Show ACTIVE HOLIDAY TRADE Salient Features of the Weeks Markets < BETTER FEELING IN STEEL Year Clasing j With Mono Cheerful Cheer-ful Tono in Many Lines High Prices for Haw Textiles a Drawback Draw-back Against Which Cotton Manufactures Struggle New York Dec Bradstrccts tomorrow tomor-row will say Activity In holiday trade with sales equal to or In excess of last ynnr at most market quiet In wholesale lines as usual at this period with fair reorders re-orders from Jobbers and exceptionally strong and active markets for speculative ly J dcaltln staples notably l cotton wheat coffee and provisions are the salient features fea-tures oC the week Other points brought out are the sustained bettor feeling In Iron and steel and exceptional ease in money at a tine when disbursement preparations might bo expected to lead to high rates High prices for raw textiles Is a drawback draw-back with which the cotton manufacturing trade particularly is struggling Hides leather and wool arc stronger In tone In industi lal lines the feature arc tho endIng end-Ing of the Colorado coal strikes and the gradual downward readjustment of wages in coal coke and iron and steel to meet changed conditions of supply and demand The year Is however closing In many lines with a rather more cheerful tone than seemed possible some time ago Wheat Including flour exports for the week ending December 21th aggregate 2335CCC bushels agalnbt 3303035 last week r30GlSr this week last year 121111113 In 1UW and 3MS163 In 1900 For 22 weeks oC the cereal year they aggregate bJ21S 170 bushels against 12r719021 In 1902 HO102CGi in 1901 and 89I WCSO In MOO Corn exports for the week aggregate SSlOJl bushels against rG7K last week 1002531 l a year ago 121331 in 1901 and 1011 103 In 3100 For twentyfive weeks of thC present cereal year they aggregate 27713 122 bushels against 812JSfti in 1902 19051 297 In 1901 and 907C9787 bushels In 1900 Business failures in the United States for the live days ending with December 23rd mnnbcr 213 against 230 last week Id in tho like week In 1D02 219 In 1901 213 In 1900 and 220 In 1S99 Jn Canada failures for the five days ending December 23rd number num-ber 15 compared with 22 last week and 13 In the like week of 1902 |