Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 44, Number 187, 20 May 1919 — Page 12

PAGE TWELVE

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM TUESDAY, MAY 20, 1919.

FOOTWEAR TRADE ; RUNNING WILD; MATERIALS SOAR

Trend of Everything Entering Shoes is Upward - Prices : Exceed Expectations. .- - BOSTON. Mass., May 20 The trend

of the local shoe market la still up-

Vrard, and although prices are now

beyond all expectations, buyers are ' fclaclnir orders to cover' -what sales

' they have booked, also a limited number which a conservative estimate of

future business seems to require.

It is- freely admitted that wholei salers, now selling from stoclr bought ; one to four months ago, will find It a difficult matter to reorder on a re- , placement basis, and the better the grade the more drastic Is the situation ithey will face, with conditions so severe as to forte the biggest operators

to pause before they commit them

: selves to purchases manufacturers

! are willing to accept.

It is considered inadvisable today ' to sen shoes which are not in stock, In transit or now going through the

ptrorks of reliable manufacturers be-

cause the prices of fine, or semi-fine, i footwear have Increased to a point

J that would wipe out a jobber's profit j or seriously reduce it, were the for-

i in ex methods of selling in vogue.

Moreover, the limit to which values

t may go is no. longer predicted. They j have already passed the figures ex

pected by the most pronounced optimists, and although the United States shoe markets are being drawn upon

- to furnish shoes for the needy in Europe, there is nothing to - prevent ! prices here from keeping in step with jsuch abnormal demands. The week I just $&w a, deal consumated between I 'a local merchant 'and foreign agents i which approximated $1,250,000, with still more orders under contemplation. There is a drain upon the leather market which is little known of eut- ; side the contracting parties. One in- ! stance is of a shipment recently which required one train of 30 cars, followed closely hy another of 17 cars, all loaded with leather for foreign markets, With such existing conditions liable to endure the remainder of this year, at least, it is presumed that no serious drop in footwear prices will be experienced until world conditions resume their natural standards of selfreliance, and draw from the United States only what is actually required. Packer Hide Market. Sales of packer hides are small compared to the demand, but large enough plainly to show that the situation has a strong underlying tone. This deduction Is verified by the prices shown in the principal sales recorded last week, a few of which are: January heavy native cows 29 cents (year ago 24 cents); April native . steers 33 cents (year ago 29 cents) ; February-March native pteers 30 cents (year ago 27 cents); February-March-April branded bulls 22 cents (year ago 18 cents); April-May native bulls 24 cents (year ago 21 cents). These sales aggregated about 50,000 not enough to meet the wants of the tanners.. . ".V Boston may be one of the largest markets dealing in commodities absolutely essential to the people's needs, but it Is apparently in the hands of the smallest group of merchants to be found in any of the United States great cenfers. However, the demand is world-wide, and its proportion is too heavy to handle without some difficulty, because the South American market for hides has been tied up with strikes. Leather Markets. It Js conceded by the trade In general that unless there is a radical change for the better in the supply, leather prices will go to unheard-of figures. The domestic demand, although large, is no more than is fig

ured by experts as a natural Increase resulting from a growing population, bnt this augmented business, togeth

er with a foreign trade so determined to purchase that the fundamental

ethics of buying are Bet aside, plainly shows that it is a sellers' market by force of circumstances.

While conditions remain as they are, and at present there Is no valid reason xo expect a change for six

months at least, leather prices are

likely to creep up as steadily as the demand flows to the tanners. Prices of Bole leather show the effects of the situation. They have advanced about 7 percent in the last 30 days, and as all buyers are partial to

the top grades, & short supply is the result This estimate is b;ed on grades commonly known as high, but there Is a choice beyond these which are termed fancy selections, confined largely to oak bends, and these brought $1.02 a pound last week. Present " prices will not hold Indefinitely, but they are holding now and are what buyers are facing at present and upon which the cost of production must be based. Upper leather is in the same category. The better grades are in short supply, and prices are very firm. Choice" colored calf is now selling at 85 cents, and tanners are urged to make forwardings promptly. Even fine blacks bring from 70 to 75 cents, but the lower qualities sell slowly. The side leather market is pressed with business. Certain tannages advanced from 5 cents to. 10 cents last week, but the demand continues, regardless of the rise. Glazed ldd is coming In more freely on account of better receipts of raw skins, but much more is needed to keep pace with the daily demand, to say nothing of back orders. The situation Is abnormal, and there is no valid way of anticipating any consplcious recession in values this season, and perhaps this year. The hide and leather situation is

portrayed by the following comparl

son of present prices with 1915, and at the height of boom in 1916:

June, 1915 Calf leather ..29c

Black finish Colored kid . Glazed kid .

Chrome patent. .29c Union sole light 41c

Milton, Ind,

Mr. and Mrs. Theo Crist arrived Fri

day evening by auto from Florida

where they spent the winter. . . .The Yale Dally News of New HavenT Conn., May 12, 1919, states that Rev.

Elmo Higham won the second of the Downes prizes in the schooj Of Religion at Yale for proficiency Jta the public reading of the scriptures and hymns. Rev. Hlghsms was ortateed to the ministry at the MUton Christian church in August, 1918..... .Mr. and Mrs. Harry Doty and son, Mrs.

Angeline "Warren and Mrs. Frank Doty spent Sunday- with Mr. and Mrs. John Thurman at Cambridge City. Mr. and Mrs. Earl Crawford and family were dinner guest f Mr. and Mrs. Paul Caldwell Sunday. Mr.- and Mrs. George Wagnor, Mrs. LIda Warren and Dayton Warren were week-end guests

of Wabash relatives... .Mr.' arret Mr. Wesley Newtoa and famHy and Mr. and Mrs. Ozro Dailey spent Sunday with Mr and Mrs. Frank DuGrmnrut, .....Miss Margaret Deckman of Texas, is the house guest of her aunt, Mrs. Wallace Warren........ Mrs. Clifford Braiden and Mrs. ' Wesley Newton

went to Indianapolis- Menday to attnJ tha Rebekah assembly. MaJ. Gen. W. S. Hashes, brother of Sir Sam Hughes, has been' ppbtftted Superintendent of Dominion- Penitentiaries.

those in

the war

...29c . . .40c ...17c

Nov., 1916 085c 18075c $1.25 50 & 55c 5056c 7580C

Now 82585c 7885c $1.25 65 70c '6570c 80c

Medium quality Russia for men's fine shoes.

Palladium Want Ads Pay

Of all the good

I things see page 3 next Monday

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When it came to disposing of Liberty Bonds, Uncle Sam proved himself an up-to-date merchandiser. His selling campaign was the most gigantic ever undertaken. Not only did his sales totals run up into the tens of billions, but he actually made some twenty-two million new customers. Some sales record to -be proud of ! Uncle Sam took the map. Then he divided his map into markets. He studied each market individually and he figured out in advance just what each one should produce. Then he built an individual sales organization in each market to sell the bonds. It was necessary to .reach prospective buyers in the shortest possible time, so newspaper advertising was used used lavishly. In the Fourth loan drive, $3,750,000 " was raised for and expended in newspaper advertising. The sales were About seven-billion, or $70 for every man, woman and child in the United States. Mr. Manufacturer, when you make your plans remember Uncle Sam and his Liberty Bonds. If you want to-learn something further about logical markets, .address an inquiry to the Bureau of Advertising, American Newspaper Publishers Association, world Building, New York.

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