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Show Major Movement in Business In Direction of Improvement Sentiment Declared Unmistakably Stronger Since Settlement of Labor Troubles 'i ith few exceptions, major movements move-ments In hua!ifa ooiulnue In the direction di-rection of Improvement. Recent weeks hfcv brought a practically genem! ail-vance, ail-vance, followlni? a seasnnul lull In dlf-f dlf-f rent trades and a wetback In aonu-industries aonu-industries throuKh laor trouble", and H'Mtiment la uniiilst.ikahly xiroimcr. While uniformity if urain in volume of trans ictiona Is Inckini;. and though obataclea ti progress are still present, hctlvit u-a in various guttrtcrs have expanded ex-panded conslUratdy and In certain instances in-stances the best prvlitia records h.iv beri closely Hpprua,hd or exveedwd. says iMin's lle l.-w. 1 he noteworthy demand for rn 11 road materia; has remnint-d art outstancllntr feat ure, about 1 ..M'O.ib) tons of rails having been ordered f'r 11:M dellverv-nnd dellverv-nnd large quantities of rolling stock purchased, and production of both pi hon and stel hs rwcovered substantially substan-tially rrn the low level of the sum-rror. sum-rror. Impediment in transportation, with freiirht embariroca on some lines, still hinder shipments and prevent n full disi ri but ion of commodities, bnt the nisniiiitH of the general nrerchan-dtse nrerchan-dtse movement Is evidenced by the heaviest tar loadlnas in nearly two e;irs. These are salient points pf a situation which, if yet Irregular and by no means wholly satisfactory. Is clearly one of favorable promise. Having Hav-ing In ni-iny oases reflects a continued aiBpotfj-tn t limit commitments to well-difincd iiircrnentN, but forward operations.. a a rule, are Increaxintr and omei m.i nit fact urers whose output is aobl ithe.id to the end of the yar Imve withdrawn further oTferlnKa. The , Arufcia-L ni- a limit kulin tiomaad k ccnsuming channel! with the opening of tiie fall s-aaon has not hcn fully realted because of unusually high temperature in different sections. yt the public purchasing power is greater great-er now than that unemployment, has teen largely eliminated, and protracted protract-ed strike fn basic industries completely complete-ly or partiutly settled. With a comprehensive list of wholesale whole-sale commodity iuotatlona disclosing an exec of advances during each w fek fif Sep(enilcr, n rise in the monthly lnox number hnd been clearly' forPHhH.hw ed The upturn In the general gen-eral price level, ss measured by Itins comptlat Ion. closely approximate,) 2 i per cent, the October 1 index number1 figure being 17i.64. This marks the hiKheat point touched In eighteen J nvmt lis. and represent m a recovery nf i .about 1ft p r cent from the lowest basis. ra. hed in the after-war deflation. AsVi" from the clothing class and that denigrated no "o' h r fond." In hich slight Reclines occurred, all of the Seven groups comprising tlie Index number sdvmced last month, with all Ir.od toKethe rising 3 per cent Furl her ev htiee of the relative smallneas of the cotton crop this year provided hv the ircHernment's (x-minT report on the prospective yield. With tb. fln'O fclimat.' oT 'N? ':.)n nlmw- 1ng a decline of seven points In crop condition, the probable production is placed at 10,12 jOurt bales, or 4 42,000 bales less than was Indicated In tne September forecast. The present crop estimate la subject to later revision, the Inst calculation Of the department of agriculture being scheduled for 1- eniber. but a comparatively small harvest har-vest Is clearly foreshadowed. While in Increase of as mm h aa X.OAO.uoo bales over the production may be tecorded. the crop of that year waa much below the average. Recovery in pig Iron manufacture, as was expected, haa been rnpid since the settlement of the coal mining controversy. con-troversy. Many blast furnaces hd been forced to suspend while the strike was on, but resumptions came guukly It. at month and 1st) furnaces were at work on October 1. Lacking two. this total en'ials that of July 1, and shows that practically all of the loss In active ac-tive furnaces caused by tha deficiency of fuel supplies has been regained-W regained-W Ith many more furnaces In operation, average dallv pig Iron output In September, Sep-tember, as reported by The Iron Age. lose to 7.7l tons, a sharp increase over the August average of f.l.&sn tons. Production of steel Ingots has also recovered, re-covered, but piling UP of finished steel nt some mills has resulted from car shortage, and a few shutdowns are noted. The gains recently effected In the textile trade are fully maintained, and In some- Instances are helnaj extended. l.eis Is heard of hesitation In buying, and spring business la now broaden- ing in distributing channel. It Is i aiaaifnant tl His liiqtruviu xonilU.on.fl. li.at t ran'! ions in om houm s dur-li.g dur-li.g Sept em her were the largest in a year or more, nnd the unusual activity in the carpet and rug Industry remains a feature. A new season has opened In the latter line, but the largest produce-; of staples will not hould an nucrtotT bere because output for the ext thrv months is already engaged. The general gen-eral price tendency in tat Met continues upward, with further lvanceg In woolens and with some cottons also at higher levels. In common with the movement In a-rlons a-rlons other ounrters, prfc.es In the hide trade and allied lines are rising. While some Interests are of the opinion that domestic packer hides are nearing the top. further odrances were established this week, and foreign stock Is also stronger. In view of this tendency. It la not surprising that leather tanners tan-ners ore firmer In their views as to prices and that Increases are being named on footwear. New Kngland advices ad-vices Indicate that hua:ness with anoe manufacturers nd holesalers la steadllv Improving, while activity in the Middle West la evidenced by the I recent lrge leather aa'ea to shoe pro-i pro-i du era. It la estimated that the new I ewking prices on alt varieties of footwear foot-wear represent an increaae of 16c to; 1 4mc pr pair 1 |