The evening times., 1899-07-18

Prices went of fractionally this morn
ing in the list generally heavy. realizing
by small holders being the characteristic
feature with bear selling also prominent
factor There was buying OF stocks on
the recession by investors, but no attempt
apparently 10 buoy the market All this Is
exactly what might be expected al this
time of the year and with the general and
technical conditions what they are 1t is
what has been suggested in this column
as the probable course OF the market Tor
the immediate future. Ii may be repeated
that there is no reason 10 fear break in
prices or anything more than dullness and
professionalism, and that in the near fu
ture perhaps in August, perhaps even ear
lier, good beginning of a steady advance
in prices may be expected. II is easy 10
see that the money situation is the one
that is causing the most uneasiDess in the
Street. The strike troubles, the Philippine
situation, and the announcement Of the
New York Life Insurance Company have
their effect but the general prosperity of
the country is SO overwhelming in its i'm
portance that all of these matters would
hardly cause ripple if the financial world
were convinced that there would be con-
tinuance Indefinitely of cheap money rates.
| Will the export of gold cpntinue2 Will
the next bank statement and the ones fol-
lowing il be poor or even worse than that
Will the rates on call money be increased?
Every speculator in stocks. and especially
the people with small margins, is asking
these questions with much anxiety. The
most careful analysis of the situation leads
to the belief that there will be an abun-
dance)of gold in this country this autumn
What may be the condition Immediately is
perhaps not a question that anyone can
answer with any degree of accuracy. The
advice of cautious brokers is to buy stock
on the reactions.
The gross earnings of st. Paul for the
second week of July are again the largest
for this period in the history of the com
pany. The total for the week was s7S2, ,2l0,
an increase CT S231, ,523. The St. Paul state
meats have become matter of common
place, because always they show the same
immense figures and the same stupendous
increase over those of last years great to-
tails, bat while in some weeks there is no
| immediate response in renewed buying Of
! the stock as soon as the statements appear
! it cannot be doubted that there is a gradual
and persistent absorption of the stock by
the people. who are the best capable of
! holding it strongly. Its present level with
| in three points of the highest of the year
while the remainder Of the list generally Is
| from five to twenty points off is sufficient
proof of this assertion. And yet there is
every reason to believe that ST. Paul will
| sell much higher than 130 this year. It's
earnings are at the rate Of L per cent and
| its dividends only per cent. An indica-
| ton OF what the management of the COM
pany expects in the way of increased bust
ness in the future is shown by the order
| just given for 2, GEO freight cars to be fur
nished as soon as they can be built, This
order is the largest ever given by a railway
company at one time. st. Paul, with Rock
Island Burlington, and Atchison preferred
went off a trifie at the opening this morn
| ing, but all were bought at a level above
| the lowest recent prices.
The railway earnings in general for the
! first six months of the year were nothing
short of marvellous. The June increase on
| the lines so far reported was about sc. O0O.-
| 900 over last year, and the figures of last
year in turn showed an increase of ever
| $1,000, 900. There has been a steady in
crease in June railway earnings for the
| past five years, amounting in all to SIS
| 0G0,000. The earnings of all these roads for
the six months period have increased $780,
| 000,00D over last year, and this on top of
| an increase of $57, ,000, 900 in the previous
year. 1t is most important also that this
increase has been widely distributed pmong
all the railway groups and not confined by
any means to the grain carrying lines, as
might have been expected. General imer-
chandise and passenger earnings have been
enlarged wonderfully
| There is steady inside buying of Southern
| Railway preferred. 1t is understood that
the insiders are now holding more of the
stock than at any time for many years
past. 1t lis good indication and many of
| the people who judge market movements
!! by such indications are following the lead
| of the insiders in this stock.