Evening star., 1936-04-05
Spring Rise, Flood Repairs
and Basic Recovery
Progress Cited.
STORE SALES WIDEN
GAIN OVER YEAR AGO
Experts Believe Easter Shopping
Season Will Bring Largest
Volume in Five Years.
BY RAIDER WINGET,


Sharp recovery in industrial activity
last week outdistanced the gains in
retail trade throughout the Nation.
Producers of heavy and light goods
were favored by the inevitable Spring
upturn, a return to order from the
chaos of floods in the East and &C
centuation of the long-term forward
movement Of national economy.
Retailers opened the week with a
flourish that pushed sales we'll ahead
of the previous week and kept it much
higher than a year before.
Then there developed a series Of
weather conditions which left con-
summer buying as limp as a rag in
several sections of the country. Rain,
cold and tornado winds combined to
discourage shopping for Spring needs.
In those communities where weather
was ideal retailers recorded business
some 10 to rs per cent higher than the
same period of the previous year, but
even under discouragements the Ma
ton taken as a whole surpassed the
1885 level.
Easter Comes Early.
No small factor in the comparison
is the fact that Easter this year is
seven days ahead of 1885, but the en-
tire shopping season of 1886 Is counted
upon by authorities to exceed a year
ago and establish the best record in
five years or more.
To Judge the effect of weather on
trade, observers pointed to wholesale
lines, where climatic changes are a
minor consideration. A steady gain
in the last several weeks was not him
dered, and distributors prepared to fill
the last-minute needs of retailers and
then turned to late Spring lines where
mounting interest already is evinced.
The Department of Commerce for
the week ended Wednesday found that
under the stimulus of Easter shop
ping, both retail and wholesale trade
moved to higher levels. -"
Buying to replace supplies and
equipment damaged or destroyed in
the flood-stricken areas also proved
an important factor"
AS for the source of retail supply, It
was stated: The general upswing af-
fected wholesale trade to a more
marked degree than in recent weeks.
with apparel lines favored and rush
orders the rule"
The Associated Press index of in
dustrial activity. adjusted for seasonal
variation, stood at 80 per cent of the
1929-30 average. compared with 8l3
per cent the previous week and rs
per cent year age
Steel Activity Mounts.
Steel mill activity displayed the
greatest advance Of the major in
dustries, rebounding to 81 per cent OF
capacity. as measured by the Amer
ican Iron and Steel Institute, from
53.7 per cent the week before, when
floods interfered with production.
The level was the best since June Of
1880, and steel makers predicted fur
ther expansion. Automobile manu-
facturers and railroad interests &C
counted for the major portion Of
the demand.
Automobile production stepped up
to 108,426 units from 984l5 units the
week before and went ahead of the
similar week of 1895 for the first time
in 10 weeks. Independent producers
now are increasing their schedules in
some cases to around the best in
seven years. and the three major man.
ufacturers have added substantially
to output.
Parts makers meanwhile have been
buster than for many a month, and
estimates place 1886 frst-quarter
earnings of the leading companies at
level better than the 1885 first quar-
ter.
Freight car loadings for the week
ended March % totaled 600,487 cars,
an increase of 5 9 per cent over the
preceding week but loss Of 2.6 per
cent from q year before.
French Franc Watched.
So far this year the railroads have
moved 7.907,214 cars of freight, against
7,504,918 cars for the same period Of
1895.
Unsettlement il the European sit
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gency in France forced the French
franc below the gold export point
several times, and one small shipment
of the metal was made from Paris to
New York. At the same time the
monetary gold stocks Of the United
States rose to $10,1S5, ,000, 900, another
peak.
A report of Importance in confirm
ing March business improvement came
from the Bell System. which showed
a gain of 1850 telephone stations.
the second largest monthly increase
since october, 1929. and a first-quar.
ter gain of 201 900 stations, the largest
for any quarter since 1929.
March engineering construction
awards totaled $150,197,000. which
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