Show STATE W BUSINESS IS BETTER throughout THE COUNTY merchants are preparing for a heavy spring trade our foreign trade special telegrams to bradstreets aiudi cate that alie past week has been mark ed by continued interruption to the movement of general merchandise country roadways west and northwest are heavy and interior merchants are not ordering with freedom farther west heavy snowstorms snow storms have blocked railway traffic aud a mesut has been relative quiet in many lines of trade at kansas city st louis st joseph Omha Minneapolis duluth milwaukee and chicago cincinnati reports that rams and high at the south have had an unfavorable on some southern markets new orleans merchants express tue belief that damage done by floods in regions tributary to that city haa been overestimated on the pacific coast higher prices are predicted for salmon owing to higher prices of tin of supplies for the seasons work and higher wages for fishermen demand for wheat from the west coast of south america is becoming noticeable at san francisco whence bushels were sent to callao on tho dinst in manufacturing lined no improvement is reported iron is barely firm for best grades at the east and steel rails are held at 30 by ane not the demand coal opens 25 lower nominally prices having beau so low of late that the schedule scie dule cut amounted to nothing demand is at equal to expectations buoen manufactures fac tures are working on dry goods generally aie in light demand an average bua ineas is doing in ginghams and woolen dress goods move airey airly well prices are only fairty held wool is quiet bornn and in chief demand cobun bold well in the face of an immense movement cane sugar has been more active and la C higher refined is i s unchanged but april delivery i ailing 1 c below present quotations nac orleans sugar stocks are lan ever before tha cuban crop s at tons against tun a t year the brazilian chop inn against tons butter aiu lk hogs are higher n good demand and products though stocks are large are firmly held at recent advances business failure io the united stales number last week and thia week basl vear the total january 1 to date is 3 against last year tariff changes and larger or smaller crops have had important effects upon trade for seven months ended january 31 the total value of foreign trade was 4 per cent larger than last year due to the gain in anty free imports of coffee chemicals an I 1 textile grasses dutiable imports only gained nine tenths of 1 per cent and exports 1 5 per cent sugar imports dutiable were smaller and exports of breadstuff decreased heavily while cotton and provision shipments showed good increases the leading money markets experienced an increase of demand this week and a slight hardening of loan rates was a result at ane end of the first quarter of the year this was to be expected mercantile collections continue quite generally slow and unsatisfactory bank clearings at 56 cities for the week ended march 26 amount to a decrease from this week last year of 35 per cent at 55 cities new yorks total excluded the gain is one tenth of 1 per cent though very narrow the stock market has been firm and higher on the absence the improving impi oving financial conditions abroad and the present favorable crop outlook public interest is however absent and the advances were mainly the result of bear covering |