OCR Text |
Show BUSINESS AND TRADE. Great activities in this region at present relate to the reclamation and colonizing enterprises on hand. Lands arc being opened in various parts of . tho Stato to settlement of various kinds v.-hcrc there 3s water to irrigate if, and intensive farming; but where there is not water, to tho new system of dry farming. The truth is that Utah pvescnts now a greater arcaof valuable land Jo. home-making in pro portion to its total men than does any other of the western Stales. The- dry farming and the new farms under irrigation irri-gation offer opportunities here that are greater than elsewhere. Heretofore the rush of emigration has passed us by and has gono to the coast. Tho stream still continues coastward, but thousands thou-sands fail of obtaining ' eligible locations loca-tions on the coast and arc turning back towards the interior. Of this reflex emigration, as well as of the direct emigration westward, Utah is now getting its full share, if not moro. Hence the activities referred to, which arc noteworthy in many different parts of tho Slate, and that will, in the next few years, be a tremendous uplift in population and material development. Relail Iradc ,in thu city is reported as above that of the first half of May last year. Weather cdiiditions are variable, as is natural for the season; but tho abundance of water is all the more assured by the rainfall which we havo had. Still, the cool weather has given a set-back lo the summer movement, move-ment, ami more heavy dress goods have been called for than is usual at this time of the year. In spite of this, however, how-ever, the retail business has shown a tendency towards strength in quite a remarkable wny. In considering trade conditions, merchants report money plentiful for ordinary needs. There has been an increased tendency to buy liberally of tho necessary article?, with the usual thread in trade running to luxuries. Collections have improved, im-proved, offering another indication that money is loosening up. Building proceeds in activo form generally throughout the city. Good showings have been nnido on tho numerous nu-merous buildings now going up, and many new ones are planned. Tho next sixty days will show a marked improvement improve-ment and accomplishment in the building build-ing line. This construction reaches from business blocks nnd apartment houses to bungalows and cottages in large numbers. In real estate circles the week has shown no special developments. There is strength, however, in the holdings of real estate, aud a good deal of inquiry. in-quiry. A number of minor sales have been made by the dealers. Building loans have been especially inquired for, giving the general business a favorable fa-vorable showing for the week. Inquiries In-quiries from persons who show a settled set-tled inclination lo buy arc frequent. Goncral conditions throughout the Stale aro good. Tho sheep shearing is well on towards completion, with clips heavy nnd of good quality, but not so much as last year. The reported damage of fruit by frosts has proved to be not as serious as thought at earlier time, and indications indica-tions now are for an extraordinarily good year in horticulture as well as in agriculture generally. Tourist and suinmor travel promise greater proportions than over before. Mr. S. A. Hutchinson, tourist manager for the Harriman lines, declares that not less than fifteen thousand persons will visit tho Yellowstone Park this season by way of Salt' Lake, and every ticket used will bo good for stopover privileges here. There has been a lack of news from the Utah mines throughout tho week, but what information was obtainable proved that uniformly good conditions provaJI. The mines of the State are maintaining a largo production in copper cop-per ores, while lead-silver ores arc coining coin-ing lo the local smellers in reasonable quantity. With tho improved road con. ditions up many of the canyon districts, many companies soon will be sending down the tonnage brought to view dining din-ing tho winter months. Copper circles wore enlivened Monday by the release of the April Copper Producers' Pro-ducers' Association statistics, showing a great decrease in production, with domestic deliveries and exports but little lit-tle altered over the March figures. During April the production and imports im-ports of copper totaled nS,0S5,223 pounds; domestic deliveries, 52,107,650 pounds; exports, G2,120,590. The domestic do-mestic deliveries for consumption and tho exports for April lot alcdJ 1-1 ,537,2-10 pounds, about 4,000,000 pounds below production, while the domestic surplus of the metal exceeds this monthly rale of consumption by only a Jittlo over 51.000.000 pounds. Eastern stock markets are still dull and uninteresting, tho market authorities authori-ties from day to day excusing the absence ab-sence of activity by the delay in tho pending Supreme Court decisions. Un til these trust cases aro out of the way, no market interest should bo expected, ex-pected, and stocks v.-i 1 1 be permitted to drift along without special feature, until the decisions arc handed down. Tho locnl stock market has receded considerably con-siderably from its high point of the first of the year, and tho lack of support to tho favorites has frightened what speculative spec-ulative participation t hero might have been lo the market as a whole. Stocks are deserving of better prices as a rule, but it will lake some timo before the public returns to anything liko its former support. Tho great commercial agencies of the country report increased activity, but still the recovery is not entirely satisfactory. satis-factory. Tho crop reports show a materially ma-terially better prospect for winter wheat this year than last, and rather better than tho ten-year average, this indicating a yield of about 500,000,000 bushels, with an increase of 6.6 per cent in acreage. This should give an optimistic tone to all business and industries. in-dustries. But business is cautious. Tho consumption con-sumption is below lho producing capacity, ca-pacity, and curtailment in manufacture is reported. But fhe seasonably good weather, with high temperatures, has helped retail trade in most large centers, cen-ters, and this, with the better crop .conditions, induces a more cheerful tone in jobbing and wholesale lines. Retailers, Re-tailers, however, arc not optimistic, although al-though ready to take whatever tho trade will domand. Iron and steel are lethargic, railroad buying is at a minimum, mini-mum, and other lines using iron aud steel ,arc buying conservatively. But structural steel seems to be in fair demand, de-mand, though the general building returns re-turns show a falling off from last year. There is activity in the cotton goods markets, and jobbers are purchasers, though on a careful basis, of domes' itcs. The dealers report trade in these lines as improved slightly. There is little change in the wool situation, the market being moderate, with a mild interest in flecco wools. Sonic interest is attracted to tho new' wool clip, the dealers taking hold of it with more freedom than hitherto the report being that dealers in "the J section around Soda Springs have paid! for one clip better rhan seventeen cents." I The stock market is variable and shaky. There is abundance of money I in the country, and this, with the favorable fa-vorable crop reports, ought to insure! a year of good prosperity. ! |