The times., 1901-06-06

J Win itiitl
The Rock Island episode was naturally
( the subject of much SUrmiSe. one of the
! Wall Street bureaus late in the day an
! nOunced that a stock issue is TO be made
/ and that present holders will be allowed
/ to subscribe for 20 per cent of their pres
! ent holdings at par. me story was hol
parenty it had much to do with the sharp
! advance in the stock. Many people CON
! sidered the boom largely manipuiative
! one. but the street generally was not sat
| istied with any such commonplace e&pla-
| nation. one other story was that three
! important interests have COrnered Rock
/ Island much as Northern Pacific was cor
| nered month ago. Other rumors related
to the position TO be held by the system
! in the harmony plans. The earnings or
! the system for the fiscal year and for the
/ month of April were good, as stated IN
! this column yesterday, but there was
nothing in the showing to account Tor the
| stock advancing well into the lies ana
! crossing St. Paul. The stock pays only
per cent dividend. and if bought at its
/ present price yields only 2.S6 per cent on
I the investment the very lowest rate on
/ any railway stock or BOND IN the tHtue
/ stock exchange list. Moreover, II the dlN-
! idend rate is increased to per cent, whlch
| is not likely in the near future, the rate
! of return on an investment made at yes
/ terdaYs price would be less than 80 per
| cent Rock Island opened at 167 and de-
! clined to 1865. a considerable reaction
from the closing price of the previous
/ day. 1t then began to advance and was
! strong ali dav until the last hour, when
I in siyrocket boom it went up to li5A
| In minute or two before the close 1t de-
/ clined to III, the closing price.
| Atchison common was almost as buoy
ant as Rock Island, at times getting as
high as 81. 1t sold off at the close in
| much the same way as the latter stock,
/ to SSl2. The preferred was strong but
! less erratic. The Atchison gossip was OF
piece with the Rock Island tax, except
! that there was no suggestion of an addl-
tional issue of stock
The only feature Of the London market
was the Denver and Rio Grande securi-
ties which were advanced sharply on eX-
! ceIent buying. These stocks were also
strong in the early New York market.
/ The story in the street to account for the
I boom in these issues was that the line
/ is to be taken into the Greater Missouri
| Pacific system i'll a most advantageous
way Il was said tnat missouri racine
/ stock is tC be given in exchange for them
on satisfactory basis.
| Other harmony gossip was plentiful
/ but nothing especially novel was develop
! ed Southern Paciffe-NNas doomed early
1 in the day on talk of dividend for the
stock IT went to 63ss but later sold off
/ to 60ik, at which figure a net loss was
shown. Wisconsin Central was strong on
I talk that the line will have to be taken
care of in the rearrangement Of the
Mort rthwestern situation.
! The coalers were strong at one time,
! but sold of late IN the day. Thus Read
/ ing first preferred went as high as 50, but
CLOSED at 7SS4. and Ontario dropped from
! 20 TO 3719. the low and closing level. The
Fries advanced well, the common to 45l2
and the first preferred TO l2s, but thej
both lest all their gain before the close.
Another argument put forward yesterday
( I'm favor of the coalers was that the Brit
ish tax on coal will be a good thing for
them. Mr.. Keene was said to be advising
their purchase. The earnings of the Ches-
apeake and Ohio for the fourth week of
! May showed an increase Of $66,e0o.
Amalgamated Copper declined during
the afternoon. One reason given for the
drop was that another suit against the
/ deal has been filed. The hearing in the
new case Will come on June II.
The tobacco securities, both American
| Tobacco and the Continental issues. fol-
lowed the general course of the market,
making a sharp advance early in the ses-
sion and declining later. The gossip re-
garding the scheme for uniting the to-
bacco interests in the New York papers
yesterday morning was the cause of the
opening bulge in the stocks no doubt. 1t
could not be ascertained If there is any
foundation for the story, but the street
J was inclined to believe il. The suggestion
is that new company VIII be formed ana
that there will be a guarantee of per
cent on American Tobacco common, and
per cent on continental common. Amer
ican went as high as l42 and declined to
l39I4 and Continental advanced TO bSfs ana
closed at 6Si2
Illinois Central was a feature Of the
railway list. with an advance at one time
to l4GIa, and a close at 1i5, showing
good gain for the day. Conservative
people have been investing in this stock
for some time past, in the confident be
lief that il will have an important ad-
vance in the near future on its merits
alone even If there are TO be no harmony
developments affecting it. The company
has made a remarkable record for big
earnings in good years and bad, and
! for regular dividends. Its showing in this
regard for the past ten years is much
better than that of the St. Paul, and not
much, If any less satisfactory than the
/ Northwest. The people now in control
! Of the system are among the most bril-
| liant railway men in the country, and il
/ is not to be doubted that their friends
/ will take the stock in hand in time. Some
! people say that the movement has begun
| already.
The Car and Foundry securities were
! both strong and buoyant, the common
! getting to 30H and the preferred to 50.
Both held their gains well during the af-
ternoon decline in the general list. II is
said that the company has been showing
a handsome increase in earnings during
the past two or three months.
Pacific Mail made a sharp advance from
4gl4 10 44Ll and then declined points.
There was a tip TO buy the stock when
the Southern Pacific was most buoyant.
No particular significance was attached
to the advance.
Sugar vas weak all day, closing at 1864.
The failure of the directors to declare an
extra dividend on the stock seems to have
hit some speculative coterie hard, and
there was much selling Of stock bought
"a ~