Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1902 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

["7j 7“I Nothing has happened Net IOH thus far in the new year to ■’ > indicate that the hopes of continued prosperity so generally entertained throughout the country are fallacious. The one place where there have come to the surface conditions disagreeable to contemplate is Cleveland, where it lias long been suspected by banking interests shat trouble was brewing. The difficulties of the Everett-Moore syndicate and their consequences are purely local. They are not due to any weakness in business in the country at large. The saine observation applies with equal force' to the rubber situation, which has been the subject of wide comment in the East. It is a source of relief to merchants and manufacturers that transportation facilities are easier, now that the holiday trade, the greatest in the country’s history, is finally disposed of, but these facilities are not equal yet to the requirements of the vast volume of business. The railroads have not yet delivered all the structural material which has been delayed in shipment. These delays have interfered seriously with building operations in many quarters. Nevertheless orders for this kind of material are pouring In on the mills. This is a good Indication of activity in building during the coming summer. An idea of the magnitude of the new equipment which railroad companies are acquiring may be gained from the fact that one of the largest car manufacturing companies built in 1901 65,000 cars, of which only 500 were passenger cars, and that orders in this industry continue to be enormous. James J. Hill, in speaking to the farmers of the Northwest, said the country has outgrown the capacity of most of the trunk lines. The rail mills are kept so busy by home orders which it will take a long time to fill that little attention is being paid to foreign business. The English mills have been able to get an order for 105,000 tons of rails for Mexico because the American steel men did not deem it worth their while to make a bid. It is understood that the mills are receiving liberal orders to be iilled during the second half of this year. They will not be for the present the active competitors in foreign markets that they were a few years ago.

p,. Chicago business maintnicago. tains a good volume, as is per cent in bank clearings. The advance made by the Underwriters’ association in insurance rates was not expected, bnt the insurance men claim the heavy losses in the classes of property affected justify the change. This never is an active season of the year in real estate, but there is less activity than there was twelve months ago. There is less eagerness on the part of owners to sell and more inquiry by men who have money to invest and who are coining to the conclusion that they can do better in real estate than anywhere else. The government crop report indicated a total wheat yield in 1901 of 678,661,400 bushels, the greatest ever known in the country, but this does not reach the amount estimated by some of the private statisticians. May wheat closed at 82% cents, a loss of three-fourths of a cent for the week. The crop prospects will soon become a point of vital concern to the New York stock market, as a decreased yield this year will raise the question of a reduction in the earnings of the railroads, whose business will be chiefly affected by sfiort crops. Prospects for the Brazil coffee crop are not satisfactory, owing to continued drought. Eggs are scarce and some of the large houses have been heavy buyers, but the Eastern apprehensions of a corner are not entertained here. Sugar continues low, and authorities in the trade think prices will rule low.