The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-26
FINANCIAL AVID COMMERCIAL.

WHnNRSDAY.
Eo,.,e, arb;,,sce dealers commission house.
and traders generally contributed TO the LARGE
transactions on the stock Exchange today. No
univ vas the volume Of business larger Than on
any d.v for many weeks mas, hut the distribu
lion baa rorclv been exceeded In the history OF
the Exchange There WAS A distinct preferenc,
%, ,.iIv,v sb,res which 10 re,dI,v exnIained nv
,b. ,ene,aI advance in characterization rates thai
{. taxing Mace For The flrs, time in len ve,r.
or moro there IL A reaction in the steady tendency
NJ ,oilw,v f,eirbt yates toward lower figures A.
the improyementi largely the result OF theextrsor
din.ry amount of business pressing upon the
railroads Il ia evident that some pbenonenal
tr,fIlc returns will soon bo reported.
Tbe heaviest trading in tho railway list wa,
in Union Pacific Issues, Southern Pacific. Mis-
souri Pacif. and C., C.. G., and st Iouis while
the greatest net advances were recorded in the
anthracite coal stocks which rose sharply in the
late trading The movement in them was ac-
st;nnpnned by reports that closer relations than
now exist are likely to be established between
the various anthracite coal companies particular.
" between the Lackawanna and the Jersey Cen.
trail systems Confirmation OF these reports Is
still understandable The local traction stocks
were strong under the lead of Man Railway,
for which there has been a steady demand for
several days past Less active issues that attained
first preferred and Iowa Central preferred.
Tho industrial group was by no means neg
lected. L. S. Leather common again supplied a
larger percentage OF the dealings than any other
stock, and-enjoyed further material net advance.
Reports that the control of the company is being
ACQUIRED by Standard Oil capitalists do not seem
plausible yet in default Of any other explain alton
arc received by the Street with a good deal Of
credence. Sugar Refining was second only TO
Leather in respect to activity and scored u little
larger net advance. As in tho case of the last
named tho speculation In Sugar was stimulated
by rumors that could not be confirmed They
referred Of course to an impending settlement of
the trade war
Still another report that received attention re-
lated to d speedy tcrmn alton of tho gus. rate war
Regarding this 1t may be said that unfortl-
nately, II appears to have no foundation.
The indications are that tho suicidal competi.
ton between the local gas companies will not be
ended until the shareholders of the Consolidated
Company realize more fully than they do at pres
ent the effect of tho fight upon the earnings Of
their company The managers of all of the COM
panies appear 10 ignore the fact that the Iepis-
lature couyenes shortly and that il NAV enact
measures Chat will make a combination Of the
several gas interests impossible and At the sam,
time render a partial restoration of rates dif,cul,
II is understood that one formidable obstacle 70
a union of the companies ia the probability that
such an event would deprive a considerable num-
Der OF officials OF their present incomes
All of the iron and steel stocks were be.vv
being sold chiefly by speculative holders and
professional traders on suggestions that the mar
ket for iron and its products may soon suffer A
reaction similar to that which has taken n,,ce
I'm the conner market Tho constant n,ocino ~
unusually largo orders for steel rails and for rail,
TO give this suggestion much force American
Car and Foundry issues were exceptionally strong
on an official announcement that the comneny
has lust booked orders for over ia OOO cs,s mai.
ing its total orders in process Of execution 800
100000
A further sharp decline in American Mailing
issues intensified natural desire for facts repsrd
ing the business of the company and its financial
condition So far as can be learned the only
trouble with tho company is that IL is hammered
by Inadequate working capital When the COM
pany was organized It took over twenty-tbree
mailing plants and started business with a work
ing capital of over So, 500, 600 II has since ac
quired fourteen more plants. increasing its ca,
pacity more than so per cent, and also an eaten.
sive system of grain elevators in the Northwest,
10 lessen the cost OF buying and storing
it's raw material Treasury stock has been issued
in part payment for these plants, and some OF il
was sold last winter to syndicate, which included
a largo number Of brewers at 80 for the preferred
and so for the common stock The company's
working capital well earnings in excess
OF the amount required to pay the preferred stock
dividends have been drawn upon to complete
the purchases referred to until the original work
At the same time the companv'a busin.ss bas
been steadily increasing Since Sept It has
booked orders aggregatng 90 per cent larger
IMAM were eh'eieo during 'he corresponding period
OF last year. 1t has Just closed a contract, vir-
tually for Ave years with one OF the largest users
of maltfor between 900 600 a nd 500 900 bushels
a year Il NAV be noted incidentally that Il 10
the practice Of the COMPANY n secure ito o,.,n
40 fast. a n,,es contracts for a.. n,os,,., m.
situation in brief Ia that the comp,nv f,pds itself
doing , much large, husip.so ,t., -, =, -
oro,.n;-.d ,,,,, - =. I'D s,;...-;,t.N, ;. "
Ing capital II Is in consequence fairly large