Evening star., 1937-07-11
TRADE B0[STERED
BY GRAIN HARVEST,
TRAVEL SPENDING
Millions Move In and Out
of Cities and Favorite
Vacation Spots.
BEST WHEAT CROP SINCE
1881 SPURS ACTIVITY
Farm Cash Released at Kansas
City, Dallas and Other Centers.
Rail Loadings Climb.
BY THOMAS z. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.


Associated Press Financial Writer
A bountiful grain harvest and play
time spending by Summer vacation
lists animated the Nations business
IN many places last week, bracing it
against the willing influences of the
hot season.
Seeking relief from soaring tenn
peratures or starting Summer tours,
millions were on the move in and out
OF cities and favorite vacation spots.
transportation was crowded by the
summer mlgrations which swung into
full tide over the Fourth of july
week end.
Under the hot sun the wheat har-
vest, the richest since 1881, rolled
northWard, leaving in its wake In
creased spending power. Rail traffic
mounted to new peak for the year
on the early July rush of grain to
! market
! Trade returns from Kansas CITY
Dallas and other centers indicated
the farmer was spending more money.
| But for the Nation as a whole con-
sumer demand for goods showed lit
| tie change.
Strike Effects Felt.
The Commerce Department, in its
survey of 81 key cities, reported signs
pointed to increasing erosion of
trade activities through labor dis
| turbances."
Wall Street, however, appeared to
have found the industrial outlook
more hopeful as workers returned to
steel plants recently hit by strikes.
| Steel shares were in the van of a
broad stock market rally, despite
sharp curtailment of operations by the
industry on the usual Fourth of July
stepdown.
Bolstered by rise in railroad car
loadlngs to a new peak for the wear.
the Associated Press index of indus
trial activity on latest figures stood
at lO4l per cent Of 1929-3O level,
compared with 1048 the previous
week and s26 in the comparable week
last year.
For several weeks this index has
been marking time in a narrow range
after attaining new tops for the re-
coVery on the Spring squirt. Mean
"hlle, 1t has been losing some ground
on year-to-year comparison. Last
Summer, with Federal spending at
peak as veterans bonus checks were
cashed, business upset tradition and
continued upward through the hot
months.
Travel Business Jumps.
Echoing reports from shipping. rail
and other sources. the Commerce De-
partment observed "one consistent
note rejecting Nationwide condi-
tons was record breaking travel and
tourist business.
Railroads, steamship, bus and air
lines" it added. ARE CARRYING un-
precedented business while the move
ment of tourists is apparently reaching
new high levels.
| There were official indications the
1887 recreational season in New Eng
land will be the largest since 1929.
Advance bookings at hotels, camps and
farm homes for July and August we're
20 per cent ahead of last year Yacht
clubs report more boats in the water
than ever before at this time.
Visitors poured into Washington in
unprecedented numbers More than
| $4,000 tourists visited Niagara Falls
over the holiday, the largest in his
tory"
Carrying over from the preceding
week, the midyear rally in security
and commodity markets seemed to
have stirred dormant wholesale trade
into some life. Worth street. the
textile trading center in New York.
| had revival in cotton cloth demand
| after three month lull.
However some textile mills. after
prolonged drive to fill orders ac-
cumulated in the last half of 1886 and
early months of this year, cut opera
tions for breathing spell
Cheered by Crop News.
Some of the brightest trade reports
came from Kansas City. st. Louis and
| Chicago, where merchants were cheer
ed by crop reports and remunerative
| prices received by farmers particular
| ly for new wheat. The Governments
monthly crop report. forecasting a
total wheat crop of 49,, ,267 900 bushels
in face Of recent damage scares, was
good news for busy makers Of farm
implements, mail order houses and re-
tail merchants
The holiday took its toll in manu-
featuring activity. but released mil
lions for week end trips. The most
intensive heat wave of the season
helped boom resort trade and demand
for bathing suits. ice cream, electric
fans and the like.
In what was figured to be a normal
drop for the holiday automobile out
put fell to 100,03l units, compared with
l22,890 the previous week and 100,648
for the corresponding 1896 period, as
estimated by Wards automotive re-
ports. The American Iron and Steel
Institute estimated operations OF the
industry fell to 67.3 per cent of ca
pacity from IS the previous week
This left operations only q shade
(see TRADE, Page G-2.)