Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-01-14

To-day will go down in Wall street as
one of the record days which have be-
come so frequent Of late. Speculation
took on the nervous high strung char
acteristics which have SO frequently
recently caused wide and excited huc-
tuat;ons in some stocks or group of
stocks, which were effected by some
important development or rumer of
some development. To-day it was the
local traction group, led by Manhattan.
The erratic fluctuations of this stock
made it evident that the violence Of
the movement was in large part due to
the existence of a large short interest,
which manifested acute distress on the
advance which carried the stock up
912 points, with a subsequent relapse
of 5 points. The sudden advance in
the local fractions was taken advan-
tage of for very heavy realizing all
through the list, and when Manhattan
itself gave way the whole market
broke rather sharply, with the result
that the closing was decidedly weak
n with net losses pr~edominatinG over
gains. The early market was strong
n animated under the continuing
influence of the advance in Delaware &
Hudson dividend, and the large and
concentrated buying III that stock and
others of the anthracite group. On
tario & Western opened wide with TO-
mn chorac cnt1inn OF froyo - 70 OEK
This latter was the top price. After
the realizing movement invited by the
opening advance, the bulls rallied the
market and brought forward new
points of strength. The coalers,
Union Pacific, Baltimore & Ohio, the
Changers, Tin Plate, and a number OF
low price railroad stocks had periods
of strength. Minneapolis G st. Louis
jumped 5 and the preferred ga points.
In the late realizinz movement the steel
stocks developed special weakness on
the fears of a war Of competition be-
tween the great powers in the trade.
National Tube and Steel & Wire each
broke 81. The reaction on Delaware
G. Hudson was 5A. Northern Lead
preferred dropped 6A, and American
Express sold at a decline of 10 points
from the last preceding sale. The de-
crease of $11 ,648, 800 in the cash de-
posts of the bank was unexpectedly
large and the increase of only a little
over $4,000, 900 in the loans was unex-
pectedly small, to the benefit of the
surplus in both cases. But the bank
statement was taken advantage of to
realize. 1t is practically assured that
next week will see the beginning of
gold exports, and experts estimate
that the movement will reach from
fifteen to twenty million dollars. 1t
was asserted in Wall street to-day that
arrangements had already been made
for the shipment of a considerable
tmount on neXt Wednesdays steamers.
The business in stocks the past week
has eclipsed all previous records. Fol
lowing the unprecedented trade of Fri
day and Saturday Of last week which
reached the highest records for a full
days trading and a Saturday half day,
the aggregate sales on Monday were
lifted well above the two million
shares level for the first time in the
history of the New York stock eX-
change. Unlike the great bull market
OF two years ago, in which the newly
fedged industrial stocks made the bulk
OF the trading, the present market is
distinctly one of railroad stocks, and
the industrials play an Insignificant
part. The immediate impelling cause
of the rise in the growth of the com
munity of interests" policy among the
railroads. The purchase of the Penna
Coal Company for the Erie, the pur-
chase of the Central railroad OF New
Jersey for the Reading, the appearance
In the Erie directorate in community
OF control of interests that have been
rivals in the railroad field in the
northwest, the requirement Of st.
Paul stock by j. j. Hill, of the Great
Northern, are the concrete facts from
which is inferred a general adoption
OF this policy among railroad inter
ests. Countless rumors have circulated
OF other plans in process of execu-
ton, but these are the only well au-
thentic developments. The Importance
OF this development as the last or the
latest step in the rehabilitation Of the
railroads of the country by insuring
maintenance of freight rates can only
be understood by a comparison of
conditions in the railroad world with
those of a few years ago. Then there
was a pretty general condition of
bankruptcy and wreck among the rail-
roads of the country. The problem
presented was complex and formidable.
Bonded Indebtedness was unwieldy,
both by reason of INSCRIPTIONS infla-
ton Cf capital issues and the high
cost of construction and material in
the earlier period. The construction
was so f1imsy in many cases as to keep
he annual cost of maintenance and
repair up to a high level of expendi-
ture. Rate wars, reaching the point
OF determination, had brought the
level of frienght rates down to an I'M
profitable level and the structure and
equipment TO railroads made them in
efficient instruments for cheap trans
portation. Even the growth of freight
business attracted by the low freight
changes therefore could not be taken
advantage OF. Old stock and bond
holders know what sacrifices had to
be madefn the cutting down of bond
cd Indebtedness by recognition. to