Evening star., 1936-10-04
Cool Weather Stimulates
Shopping Along Wide
Front During Week.
SPURT IN STEEL RATE
AND LOADINGS CITED
Rise in Auto Output Also Helps
Push Factory Index to Peak
Since February, 1880.
BY THOMAS E. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.


Industry quickened its pace over a
broad front last week and the Ma
tion'S army of consumers, spurred by
spreading of cool weather in most
areas, stepped more aggressively up
to retail counters.
"The advent of October found re-
tail trade throughout the United
States we'll ahead of the same period
last year." the Department Of Com
merce said in its weekly business sur
vey of So cities.
In a very limited number Of in
stances there were slight recessions
from last year or last week due
to unfavorable weather. Wholesale
lines, responding to the faster tempo
of retail trade, showed marked ex-
pans:on." the review said.
Rejecting in part a squirt in steel
output. motor production and freight
shipments, the Associated Press index
of industrial activity advanced to
96.4, the highest since February. 1880.
The previous week it stood at 94.7,
year ago at 70.9.
Auto Buying Mounts.
Faster buying by the automobile
industry and most other sources, ex-
cept possibly the building trade.
played a part in the rise in steel
operations to 754 per cent Of ca
pacity, level representing the speed
lest pace since 1880, steel men said.
6of0ra r1ror of
744 per cent Of capacity and a year
ago SOB, the estimate of the Aneri-
can Iron and Steel Institute showed.
Motor circles, viewing acceleration
in production last week, called atten-
ton to a comparatively healthy sit
uation in the used car market. From
time to time in the past year or so
misgivings had been expressed inven-
tories of secondhand cars might
tend TO slow down sales of new auto
mobiles, but latest reports from the
field intimate this is no longer seen
as threat. it was said.
Output increased to 22,800 units
from 1874 the previous week and
compared with PATIO in the cor
responding week of 1885, Grams esti-
mated.
Aided by rise in shipments Of
miscellaneous freight and coal, freight
car loadings for the week ended Sep
tember 26 rose to a high since No.
vember, 1880. The total of 807,07o
cars, reported by the Association Of
American Railroads, was up 90 per
cent from the previous week and 281
per cent ahead of the like period a
year ago.
Central Plans Order.
Some indication of what improved
freight shipments mean to railroads
and equipment companies was seen in
the request for bids made by the New
York Central, which rendered the
largest prospective inquiry for steam
locomotives of any road since 1880.
Electric power output for the week
ended September 26 was under the
previous week, but the total of
2,157, 7,278,0 900 kilowatt-hours was 16.1
per cent over the like week last year.
How the advance of electricity out
put Of recent months has gone hand
in hand with the need for new equip
ment was illustrated by the report
of General Electric Co. The organiza-
ton, in the third quarter, received
orders totaling s74,922,4 AL, up 38 per
cent from the corresponding period Of
1885 and the largest for any like
period since 1880.
During the week Worth Street"
the Nations largest cotton textile
selling center, marked an important
item on the business ledger. Although
no figures were available on the
amount of cotton goods of all de-
scriptions sold, experts said rush Of
buying took place at a rate roughly
about three times as fast as produc-
ton. OF prime significance, most
agreed, was the fact that most Of the
demand represented buying for imme-
diate consumption.
Financial markets contributed i'm
portantly to the current business chap
ter. After standing on the sidelines
hesitantly early in the week, stock
market traders toward the close Of
the period stepped briskly aboard the
equities bandwagon.
Trade Revival Forecast.
Reason: Devaluation of the franc
was made law and this, most said
served to clinch in the minds oi
many the opinion that Frances de.
parture from a gold standard would
help clear away international cur
rency confusion and aid revival OF
world trade. Many stocks reached
new highs, some to peaks last seen
six years ago.
Meanwhile, under approximately
the same influences, bonds thrust
forward. Rail liens captured a wide
(see INDUSTRY Page G-2)