months.
High Earnings Recorded.
Big power developments requiring CEN
| tfal station equipment, plans by rail-
roads for electritication programs and
| radio refrigeration, automobile and tele-
phone and telegraph company demand,
have united to make the electrical equip
ment industry highly profitable for the
last year. Sales volume has increased,
and this has been sufficient to counter
balance narrowing profit margins.
Buying of railroad equipment has
| bucked up since the first of the year,
and orders placed for locomotives, cars
ana signal equipment have shown a de-
cided increase as compared with 1928.
Orders were approximately three times
as large in the last six months as in the
corresponding period of last year, and
| Tor the 1929 year some estimates place
the increase at SO per cent.
! The lumber industry seems to have
done the best among the building ma
| terials. Many of the strong companies
will show higher profits than year ago,
and the position Of the industry itself is
sound and stable, with demand fairly
| constant and high. The cement indus
try is overmilled and competition Is
severe, with prices at a. point where
profit margins are narrow and stocks
slightly larger than year ago. The de-
mand must grow up to its plants before
this condition is remedied. The plumb
| ing, Steamfltting and hardware lines
have maintained or bettered their 1928
pace.
Country Now Air-minded.
Aviation has intrigued the minds of
| the American people, and the industry
is growing by leaps and bounds. In fact,
1t is doubtful If 1t Is not growing too
fast; that is, whether production is not
outstrlpping sales volume and potentiali-
ties. There are nearly half hundred
alrplane manufacturers in the country.
and plants are being started or expand
| ed continually,
In the last six months over 1000
planes have been turned out and about
| ttlree times as many engines Competi-
/ ton Is severe, and there has been some
cutting OF prices. Mergers are forecast
as a means of eliminating Improbable
production units. But the flying schools
are crowded, the commercial lines are
gaming IN number and business and the
future of the industry looks extremely
bright There are now % big CONNER
cial air lines operating freight, express,
passenger and mail service in this coun-
try, and routes both domestic and in
ternational, are being rapidly developed.
Huge sums are being spent on flying
fields and field equipment
Prompt Communication Speeded.
Expansion Of telegraphic, telephone,
raolo and cable communication In con-
junction with the air mail has speeded
up the entire business pace in the last
year. Some of the various concerns
have joined hands. The telephone COM
pany profits have shown a gain of
fully 10 per cent in the fiscal year
rejecting increase in customers and
operating economies. There are nearly
2O,OOO,O 900 phones now installed in this
country. The volume of telegraph and
cable and radio business is increasing
steadily but operating costs have pre-
vented all the gain from being turned
into profit. Lower cable rates did much
to stimulate business.
The average cash street car fare is
about 814 cents but this has not put
an the concerns by any means on q
satisfactory footing. Traffic is not
gaining on those lines which have not
kept up-to-date and the parking and
traffic congestion situation has held
the fractions advance to a slow pace
The electric lines now have adopted the
bus instead of fighting 1t and are giving
a combined service. as some of the
railroads also are doing.
More Tuning In.
Radio has come back strong. The
new equipment made available in the
last IL months has caught the fancy
of the public This is specially true OF
the electrically operated sets and the
dynamic speakers. There are now
approximately 100000 sets in opera
ton and while many new customers
|
already are the backbone of the trade
The industry hopes sales will approXi-
mate billion dollars in 1929. and the
pace so far assures the eclipse of all
standing records. The factories have
been at capacity and scarcely could
keep pace with demand. The tube
producers have never had such a call
for their products. Television has not
yet become a commercial factor.
With their plants working at capacity
} much of the time. the industrial con-
Germs have been huge buyers of ma
chinery and machine tools. So great
has been the demand and so heavy the
: pressure for deliveries that secondhand
: tools which could be delivered promptly
enjoyed excellent sales. The profits Of
: some of the companies have been hall
again as great in the last six months
: as in the corresponding months of 1928
Following Not Forcing Styles.
At times during recent months ap.
parel sales have been slowed in some
sections by weather and financial con-
ditionS but in general these recessionS
have been compensated for when condi-
tions bettered. Profit margins for some
. firms nave been better but the mair
improvement is that the producers ano
distributors have tried to give the public
what it wanted instead of trying tC
make the public want what they
produced.
The results have been apparent ir
hosiery. underwear. outerwear, bathing
suits, paiamas. shirts, collars and va
riety of fabrics Stocks of apparel are
, lower than n year ago. Raw materia
I prices are little lower and profit mar
, gins a little wider. The advance demand
for Fall goods is satisfactory in the
main.
The fabric manufacturers are not ir
a particularly enviable position, but the
I great majority of makers showed i'm.
, proved earnings in the fiscal year. Tht