The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-30

are. OF course, dangerous, cut may bt
made with reasonable confidence on the
sharp bulges for point or two of profit.
The movement in the Union Pacific Sc
curities was the feature Of the day, though
Northern Pacific common was almost as
buoyantly pyrotechnic. Little Union
spurted up to 100, after opening at lp9
and a fraction. 1t was pushed up all day
with never a weak r1Oment until 10 had
been reached. After that it showed a
tendency to succumb little to the ire
mendous selling tnat occurred. This stock
was selling below 81 three weeks ago,
and therefore has advanced more than
80 points in that length Of time, The
most curious thing about the advance
is that there is absolutely no authentic
or even plausible news OF any deal. lhFolN-
ing the line The stock has been doomed
by clique Of operators that have been
as bold as any that ever operated before,
buying hundreds of thousands OF shares.
There are many careful people lhdt De
lieve this entire stupeudoUs movement has
been simply speculation, with nothing
for its foundation except the Gact that
the stock was selling three weeks ago
lower than seemed reasonable compared
with others on the list The earnings OF
the company are good, and If the grang-
ers are worth their present prices, Union
Pacific is worth 100 There is, of course,
the possibility that the stock VIII be
given an increased dividend in the near
future and this has helped the clique, as
the public is now in the mood to consid
er all possibilities OF this kind as ac-
compl1shed things. The talk yesterday
was OF per cent for the stock. me
preferred stock advanced TO 9l@s, Won
derfui squirt for IT, and the fact that the
common stock Is to receive per cent diVi-
dend, cannot be said to be bull argu-
ment FOR 1t.
St. Paul advanced 70 Ia, and Northwest
to N, apparently in sympathy with the
movement in Union Pacific. Nothing new
is heard of the story that there is to be
some combination among these systems
aud the probabilities are against II.
The failure Of Burlington to make any
advance was one of the noticeable fea-
to 200 on the Consolidated on Saturday,
but 1t failed to reach that figure yester-
day. getting no higher than 1872, ana
closing at lS9. Northern Pacific, on the
other hand doomed up 10 points to 49,
and closed at the top. In this case. too
manipulation Of very daring character
is evident The fact that the Burlington
is TO be taken over at 200 in bonds paying
per cent. and guaranteed by the North
ern Pacific and the Great Northern, is
not a bull argument on Northern Paclhc
common. I'm the opinion Of some of the
best informed people in the street AS
his been said before in this column, the
record OF the Burlington up TO the pres
ent time Is that it has never earned SUI
ficicnt in any year TO nave paid tne IN
terest on the new bond issue. The March
net earnings Of the line are case IN
point. They showed a decrease as COM
pared with the March earnings of year
ago of more than $4,000.
Southern Pacific advanced sharply, in
;,ynlpathy with the boom in Union Pa
cifIc The high price reached was Big. an
other new record. and four points above
the close on friday. The close was At 50.
In the case of this stock the advance was
looked for and IL is probable that many
conservative people otherwise pretty well
out OF the market profited by it. No
dividend Is to be looked for on the stock
at present but the earnings of the sys-
tom are excellent and the outlook for
the future Is good. For one thing IL is
likely that the Union Pacific people viii
not allow the stock 10 remain on a non
dividend basis for long when they own
much the larger part of the stock them
selves and Will haze to pay interest on
the bonds fOated 70 buy II.
The Steel securities were among the
strong features of the day, both MAXIM;
handsome gains. The common at one time
sold as high as 81, and the preferred wat
within a point Of par, and both closed
practically at the top. IL was said that
Mr.. Kcene was a seller Of both stocks.
and the explanation of this given by the
talent was that he wished TO prevent
the boom from going too fast. 1t is pos-
sibie, of course, that he may have had a
little stock actually for sale. too But
these securities look TO be as good as any