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Show BUSINESS AND TRADE. - The business of the city during the past week has centered vc' largely about tho public improvements, the leading lead-ing of these .being the contracts and tho continuation of tho tremendous building activity which has been such a marked feature of the present season. Tho Main street resurfacing is getting along well', and Mr. Moran, the contractor, is pushing push-ing things in fine style, nnd ho has begun work on tho contracl of paving First West street from South Temple lo Third South street. His other paving contracts will also be pushed with the utmost vigor, nnd all bo finished the present season. The great building operations are in evidence evorywhere. The Nowhouse structures aro gotling about finished, and a good many of the tenants are now in occupancy The other large business busi-ness blocks aro being pushed energetically, energeti-cally, and aro getting along in fine style, while the construction of dwelling-houses in the forms of flats, apartment apart-ment houses, and pretentious residonccs is being pushed with untiring vigor. This is a great year for building in Sail Lake, and will not only bo tho record year, but immensely more than the record. rec-ord. The real estate market continues in excellent form, firm and with good sales frequently reported, and tho amount of average sales make up a fine total every week. Every one knows that it is good and profitable to own Salt Lake really. This makes the buyer anxious to obtain il, and the seller not too anxious to let go. So the market is kept in a fino and firm tone all tho while. The general business of the city is decidedly on the up-grade. Bank clearances clear-ances for the week are a good gauge of tho business done, and show a gain in tho past week of 25.7 per cent, as compared com-pared with tho bank clearances of the corresponding week last year, which is certainly a good substantial gain. All forms of traders arc obliged to keep larger and more varied slocks than over before, because of the great influx of new population, 'this influx being demnnsf.rnt eI liv 1 in nifnn'iniif n C -Mini hundreds of new dwellings as fast as they are being constructed, while the former residences aro also fully occupied. occu-pied. No .better proof of the constant; and tremendous gain of (he population of the city could be asked, than this. The mines of the sinsrounding region, doing all their business clearances in this city, are rapidly forging to the front in their productiveness, and in the meantime the veins hold out splendidly, thus giving an amplitude of ore reserves. re-serves. Tho ore reduction facilities of the valley arc gaining all the lime, both in extent nnd efficiency. We have here now, one of the greatest ore reduction re-duction centers of the world. The railroad situation continues first-class. first-class. The Western Pacific is Hearing its complelion between this city and San Francisco, forming a. new through line. The Denver it Northwestern (Moffat road) is being pushed hither-ward hither-ward in its construction, with nothing remaining in fho line of especially hard work, with the exception of the big tunnel through the range and tho Uintah Uin-tah work, to get from (he waters of the Duchesne river into the Provo valley. val-ley. , is tho, expectation that the latter portion of the line will be done the present season. The news received a short whilo ago that, the Santa Fe was huildiutr from lh3 coast to Gold- field ami F,)y, with a contemplated line from Ely to Salt Lake, was welcome news, and it. was given out as official. The construction of that, line would give us five railroad lines lo the coast, and would mean that (his would compel and hasten (ho construction lo this city of lines by the Chicago & Northwestern (which is within striking distance already), al-ready), t.lio Chicago.. Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Burlington, and tho Iock Island. All 1 hose v-'iJl need to build lo Salt hake lo got the one thousand miles additional haul which r-uch construction construc-tion would give them in I ranscontinent-al ranscontinent-al business over their own lines. Throughout I lie Stale, various reclamation re-clamation and irrigation projects aro in the course of development, and new ones are organized from tinio. to time. Tho indications aro that the present season will bo by far, .the most extensive exten-sive of any season ever known in the history of Utalr in the opening of new tracts of land for sot Moment. Jt promises prom-ises to .be a first-class year in this State in all of its agricultural and stockraising activities. The abundance abun-dance of tho winter's snowfall furnishr amplo water for all purposes. TV ranges aro better than ever before, aud with tho exception of the lucerne crop in this valley, which is troubled very much by the leaf weevil, there is nothing noth-ing lo dim the prospects of a bumper year agriculturally for Utah this soa-son. In the country at large, Iho July payments of dividends and interest in Now York, exceeded all previous records. rec-ords. Thero is an abundance of money in tho financial centers, and this money is going largely for the purchase of bonds, of which railroads, and municipalities muni-cipalities have been offering such immense im-mense quantities during Iho present year. In industrial lines tho gains previously pre-viously reported hold good- Tho iron and steel mills make more encouraging reports. Wholesale departments are enlivened by tho scmi-wcokly clearance sales in tho cleaning up of old stocks and staplo stuffs, .fobbing trado is of Iho midsummcr-filling-in character. Business houses report fall booking greater than during any year, and pro-dict pro-dict an unprecedented demand for next year. The building is brisker throughout through-out the country, and hotter labor and trado reports arc coming from the South ami from the Pacific Northwest. Shoe and leather trades show great activity, ac-tivity, and higher prices rule in hides and in manufactured leather. Silver is low, with signs of some increase in-crease in vnlnoj copper is strong and gaining in price; lend is quiet and steady. The copper situation seems lo be good for a continued advance. The stock inarket is the weakness in the general commercial and financial situation. situ-ation. Speculation is paralyzed because the public will not go into "tho street," nnd whatever fitful activity is shown in stocks is sudden and is immediately stopped when the market is even in tlu least pressed. Tho crop situation, so far ns the foodstuffs prospects are concerned, is abovo tho average; but tho cotton outlook out-look is for a smaller crop and higher prices. On the whole, tho country seems to be maintaining its grndua'! recovery from tho panic, and good vitality vi-tality and business eonfidonco continued strong. |