Evening star., 1939-12-31
Retail Trade Brisk
AsCoId Weather
Spurs Demand
Mountain of Orders
Waiting for Industry
After Holidays
By SMITH REAVIS,

Associated Press Business Writer.
NEW YORK, Dec. 30.-Shivering
shoppers and mountain of indus
trial orders on hand enabled the Ma
tons business this week to counter
the usual betWeen-holidays slump
and turn in better than fair year.
end performance.
The bite of cold winds which swept
many sections caused unusual de-
mand for heavy wearing apparel and
stores which had settled down to a
lull found themselves, in many cases,
crowded with seekers after merchan-
disc which had lain almost un-
touched on the shelves during the
mild week which preceded Christ
mas.
The extra sales swashed over into
the wholesale markets, where store
buyers reordered warmer lines and
looked about anXiously for goods
suitable for January clearances. The
surge of trade just before the holi-
day had depleted many stocks.
counted upon for next month.
In the meantime business looked
ahead to 1910, studying the opin-
ions of scores of economists and hard
headed executives for a guide as how
to plan for a year the future Of
which appeared about as obscure,
affected as it was by two European
wars and an election campaign at
home, as any in some time.
While optimism was apparent in
many seats of the mighty, caution
seemed to divide honors as a key
note. In the statements of many
public men was an almost unani-
nous warning against the building
up of too heavy stocks of goods
which might prove useless should
the consumer strike" or foresee a
diminution of his purchasing
power.
Staple Index Declines.
That prices have not reached any
runaway stage was evidenced by the
fact the Associated Press weighted
index of 35 basic staples declined a
bit for the first time in four weeks.
Such important necessities as rub
ber, will and tin backtracked, while
coal, grains and cotton were boosted
trif1e. Silk, to the sorrow of the
ladies, also went up to the point
where hosiery manufacturers were
forced to raise their prices on full
fashioned stockings.
The effects of war on American
economy were disclosed by an in
creasing number Of orders from
abroad, especially for machine tools
and airplanes for the belligerents
and for other United States prod
ucts for countries unable to tap
their usual sources of supply in
Germany, England and France.
An increasing volume of traffic
for export is being moved by the
railroads through Atlantic and Gulf
ports, J. j. Pelley, president of the
Association of American Railroads,
said. He added that during the first
20 days of December a daily average
of 745 cars of export freight was
placed alongside ships in New York
Harbor, an increase of 10 per cent
over the November average of 685.
The cumulative effect of the for
ward buying which has been going
on since early September was shown
by the Associated Press seasonally-
adjusted index of industrial activity.
which stood at l1l7 per cent of the
l929-3O average, the identic figure
for the preceding period, and Just
a little under the 10-year high of
I'LL per cent established the Sec
ond week of this month.
Steel Rate Down.
Disappointing was the sharp fall
IN the rate of steel mill operations,
little larger than generally charged
up to Christmas week. Confidence
was expressed, however, that it
would rebound next week, as the
steel industry does not regard New
Year Day as holiday.
Other branches of heavy industry
produced much as usual and the
average daily output, eliminating
Christmas for machine tool makers,
railroad, farm and electrical equip
ment manufacturers. the automo-
tive industry and others in this class
held close to the high levels of the
month.
In textiles activity was pro-
nounced, with cotton, wooden and
rayon mills turning out huge sup
plies of cloth. Residential build
ing awards fell off, as was natural
with dad counting the cost of the
holiday celebration.
For the week ended December %
electric power production, for the
tenth time in the last few months,
notched up record peak. For the
same period railroad freight car
loadings dropped less than season.
ally.
AS for the retailers, Dun & Brad
street had this to say in its weekly
survey:
Long deferred needs of heavy
clothing were covered hastily, win
ter wearing apprel moving out at
the fastest rate this month in most
of the leading centers of distribu-
ton. Demand was especially strong
for trimmed and untrimmed coats,
fur garments, overcoats, mems suits
and children's garments. Sales of
ski outfits, skating equipment and
snow suits frequently were larger
than during the Christmas shopping
period. Rubbers, gloves, sweaters,
snow removal implements and win
ter hardware moved suddenly into
the foreground. Buying of luggage
and travelling accessories for year.
end trips contributed substantially
to the weeks sales total"