The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-02-12
READINGS Big BOOM
The Stock Makes an Advance Of
Eight and a Half Points,
AND LEADS EVERYTHING ELSE.

The Volume of Business on the New
York Exchange Unprecedented.
President sloan, Of the D., l.. and
w, Says His Company Is Indi-
rcctiy in the Combine.
New YoRK, Feb. 19.-Mcssrs. Drexel,
Morgan & Co. announced officially last
evening that the leases and contracts
which were signed Wednesday night
have now been ratified by the board of
directors of the Reading, New Jersey
Central and Lehigh Valley Railroad
companies by which was effected the
combination of the anthracite coal in
terests,
Samuel Sloan, president of the Della
ware, Lackawanna and Western, said
10 a reporter regarding the combination:
1.-THE Lakawanna is thoroughly in
sympathy with the combination. While
we have made no formal agreement
with the Reading we shall act in har-
mony with that company, and we shall
not be competitive factor in the coal
trade. We shall act with the combined
interests both i'll the output and price of
coal"
The Lackawanna Is"In It,"
''Then to all practical purposes you
are in the combinationT' asked the re-
porter.
"Yes," replied Mr.. Sloan, "as COM
petitive element the Lackawana is in
the combination, as it is in sympathy
with the movement aud will act
with it."
Il believe" continued Mr.. Sloan,
ssthat some such concerted action was
absolutely necessary, and that it will
result in the public good. The object is
not to raise the price of COAL but to
regulate production and to make prices
uniform"
The Stock Exchange has seldom pre-
sented scene of greater activity and
excitement.
The announcement that the great deal
by which the Reading Railroad COM
pany had obtained control of the Lehigh
Valley and the New Jersey Central COM
panies had been consummated had
given the market a tremendous boom
Wednesday, but it had gathered force
over night.
Readings Big Jump
Reading sold at the close Wednesday
evening at 55 1-2. Yesterday it opened
at 81 1-2, and went up by jumps until it
reached Ga, an advance of l-2 points,
and all within the first few minutes
after the opening. Brokers seemed TO
be loaded wiah buying orders, and fairly
climbed over each other in their eager
ness to make trades.
Dealings were largely confined to
Meading stock, and out of 30S, 600 shares
of listed stocks sold during the first hour
after the opening, 100000 were of Read
ing.
The volume of the business transacted
was something unprecedented. The
floor of the Stock exchange was crowded
4-I &c
messengers We're running in and out
continuously. The galleries were
thronged and within the four walls of
the big board room perfect pande-
monium reigned.
Other Stocks Weak.
A curious thing about the market was
that while the coal stocks were SO tre-
mendously strong, the rest of the list
seemed to be weak. The general list
was evidently being entirely neglected
by the traders.
A big business was done in New Jer-
sey Central, which advanced three points
during the first hour of business, to
l31 1-2 and Delaware and Hudson Canal
company, which jumped up four points
to 1874 l-2. After the first bulge there
was a slight reaction, and Reading de-
clined to 81.
The general opinion in Wall street is
that the stock win sell at par before long.
Reading bonds, Of which there is a
large and varied assortment, have also
felt the effect of the BOOM and were all
quoted from to IL per cent. higher
than the last reported sales
Strange to say the activity in Reading
and Delaware and Hudson did not seem
70 affect Delaware and Lacl1awana in
the slightest. The market remained
very steady for that specially.
Erie was strong and higher, and New
England advanced. Their advance in
each case is attributed to the boom in
Reading.