Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-12-24

NEW YORK, December 23.-The first
transactions on the Stock Exchange
to-day disclosed how much of yester-
days weakness must be attributed to
selling for short account
The rush to cover short contract
prices up without regard to fractions
il the specialties which had been the
market of attack. Sugar, Metropolitan,
Tobacco, Brooklyn Transit and Peo-
pies Gas jumped from 31a to points
ON opening sales.
The same buoyant tendency was
shown in the international list of rail
road stocks. London had lifted these
sharply before the opening here, but
they bounded above the London parity
to level from l to points above last
nights close price.
The urgency of the demand from the
bears constituted miniature panic.
Their short selling yesterday was based
on an assumption that the periodical
settlement in the mines department Of
the London stock exchange, which be-
gan to-day, would disclose so weak a
position there that a panic would be
likely to result. On the contrary, the
earliest news from London showed that
the settlement in London was proceed
ing easily and in an orderly manner,
sentiment being much encouraged by
the shipments of gold from New York.
Rumors of financial ENGAGEMENT and
forced liquidation pursued prominent
figure in the financial world all day
yesterday. To-day, On the contrary, 1t
was affirmed that $1O,000,000 in gov
eminent bonds had been placed as adj
ditional security for this man of wealth
and that his difficulties were ended.
The Professional Traders
accepted the one rumor with the same
credence as they had the other, and put
IN a lively two hours trying to buy
stocks to save themselves from loss
interpretations of the bank statement
were decidedly confused and the market
ran off on realizing. 1t did not get
back to the top, but hardened again ma
terially and closed strong. The cash
increase shown by the statement of ST.
1925 came as a surprise, in view of
the gold shipments and the drain to
Boston. 1t is an evidence of the hid
den resources brought out in such
crisis as that of last week. The item
OF loans can hardly be an accurate re-
Election of the net result of the drastic
Of t1O
ness of the decrease, $3,094 900, must
be due to the average system of compu-
tatiOns. Al
What happened in Wall street this
week had been a long time brewing.
Any one of half dozen or more causes
might be cited but any of them or all
of them combined were more properly
but the elimination of long series of
causes which precipitated the event.
The whole may be summed I'D in the
term Misrepresentation. Among pro-
fessional spectators there is a process
expressively termed "pyramiding."
Money is borrowed with which to buy
on a margin. When the price of the
purchase rises the advance is reckoned
as profit and is invested in more pur-
cheses. The profits thus reinvested
profits thus mount up to enormous pro
portions. But the demand which has
thus advanced the prices was a purely
fictitious one. The pyramid thus Great
ed is an inverted one and it toppled
over when an attempt is made to real
ize. The capitalists do not call their
operations "pyramiding," but the per-
sistent imitation in values of securities
which went on for months had much the
same effect
1t has been long evident that any
large selling to realize
Would Depress the Market
and some very wealthy combinations
have persistently held their stocks and
ignored the symptoms of coming
stringency in the money market, with
an obstinate optimism regarded the re-
Punishment of the money supply
which results have not justified. Cap
italists and bankers who had under
written the securities of many of the
new Industrial quotations. found the
market taken from them and prices of
securities in the open market drop
ping below the underwriting price.
With this burdensome load to protect
ana growing strlngency of money,
threw an avalanche of all classes of
securities on the market to obtain
needed funds. 1t was such a realiz-
Ing movement on large scale that it
had been long sought to avoid, as the
market was in no condition to stand it.
But once started, and the bears fully
understanding the weakness OF the
condition and forcing prices down
with reckless holiness. the fabric be-
gan to orunble and seemed tottering
toward ruin on Monday, when the AS
ISOLATED Banks of New York. by con-
cert5d action. offered $4,000 900 in
loans and broke the money rate. which
had jumped to " per cent. per day.
equivalent to 1S6 per cent. per annum