Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 132, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1903 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

-- 7. . R. G. Dun & Co.’s U6| X OrK. Weekly Review of Trade _i—_ says: Unseasonably mild weather is making It possible for farmers to secure mbch late grain and cotton that seemed doomed by early frost, but on the other hand trade is dull in heavy wearing apparel, fuel and many lines that should now be vigorous. While iu the long run this business may be made up and the nation will be benefited by the increased crops, the immediate effect is unfavorable. Manufacturing activity has increased at cotton mills and several minor industries, but in iron and steely there are more idle furnaces and mills.' 1 Buildipg permits are decreasing, and structural work is not prosecuted with the vigor that was seen last year. Lumber is despite the moderate demand. The railways continue prosperous, earnings for October surpassing last year’s by 6.2 per cent. Disappointment has been experienced by those who believed that quotations for iron and steel would go no lower. Rails are maintained at S2B for Standard weight, the Yailroads constantly placing small orders. Reports of extensive export sales are henrd and contradicted, but it is certain this branch of trade is reviving as prices become more attractive to foreign consumers. IT! Concessions to packing LDIG3OO. house workers averted a _____— threatening disturbance in the labor situation and restored equanimity where there was probability of ous interference to business. The seaso&i of outdoor work is now well advanced and there will be the usual release of help, but this will affect only a moderate number of skilled hands. Aside from implement makers, indications are that most factories will run full forces throughout the winter, and the steel mills are assured full employment. Demand for furnace products and finished iron is curtailed, due principally to large consumers holding off for lower prices. Reported cuts in finished materials and a reduction in price of rails will encourage the early initiation of much heavy work for some time past held in abeyance. Grain shipments, including 2,050,798 bushels of corn, aggregate 4.907.558 bushels, and are 26 per cent over the corresponding week of 1902. Agricultural acjvices are satisfactory as to condition of winter wheat and farm work. Supplies of wheat are gaining iu the Northwest and millers are enabled to increase the output. Export demand for breadstuffs is lighter and prices tend lower. Compared with last week’s closing, , wheat declined 2% cents. Corn advanced %c and oats unchanged. Live stoek receipts, 368,509 head, are 8 per cent over a year ago. Bank clearings, $178,363,113, are 6.02 per cent over a year ago.

International's Report. Special telegraphic reports from correspondents of the International Mercantile Agency throughout the United States and Canada regarding the state of trade are summarized as follows: The intervention of elections in eleven States, with a week of mild weather, has served to check retail sales of seasonable goods, notably clothing and millinery,, but a canvass of leading jobbers iu.sta- " pie lines at important cities indicates that the season’s total business is somewhat in excess of expectations. In financial circles features have been the ease with which the Wall street stock market resists shock, the ease with which gold was engaged for import after the first flush of cotton export bills and the increased firmness of money at the West, where, as Chicago bankers say, continued tension is promised for the next four weeks. The cotton crop, representing $100,000,000 more than that of Jast year, even if no larger, points to further financial drafts to market it.