The evening times., 1900-02-06

The early market today was sggressively strong
with rapid advances in prices all over the list
! and every indication OF continuance Of the
movement Later snother and severer attack on
Sugar sent the price OF thar stock TO the lowest
/ price Vet and caused a sympathetic yielding in
the entire market. II was difficult 10 say what
the outcome would he. but the bulls were ex-
Jr,mcly hopeful and bought aggressiveIy on the
! reaction. Sugar may be on its way below par
and apparently the insiders are not doing any
thing 10 prevent, 10 say the least, but there is
nothing in Tins 10 cause the legitimate advance
in the remainder Of the market to stop The
commission buying Vas heavy today, and ii is
apparent that tho public is almost il not quite,
ready to help the leaders in a big bull campaign.
The news Of the morning with the exception Of
Sugar gossip. was all hopeful and promising in
the extreme. dividend for Reading, first pre-
feued. for the first time in quarter Of cen
tuIy. more hesry increases in gross earnings. and
continuance Of easy money rates being the
features.
The gross earnings of the Southern Railway for
the first week Of January increased sl54,OO0. The
increase for the month was 1886 900 End the in.
crease since the beginning Of the fiscal wear ST.
as7 coo southern. preferred, Louisville and Nash
vile. and Norfolk and Western, preferred. and
common. were all buoyant this morning Nor
folk. common. advanced to 80 at the opening. and
WAS well held up during the decline in SYM
pathy with Sugar. IT Is said by people usually
well informed that the buying Of this stock has
been for the crowd thai recently was a heavy
purchaser OF Pennsylvania and Baltimore and
Ohio securities. Cle earnings Of the company are
the largest in its history Louisville and Nash
Vile advanced 10 81 IS, and Southern. preferred
had proportional gain.
Sugar early in the day held its own fairly we'll
but al IL O'Clock it was sold in thousand share
lots and broke quickly to below Ill At the
same time the announcement was made that the
Trust has shut down all its reGneries with the
exception Of two. Immediately this was taken
by the Street to mean that the independents
have won in their fight with the Trust. and there
was . wild scramble to go short of the stock on
every side. 1t is difficult to see the outcome
but il is very evident that a decline TO par or
below is among the possibilities especially as the
company itself shows no signs of caring 10 avert
it.
An authority on Sugar matters generally, and
especially on the dealings of the Trust with Con-
gress makes the positive statement that the Trust
has decided 10 put the price of the stock below
par for the effect legislation. The effect on
legislation which this move may be expected
to have. is of two kinds. Talk of the company
losing money and being unable to pay dividends
may be considered a good cause for refusing 10
grant free entry to Porto Ricsn and Cuban sugar.
And whether il is a good argument or not, Sugar
stock selling below par, when it is promised that
it will soon sell again at l3O or better, is an ex-
cellent reason why speculative Congressmen should
buy Sugar stock and afterward vote against free
sugar without being bribed.
Third Avenue doomed up several points to log
this morning the general understanding that
the company's financial affairs will be straighten-
ed out satisfactorily The other traction securi-
ties held their own but made no advances
-
The grangers, and especially st. Paul. advanced
buoyanty this morning. St Paul went above l2S
with bound and Burlington above 126 Rock
Island made a small fractional advance, but ap-
parcntly the insiders willing TO allow this
stock to lag behind somewhat for the moment on
account of the December earnings statement
Atchison, preferred, went to 64. Gossip regarding
the group is all bulish.
The Reading Company has decided to pay a
dividend at the rate Of 3 per cent on the first
preferred stock the first since 1876 The expec-
tation has been rather for per cent rate, but
even the action taken will have a bullish effect
on the stock it is thought. The earnings of the
company the best in its history, and there is
every prospect that within short time the adj
ditional per cent viii be paid The stock went
above 5s this morning. e,l-i. .
The Chicago Gas Company is earning per cent
and little more its stock, and although there