Show BUSESS S1ILL UtET Reduced Volume Wholesale Trade in Several Lines WEATHER IS A DRAWBACK WinterWeight Goods Are Still a Drug on Market Finished Products Pro-ducts Monopolize Activity in the Iron and Steel Trades Shoe Trade Is Cheerful and Eastern Mnnufac turers Report Jobbers Steady Buyers Buy-ers at the Slight Advance Mado Some Weeks Ago New York Dec Bradstrects tomorrow to-morrow will say There is a quieter tone and reduced volume of business doing at wholesale In many lines but this is notunusual at this season and Is partly balanced by a larger interest In retail and holiday distribution Weather conditions arc still a drawback draw-back to the trade In winterweight goods but it Is notable that a better report comes from the Northwest than for some weeks past Southern trade advices remain good but retail business busi-ness at Eastern markets is still reported re-ported backward In the larger lines of trade new features are not numerous Textiles are quiet and rather dull with agents pending the opening of thc spring season sea-son Wool and woolens arc still quiet Cotton Is irregular and the market Is at a balance pending thc publication of the next Government crop report which however is expected to approximate approxi-mate 0750000 bales The high cost of raw cotton has notyet been equaled by l the advance in manufactured goods A hopeful feature this week was the taking of a large lot of brown cottons for export for China The higher trend of values in November has been duplicated du-plicated in the first week of December and cereals long backward In this respect re-spect have led the advance which however has not been steadily maintained main-tained Finished products monopolize the activity In the iron and steel trades with bars plates sheets and bridge material most active Even In finished fin-ished lines however there is less reported re-ported doing In new business but Pitts burg and Chicago mills are reported sold ahead for CO to 90 days At Chicago plates are scarce and a premium pre-mium Is offered for early deliveries of galvanized and black sheets The rail market is active and 60000 tons were sold at Chicago this week while the total amount on the rail mill books Is claimed to aggregate 1000000 tons While good sales of pig are reported at some markets business as a whole in this line is quieter without however any lack of firmness Much is heard about forthcoming reductions in cost of ore coke and labor and this undoubtedly un-doubtedly checks orders ahead but higher prices for rails are talked of and Southern furnaces are reported heavily sold ahead There is little or nothing doing in Bessemer pig and billets bil-lets Among the other metals copper Is active and firm but tin is weaker I The shoe trade is cheerful and Eastern East-ern manufacturers report jobbers steady buyers at the slight advance made some weeks ago Snow and wet weather are helping retail trade in shoes and rubbers in Northern markets mar-kets A better report comes from the hour milling Industry but the demand Is hardly what was expected Sugar is higher for raws but the refining branch presents the old appearance of irregularity and another price war Is foreshadowed Wheat Including flour shipments for the week aggregate 3432159 bushels bush-els against 2497880 bushels last week and 5133331 bushels in thc corresponding correspond-ing week of 1S99 From July 1st to date this season wheat exports are 81231426 bushels against 91301273 bushels last season Failures for the week number 214 against 1S4 last week 220 in this week a year ago and 237 m 1S9S Canadian failures number 27 as against 28 last week 31 in this week a year ago Snd 29 in 1S08 |