The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
This Bt:tl!din is fa:n1icd fnr tTt.c i:nfnrm.11ti.f1'n of :;Jf~mbcr Rr1t1k.~ nnd r1't.r.
n,,.-,,-r.l'.<.r~
Tnfrrcfll.~ fl{ (hi!I f)(J.f1·ld.
Tf ('flj1JI i~ rtH~f'hir,d in n,1,•11-nr~ it $t1lnH7d b6 il't..-
dcr":itood it is i.ri.ten.ded a/i u 81,c.dal c~urfeb1J and its r;,ml,,rd.3 are cnTI/i,dcnJfo.l.fl1f.e 1:<~riy ,~ not lo Uc nJlt:ns~d fnr rn.J.&li.culi.on baforc
1';0VEJ\1DER 2~, 1919
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY
C
ASA E RAMSAY.
K
BOARDMAN.
ASSISTANT
RESER¥£ AGENT
CHAIRMAN BO.A.PD OF □ li-;!ECT0~:5
,A.NO F'EOERAL ~:ESERVIE A.GENT
FE □ E~AL
REPORT OF CONDITIONS IN DISTRICT NO. 10 FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, 1919.
Kansas City, N ovember 20, 1919.
UE run iorce and eifect of the coal shortag<': certain to reduce the purchasing power of the people
resulting rrom the str ike o f the m iners in the ancl ca use what c ;innot better be <lescr ibed than to call
it a c:1se of "col<l f cet." How injurious that might
b irnminous iields of thLs tli::trict w i11 not be
lw mllst rlcpencl t_dtimatcly on the un<lerlying soundrealized for several days, on account of the ness of business.
extraordinarv efforts to distribute the small stocks 0(
Th e reports !state that November conditions of trade
coal on hand at the time the strike became effective, are a lmost e:--actlv like tho,e of October- and October
November 1. The reports inclicatc, however, tlnt ,. cond ition:, 111 igl1t- easily have been a carbon copy of
great many coriununities arc out of coal ancl in s0111t, con<l itions preYailing in September . The only difinstance;; yards are stripped of supplies, with not a ference to be obsen·ecl, if any, is that as the season
ton of co;il to be bought and little prospect of obtain- ach·anccs the percent of increase in the volume of
ing more for some time, even shoulcl operations be business over the corresponding month in 1918 befully re~umed pe11 di11g a n adjustment of the grie,· - comes larger.
irnces of the m iners. l\la1n- schools have been closeJ
In ~pite o f the indu stria l unrest business is takbecause of the scant fuel sup]}ly and in a number of ing a cheerful and cer tain ly a li opeiul view of the
cases factories ancl steam plants luve been forced to situation. J\s :iiiccting business most iavorably, i t
suspend operations.
points to full employmen t of lnhor at sa t isfactory
As far as the Mi.ssouri-K;insas-Okbl,orrn mines are wages in most cases, h uge crops selling ::tt good p r ices,
concerned, t h e tic-ll p was 1007d e fkctive, all of the n general tcudcncy t o buy for deferred as well as
miners having oueycd the strike order and rcmaini11g fumrc n eeds. a n d a tendency t o speculate because of
o ut tLfler the Unitc<l S tates Court had, in the injunc- plenty of money in circulation, easy credits an<l great
tion proceedings, decreed that the strike should be expccta t ions.
rescinded. ln tllcsc three states the loss of producThis cheerfulness is reflected in all l ines of trade
tion of about 75,0J0 tons of coal ddily, when added and manllfacture. It is seen in the increased volume
to the already apparent shortage, pre~cnts a very seri- of clearing ho use transacLions, in the reports of buildous situation. In th.: fields of Colorado and \ Vyoming in g acti\·ity. in o il production and metal mining. A n d
the miners voted to return to ,vork and the district it also is seen in an improved tone of incl ustrial ism,
president of the united M inc \V orkers officially calkd a cleterminatio1; on the pnrt of tlae ,·ast majo rity of
off the strike on Ncn:mber 13. It is now .repar.tt:>cl -,va-g,:; c"r-:-:ers to st~y on the job despite the unreasonthat practically all of the mines in the two states arc ing attitude of intensely radical leaders.
. · ·
in operation.
\ ,\l hile there appears to be some uncertainty as to The Mercantile Trade.
the iinal outcome of the negotiations the imprc~sion
Rcpol'ts from \\'ho lesa.le and retail houses and manuprevails in bu<;iness c ircles t hat there will be an ad- facturers , bearing <.btc of November 1, reflect a wonjus tment, particularly as to the ,.-age scale, such as w derful activity in practically all sections of this d isinsure pro<luction of coal in quantiLies su fficient to trict. Fifteen h ou~cs r eport business "impro\·ing,"
r c lieYe the present deplorable s ituation. B u t under ~e ,·enteen " steady," two "unsettled," t wo "<lcclinin g.''
m ost favorable operating conditions, it wil l be some The l:lst two reports were from cities afrecte<l locally
time before the prod uction o i coa l is brought up to by the coal s trike. Somewhat s tartling also are the
a point where it ,viii meet r equirements, since it is re ports of the volume of sales, which are stated by
a well known fact tliat there was a ,·ast shortage of twe.11t\'-niue houses as being l,trgcr th:in at this time
coal in th is part of the country at the time the strike last Year. Onlv two h ouse:- reportc<l sales in smal ler
was called.
YOlllrne than i,; Octoucr, 1918. A few h o uses took
The Governors of tl1c States of this district are dc- the trouble to figure out the percent of increase of
terminccl that the min.es must be kept open, recogniz- their business. 'fl1ree Omaha houses showed .111 aving Lha t the rig hts and inter ests of the p u bl ic. are erag-e increase of 38% of sales o,·er those o i October
paramount to t h ose of th e miners _and operator s, and of last yc;ir. Th ree Lincoln h o uses ave raged 44%,
they are lending hearty co-operat1011 wllh tlie _ Go~·- three Denver bouscs '80'}{>, one St. Joscpl1 h o us e 65%,
ermnent in the iurth crance o f plans for operation 111 one Joplin house 76% and one Pueblo house 50%
the event of failure to speeclily adjnst matters.
crcase onr the sales of October, 1918. A Kansas City
Aside from the coal miners' strike, the labor situa- w h o lesale mill inery li011sc f igmctl a n increase of 10010
ti on is r egar <le<l as being easier at this time than at in amount an <l 607'0 increase in numb er of !'ales, " ·bi le
an)' o lher time s ince the beginning of the y ear . T he a Kansas Ci ty manufacturer reported 5070 to 701~
supply of botla skilled and unski11e<l labor is no t up _to inc.rcase of s o les over the sales of last yea r's fall
U1e clemand in city, town or count ry. Alth ough m- season. In so far as sales are concerned t her e is no
dustrial conditions are far from being settled, there doubt, from the re port!", that all houses are doing
are fewer strikes now pending than in any month an exc'cecli11gly prosperous business, if merchandise
·since llfay.
can be obtained to rill ortlers. l3ut, to q u ote a mai_l
order house sales manager, "it must not Ge forgotten
The Situation in General.
tll.'.l.t the cost of operation has also increased at an
Business in this district is running at high record unheard of rate.
fiITT.lres ror each fall month of the year. J udg ing from
High Prices to Stay a While.
rei1orrs com ing to the Bulletin, there is ~carcely a
A general tendency towar_d continue~ hi_gh and _ri;:.we.ak . feature to be observed in any directio n. 13ut
beneath an exterior of checrft1lnes.s ;incl of high busi- j11 g prices fo r many lines ol mcrchand 1~c 1s mentionness activity, the re is a fear that strikes and rnmo r5 ed by some of the correspondents as h c i11g the result
of strikes throughout the country will, iJ continued, of th e shortage of st ocks ::ind the clirficul ty of o_btain-sooner o r later pnt a check on the present era of great in g goods to sell. The !cle;i is that hig h _pr ices a i:e
:prosperity. By throwing people out o f employment. here. to stav for $Orne. time- at least until t here 1:;
pr oductio n caicJ1ing .up with th_e wo..rl<l
·qy· crippling industrial enterp.rises and i.ly ~i~courag- ·~,;ome s ig n
ing -investment of needed capital, -such con<l1ttons arc -demand. · In some lines p rice:; are now almost Pr<.?-
T
!n'-
of
hibitive, a nd in such lines sales are slower. To illustrate this, the manager o( the garment depar tment
fo r one house has prepared a statement of the sale:-;
of suits and coats in a specific p eriod each year from
1916 to 19 19, inclusive. The r eport shows that in alm ost every instance the number of sales fell of with
each adva nce in price. The fi g ures for this s pecific
period each of the four years mentioned follow:
Suit s
Av. Price No. Sold
19 16
1917
1918
1919
. ... .. $34.12
41.22
.
. ..... 55.92
.. . .... 62.73
584
563
325
487
Coats
Av. Price No. Sold
$34.17
36.55
58.55
65.44
499
488
342
251
In spite of the high cost of li\·ing and high prices
generally, however, several houses r eport a quick dem and for the h igher priced merchandise, asserting
t hat their shortage of stocks is most acute in th is
class of m erchandise. It is also noted t hat many
persons a r e buying against possible future deple tion
of stocks a nd further advances in prices, which accoun ts for the extra heavy sales in quarters w here
st ocks are r unning low and people are tak ing everyt hing they can get.
High price,, and shortage oi goods also are .stimulating interest in conservation and wise buy ing of
necessities. A n increasingly lar ge n umber of housewives a re now giving personal attention to t he bu ying of groceries and meats, as well as household supplies, watching the markets closely and :;aving e,·ery
dim e and dollar poss ible. 'fhis is particularly noticeable in repor ts from the mining sections, which leads
to the conclusion that while ed uca t io n in thrift is having its effect, the industria l sit uation has a good deal
to do with it.
H oliday B uying B eg ins.
The holiday buying is well under way and sales are
reported heavy. Gift goods are b ringing higher price;,
than ever before. O ctober w as a banner m ont h for
the talking m:i.chine trad e, whol esale houses reporting
r etailers buying heavily a nd in many inst a nces s wamped w ith or ders for instruments. T h e s ale of toys,
d rug sundries and confections is showing h eavy a t
this t ime.
\ V ith the exception to be noted that the sugar
s hortage seems to have been m et, to a cert ain extent,
by speed -up production of beet s ugar at the factorie::.
of this district which are now working up the 1919
~rop o[ beets, there is little change in t l~e food lines.
V egetables a nd fruits, a nd also canned goods , rem a in
firm "vith no a pparent easing up of prices. Meats, following the trend of the live stock market, are s omewhat lower in price at t he retail shops.
The shortage o f textiles a nd m any o th er articles of
m erchandise, and t he apparent need on t he part of
consumers, has resulted in a demand such as to o,·ercome lhe high prices and sales of merchandise of all
descriptions go on at an increased rate. Since trade i:i
detail, that is with r elation to the commodities sold.
shows an increase which runs parallel with those of
last mo nth. there is no particular need of going further into t his phase of the repor t.
The F inancial Situation.
The clearing houses of t his district report the larg··
est m onth's to tal of t he year · for October, $ 1,974,695,869, w hich is 7.27o larger than the total for September of t his year and 21.7o/o larger than the clearing,;
-in October, 1918. The clearings for the ten months
of 1919 now passed also show a substantial increa~e
of 13% over the corresponding ten months in last
-year. Following are the clearing ho1.1se iigures for
-each ot the twenty clearing houses from which October report s have been received :
Pct.
October, 1919 Iucrea,-c
Kam.as C ity, Mo... . . . .... $ 1,115,396,494
16.2
Omaha, Nebr. . . . . . . . . . . . .
306,226.956
16.3
Denver, Colo. . . . . . . . . . . . .
164,410,003
31.5
Oklahoma City, Okla. . . . . .
77,332.286
SS.O
S t. Josep h, :\fo. . . . . . . . . . .
75,551.412
l.9
64.5
\Vich ita. Kas. . . . . . . . . . . . .
67,951,335
38.8
Tulsa, Okla. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53.107,164
47,7
Lincoln, N ebr. . . . . . . . . . . .
27.990,063
Muskogee, Okla. . . . . . . . . .
22294.406
68 3
T opeka, Kas. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17.926,937
39..5
Joplin , 1v1o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8,179.00)
15.5
Cheyenne, vVyo. . . . . . . . . .
7,N0.i29
Okmtilgee, Okie).. . . . . . . . . .
5.233.859
Bartlesville, Okla. . . . . . . . . .
5,012.079
Colorado S prings, Colo. . . . .
4,728.913
38.2
43.0
Hastings, Nebr. . . . . . . . . . .
3,710,916
F r emont, :Nebr. . . . . . . . . . .
3.606,753
35.5
Kan~as City, Kas. . . . . . . . .
3,532,165
34.0
Pueblo, Colo. . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.345,034
*7.4
Lawrence, K as. . . . . . . . . . . .
2.119,365
20.2
Total, October, 1919 .. . ... ~$- 1,974.695.869
21.7
Total, October, 1918. . . . . . . 1,622.153.540
Tot~!, Ten Months 1919 .. . 16,177,332.474
13.0
Total, T en Months 1918. . . 14.313,096,226
The demand for loans continues strong, with a tencle11cy toward slight increas.e in rates. There has recently been a s light impro,·ement in the car s itu,ition and wheat is beginning to move slowly. lnclications arc that c;hould the car situation continue to
improYe, there will be a decided improYement in th,::
market. wi~hin thirty days. App::irently, h owever, many
bankers ha, e not realized the nccessitv for curtailing loans and gradually reducing- the extension of credit aml con:;equent currency expan~ion.
Reports from all section5 of the distr ict say that collections arc good, some of the large mercantile houses
mentioning October as the banner month of the year
and for ::Orne time in making payments.
Business failures in the Tenth Feder al Reserve Dis
trict have been lowest this year of any year o f record. September failures in this di::trict repor ted to
this Bulletin bv R. G. Dun & Co., numbered 20 with
$152.458 liabilities, as compared with a reco rd for
September. 1918, of 27 failures with liabilities amounting to $182,859.
Agricultural.
Agricultural conditions are generally good over the
district except in parts of Colorado and \Vyomingwhere cold weather has interfered, and in the southern sections of Oklahoma where t he soil is still soggy. A great deal of this year's crop is yet to be cared
for on account of ::hortage of labor and lack of shipping facilities. Large mounds of wheat are sti ll on
the g r ound in sections wh ere the car s ho rtage has not
been relieved.
Early sown wheat on prepared soils is making good
progress and conditions are very favorable. although
scecJing is still in progress in some places, notably in
Cnlora<lo ::ind New l\lcxico. In a la r ge area o[ the
winter wheat belt the wheat is up and 111::iking a good
-;tand, with well ::calter c<l rains to give the soil plenty 0£ moisture. _\ hea, y growth of volunteer whca~
is reported in part~ of l\[ issouri, Kansas, Nebraska and
Okla homa, pro,·iding fine pastme for ca ttle. No official estimates of the area sown to whe.:tt this fall
will be mac.le until December. The report when made,
however, is expected to show t h e acreage has been rc·duced to a considerable ext ent from the· large acreage
sown a ycnr ago.
Cribbing corn has progressed ~atisfactorily in most
-;cctions, yield_s Yarying from failur e to excellent in
different sections. Oklahoma reports indicate the
yield for that stale is better than Lhe ten-year averaf,;C
of 15.8 bushels per acre. i\lissouri's nineteen counties iD this district a,·erage 28.l bushels per acre,
while the a \·crage for the entire state is 27 bushel~
per acr e. Last year the state a ,·erage w.:ts 20 bushels per acre. Corn production in Kansas and N cbr:iska a lso i:. far ahead of last year. and is ver}' close
lo the ten-year a,crag-e. Both Colorado and \Vyoming produced less com this year than in 1918, due
to the dry weather during the summer months. Final
·figures for the entire district will sh9w good return,,;
from the crop ar prc\·ailing prices.
In O klal10m a t he schools have su·spendecl in the cotton d is t r icts to help pick th e cotton, now t ha t t he
rains have ceased for a w h ile. C ins a r e runn ing da:,r
and night. All sections r.eport the q uality as <fa mage,1
m or e or less. The lig ht frosts have hastened the
o pening- of t h e b olls and removed much of t he interference from lcnvcs.
The sugar beet harves t is near ly c o mpleted, except
in \Vyoming , where snow a nd cold w ealh er in early
N'ovem ber prevented harvesting and caused some
loss. Ship m ent s t o th e factories are being pushed
2.s expeditious ly as possibl e and the c rop is being rapidly converted in to s ugar. T he yields are disappointing in some sections.
Other croµ s a re turning out fairly well, gen erally
better t han last y ear, and \vith satisfactory prices.
Grain Movement and Milling.
The movem ent of wli ea t to the markets in the past
four weeks w as practica lly the sam e in volume as bst
yea r, w h ich is t he r esult o f efforts put for th to obtaia
car s for market ing. E ffective October 25 w as a n order of t he r egional d irector requiring individ ual permits from the Grain Co rporation committee a t the
destination m arket for the shipment of grain t o Kansa::. City. O maha, St. Joseph, St. Lo uis, Council Blu ffs,
Peoria ru1d Chicago. The use of t he perm it system
tends to slow up g rain sh ipments to t he terminal market s and no great increase of shipm en ts is looked for,
even with t he co untry full of unmnrkete<l g ra in. Receipts of corn a rc about 60% under receipts of last
yea r, even ·with a m uch larger yield, d ue in pa rt t-:)
the dispositio n o f many formers t o hold corn r ather
than sell at present prices. The sa me falling off in
the r eceipts o f oats is a lso noted.
\ Vheat prices have s ho wn con tinued s t re ngth with
good dem and for t he c hoice m illing g rades . N o. 1
hard w heat has been selling at K ansas City a t $2.33
@2.55 per bushel and N o. 1 red wheat at $2.27@ 2.30
per bushel. Antic ipating r e-selling by th e Gra in Corpor ation in the last wee_k ha d a t endency to w eaken
the market.
O ctober ~,aw a break of 10 cents a hushel in corn.
No. 2 m ixed q uot ed on Oc to ber 1 at $ 1.48@1.50, sol<l
a t $1.40 on November 1. Bnt on N ovember 14 No.
2 mixed was sold at Kam:as City at $1.54.
The pr ice of N o. 2 white oats has shown only
i:light c ha nges. 67c and 72¼c being the lowest and
highest pr ices in October, 72}~c on November r an<l
on Kovember 16 up lO 75c.
M illing opera tions at K an~as City in the past four
w eeks have been at 87% to 90%, at Omaha 89% to
100%, a nd at in ~erior mills 88% to 91¼%- Dcmaml
for t he better g rades of flo ur has been somewhat improved as compared with the d ull marke t of t he last
three w eeks of O ctober. P rices a lso have shown considerable strength, with a l ittle hig h er levels t ha n in
O ctober. Patents in th e first week of November sold
from $ 11.90@12 SO per barrel, straig hts $ 11.0'.)@ll.50,
clears a t $7.30@92 5.
Live Stock Movements.
R eceipts of cat t le at t he six m a r kets of t his d istrict
in October wer e on the whole So/o larger t ha n in t he
same month last year, incr ea ses in Omaha, S t. Joseph
a nd Denver o ifsetting s lig ht losses a t K a nsas C ity ,
\ Vichita and O klahoma City. In the ten months of
1919 now passed, however, t he n umber o f ca ttle m a r •
k etecl in the district w as about 8.So/'o be low t b e recorc
for the corresponding t en m ont hs of 1918.
The monment of hogs to these markets was 31% ·
less in October t han in the previous O c tober, br ing ing- the receipts for the first ten m ont hs of 1919 to
L2% belo"" the receipts for the fi rst t en months o f
1918. \\'hile this is taken as a s ig n t hat there are
fewer hogs now in this count r y tha n last year, it is
a lso contended t ha t many l1ogs are being h cl<l back
for fattening, as ther e is m or e corn in the country
t han at this t ime last yea r. The a verage w e ight of
h ogs marketed in Oct ober w as h eavier by 17 poun(h
at Omaha and \ Vichit:i., 8 pounds at St. Joseph and
2 po unds a t K a nsas City, t ha n t h e averag e weig ht
in October , 1918.
S heep r eceipts· fell o ff in Oc t ober • 55% from t h '!
month record of a year ago, but the t en m o n t-lis' period o f 1919 shows. a gain of 16.5% over the same period of 19 18.
·
Following is a summar y of the live stock r ece ipt.~
at tbe six m.,rkets for October and for ten month.;
of both 1919 and 1918:
October
Ten ~Ionths
1919
1918
19 19
1919
Cattle . . . . . 950.255
9::)5.111 5,422.649 5,92 1.721
Calves . . . . 103.794
86.324
592,322
4-1-5.6,0
Hogs . . . . . 503.477
730.674 8.262.615 8.373,326
Sheep . .... 1,199,350 1,269.465 7,396.6il 6,3-i7.527
Horses & M. 26,0t9
22,107
15.3,07..\
160.917
Pac.king operations, rdlected by purchases of mei\l
animals. were considerably reduced in October, the
figures indicting that 25,772 fewer cattle, 143,769 fewer hogs and 12.894 fewer sheep were s laughtered thnn
in lhe same month of last ye:ir. There wa.s a gain
of 19.470 in the slaughter of calves. In the fi rst ten
months of 1919 the packers purcha::ed 50% of the
cattle, 73%of the the cah·cs, 8-1-70 oi the hogs and
40% of lhc sheep received at the markets of the di::.trict. Their purcha!->es fo r October an<l fo1· the te11
m o nth period of 1919 and 1918 were as follows:
O1.:tobcr
'fen 1lonths
1919
1913
1919
1918
Cattle . .
370,658 396.380 2,761 ,255 3,180.511
Calves . . . . . . 69,367
51.327
438.0-+0
3117.028
1l ogs . . . . . . . 416,9-+0 560.709 6.9-1-2,.3-49 5.871.628
Sheep. . . . . . . . 349,382 362,276 2,998.620 2.725,7~
The cattle mar ket showed improvem ent during the
month, with slight advances in prices. Top pr ice:,;
of native steers in October was $18.35 as compare1l
with $18.25 a year pre,·ious. Native feeders sold up
to $1 -l.40 and stock ct1ttle up to $11.60. Cah·es w ere
up to as high as $18.0~. the same as in ,\ugu"t anti
September and $--1-.75 above the top p1·icc in October,
1918. The hog market broke heavily in Octol>er,
prices falling below the 1917 Jeni. The top price
fo r the mo nth was $16.70, Kansas City, as against
$20.10 as the top for September a nd $18.45 in Oct ober, 1918. Western lambs sold at $16 00 as the top
price for the month. \\'hich is about the same as in
September and 75c below the top in October, 1918.
The market was irregular dt1ring the month, but good
killing classes w ere in demand at firm prices.
Petroleum.
The run of oil from the wel1s of Kan~as and Oklahoma in the J\Iidcontinent field dur ing the last thirly
days has been making a high recon.l for t he year.
A daily pr oduction nrouncl 89.000 barrels is now realized in Kansas. Oklahoma out::ide wells h:l\·e increased their flow to 159,0'.)0 barrels da ily, Healclton
keeping up its reco rd with 37.500 barrels daily and
Cm,hi ng and Sh:unro•.:k 38.000 barrels daily . \\'yoniing, hit by a cold spell, hns maintninecl a good output of oil and is making abo\'e 40,000 barrels daily.
\\'yoming has passc<l Pennsyh ania and is now rated
as the seventh o il producing s tate in the unio n.
New developments kept very clo,;e to the September record, with bad weather interfering wi th the
work. The record of new developments for October in
the t hree states follows:
\Veils Completed Barrels D,1 ily
Rigs ,rnd
New Prorluct'n Wells D r illing
Kan!-;a,; . .... 297
22.259
528
Oklahoma.
71 1
47.00:>
1,618
Wyoming . .
31
3,975
478
October total . 1.039
i.1.2.'14
2.624
Sept. totay ... 1,117
75,296
2J.i0S
The October report is considered a remarkable
showing of operntors in the ir efforts to m:-tintain production of crude oil to keep u p w it h t h e demand, " ·hen
tl1e enormous cost of drilling is taken into consideratio n. \Vith a total production of something over 10,0JO,O~ barrels a mon th from t he Oklahoma ancl Kansas wells, and upw:i.rds of 1,500.000 barrels from \V yoming w ells, the operators an keeping well ahead of
consumption.
Metal Mining.
The past month brought l ittle chnn ge in t h e m etal
mines. T h ere is a consirlcrablc shor tage of la bor in
the Southeastern part of Colora<lo, particularly aroun<l
Cr ipple Cree k.
_
There has been a threatened strike of em ployees at
t he Pueblo smelt er of the A m erican Smelling a ud -R_t.,;:.,:.
fining Comp.my. which seertis unlikely to be sct_t ld
w ithout an increase <.if wages. This would mean an
increased treatment charge for smelting ores. Such
a n inn easecl charge, it is contended by operators, will
wor k a ha rcl:;hip on the mine or,erators of Clear Creel:,
Gilpin and Boulder counties. who h ave already been
fo rced to stand an increased freigh t rate due to the
closing clown of the Globe smelter at Denver, to which
they formerly shipped.
Practically all of these operators are working on
a ver y narro w margin of profit, or at no profit at all,
but simply keeping their mines open and hoping for
better ,:ond itions.
A r,rolonged coal strike would cause some mines
,vhir_h use steam to close down. l\fost of the important mines, ho,..vevcr, u~e electricity generated by
,vater power, so they will not be affected.
In the I\Iissouri-Kansas-Oklahoma zinc and leac\
di!5trict labor conditions have been grmving better and
it is now reported there is an ample supply of men
at the mines. However, producing conditions are
anything but favorable on account of the coal strike
which threatens to cut off all available supply of fuel
for steam plants, and will in a very short time -.cut off
the electrical power as the major portion of it is generated in this region by steam plants.
October closed ,vith ~hipments of 33,346 tons of
zinc blende with a valuation of $1,568,473. Calamine
!'hipments approximated 1,374 tons, valued at $39.507.
The average weekly :,:hipments approximated 8.836
tons of zinc blen<le and 3..J.2 tons of calamine. Thi;;
is a remarkable sh,J\ving, s ince the 111011th opened
w ith a ver y severe shor tage of cars and small hope:;
of any relief. By utilizing b roken dO\Vll cars, the
shi ppers themselves making local repairs, empty coal
car s going thi-ough t he district to the East, and using trucks and teams for hauling lead in order to release cars for s h ipping zinc. the oper:ators were able
to bridge over a very bad situation.
There has been very little advance in the price of
zinc ores, the price ranging from $42.50 to $47.50 per
ton for zinc blende and $25.08 to $30.0J for calamine.
The average pr ice for zinc blende for October was
$4-1-.37 and for calan'line $28.75.
Shipments o f lead ore were good throughout the
momh. aggregating 5,685 tons and a,·eraging 1.421
tons weekly. Prices were good, ranging from FS.00
per ton to $80.00 per ton. the last week recording
an advance to the latter figure. The average price
paid for the month was $79.65. 1
Fall Building Operations.
The tendency in this district is to push building
operations to the end of the season as rapidly as men
a nd mater ials can be obta"ined, in or<ler to ease up
as far as possible the in sistent demand everywhere
in the cl istrict for homes, bu siness houses, factories,
extension:=; and e nlargements. Still, it is evident that
when cold weather sets in fo r good th is wonter , t here
will be many building projects on tbe · ,vaiting l ist
for the opening o [ the coming spring.
October reports of building operations in the leadin g cities of the district give someth ing of an idea
o [ Lhe build ing activity that is going on in t he smaller
cit ies and h1wns and in t h e rural d i,tricts. It was
the greatest month of the year for building and ,vhile
the comparison with October, 1918, when building
vvas at a standstill, shows a wonderful increase, there
is a good deal of s atisfaction to be bad from this year's
repor ts for the reason that t hey show that building
h as practically gotten back t o nor mal and good progres~ is snaking toward relieYing t he very great demand. J<eports from these cities for October w ith
the per cent of ga in over October, 1918, follows :
No. Permits Est. Cost Pct. Inc~ .
Kansas City, Mo...... 451
$ 2,437,280
712.7
Omaha, Nebr. .......
197
•l,608.125
1680
Oklahoma City, Okla..
166
1,219,154 6575.0
Denver, Colo. . . . . . . . 309
754,450
797.0
543,495
100 rJ
1'ul~a, Okla. . . . . . . . . 196
\Vichita, Kas. . . . . . . . . 143
424,970
1057.5
Okmulgee, Okla. . . . . .
72
424.i50
4491.8
St. Joseph, IVIo..... ...
51
229,945
4028 2
Lincoln, Nebr. . . . . . .
70
222,425
3654 0
Kansas Citv, Kas.. . . .
52
81,780
30 5
l\foskoge e, Okla. . . . . .
21
77.820 8312 8
55
61,785
1064.4
Colo. Springs, Colo. . . .
Topeka, Kas. . . . . . . . .
56
59.155
481.0
Pueblo, Colo. . . . . . . . .
31
37,802
181.0
Total October, 1918 . . . 1,870
Total October, 1918. . . 660
Ten rvionths, 1919 ... . . 16.113
Ten Months, 1918 ... · . . 8,640
$
8,182.934
1.779,051
50.418,555
4532
1315
21,993,597
Statement of Condition of
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY
INCLUDING BRANCHES
At CJ03e of Business Novemb~r 14, 1919
RESOURCES
Gold Redemption Fund
. F. R. Notes ........ ---·· .... $
Gold with F. R. Agent.......
Gold Settlement F ..md........
Gold with Foreign Agents...
Gold Certificates and Coin. . .
Legal Tender Notes, Silver
Certificates, etc. . . . ..... .
Total Cash R~serves ...... .
Nickels and Cents ............ .
National Bank Notes ....... .
Bank Notes of other F. TI. Bks.
F. R. Notes of other F. R. Ilks.
Unassorted Currency . . . . . . .
Misc\. Cash ............. .
5% R~demption Fund F. R.
Bank Notes ............. .
Transit Items . . ........... .
Checks and other Cash Items.
Exchanges for Clearing House
Domestic Transfers Purchased
Secured by Government War
Obliga tions:
Memb'!r Banks' Col. Notes.
All Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Otherwise Secured and Unsecured:
Member Banks' Col. Notes.
All others .............. .
Bills purchased in open market
U .S. Bon ds owned. . . ... , .. .
U. S. Certif. of Indebtedness.
_ Total·Earning Assets ..
.Bank Premises ............. .
All either Resources ......... .
Total Resources : ........ ·.
3,869,437.20
40,521,195.00
33,856,110 22
7,016,462.38
213,480.00
293,800.00
S 85,772,484.80
39,537.58
378,000.00
14,80:J OJ
528,500 00,
1,554,794.00.
2,515,631.58
957,460 00
73,364 090.73
653,°'12 25
1,821,735.23
76,796,328.21
LIABILITIES
F. R. Notes in actual cfrculation . . . .................. $ 98,959,005.00
F. R. Bk. Notes in actual circulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,918,470.00
$117,877,475.0:J
Total Circulation . . . ..... .
4,195,456.54
U. S. Treas. G:meral Acco;mt
l\:bmbers, R~servc Account .. . 88,701,231.39
4,011,257.87
Other Deposits . . .......... .
All other Transit Items ..... .
Total Gro~s Deposits ...... .
Capital pai~ in ............. .
Surplus Fund ............. .
Profit and Loss ............ .
Gross Eeaniings.$1,844,164.83
Less current exp. 373,!>66.85
65,405,6W.81
162,313,615.Gl
3,970,lE0.00
3,957,137.55
170,634.53
1,470,197.93
597,100.50
All other Liabilities ... . . . .. .
Total Liabilities . .
45,335,331.2'3
4,407,563.37
$290,356,311.17
RESERVES
11,033,377 21
41,4SGA00.89
450 0:)0 00
8,86T.'7.50-00
12,828,500.00401.,6ITT\ 76
A1'1.2"i7
O'i
$290,356;311.17
:RatiQ of •Total Rcs<:rve to Net
Deposit ·and note Liability
, ·combined : .·. -··:, -. , .. :·:,. ·:· ·. ·
.Gold 'Res. Against F. R. Notes
. after s;tting ..-aslii-e -ss %
~gal~st Net
'Liability·.·
D~p:
9,568,120.06
46.8%
56.9%
@FedFRASER