New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-07-05
Financial.
The Financial World.

II
the Street has brought out. is a guessing match
| TO determine by their more haggard expressions
| those brokers who paid $4,000 for their seats
/ Just AT present, seats at that figure appear as
! an investment about the same as Brooklyn Trac-
ton at 100. Northwest at $50 and other ex
! travagances. Purchasers Of seats. or Of stocks.
/ at the figures named. may come out ali right
some day, on their investment but az this time.
\ they reflect that they might have done better
| by waiting
There seemed to be a fair prospect al the
| beginning of the week that business had started
| again. at least for a squirt; and probably this
/ as much anything. caused the Governors OF
| the Exchange to refuse the petition 10 close on
| Friday. II seemed too bad 70 shut up Just when
| there was something 10 do. But when Friday
/ came the Exchange might as well have been
| closed. for all the business it did The squirt
| in the first part OF the week had been checked
| by the Tightening Of the money market incident
10 the half yearly settlements Prices had i'm
| proved while the market was active. they fell
back again on the succeeding dizziness. Thus
| we came back again TO the same old formula
two up and two down. Possibly something OF the
early squirt was due Mr.. Keene who emerged
from his long retirement so far as to visit his
office again for day. Then he went back
again. the injured knee still painfully asserting
itself
Despite his pain Mr. Keene could express
himself with all his old time vigor, and was
ready TO wager anything that this years crops
would take rank among the largest ever raised.
Keep your eye on the crops said he They
will be big and they will give us a bull market"
Keeping one eve on the crops is what Wall
Street is doing now. and is waiting while il does
it, Generally we know about this time enough
as to how the corn. spring wheat and cotton will
come out. to get line on the future course OF
the market; the actual state of the winter wheat
being already determined. This year however.
everything is late; and two to three weeks more
will be required to bring toIerable surety. The
winter wheat is all right Kansas is particular
ly lucky in that respect. and SO is Oklahoma.
Hence the AtchfsOn people are about ready 70
throw up their hats over the prospects for their
road for this fiscal year.
Two weeks more" they say. Just two weeks
more. and we shall be able to tell how We are
coming out and up to now. everything looks
good for a big year" For the fiscal year just
closed the company will come out about one
million net behind the year before; which sum
includes the flood losses. This il is claimed.
the company can stand easily. and show large
surplus over the dividend on the common stock;
while if things turn out the current year as
they promise. the company Will be in high
feather
It is worth special noting how this remarkable
season. with it's astonishing extremes Of weather.
is working out on vegetation While the West
was drowned out with transforms. the East had
a dry spell of 81 days; the meteorological con-
ditions which caused the one being the cause
of the other. Now ever heard OF the
West being hurt (outside of local food destruc-
tom by too much rain; drouth Is the trouble
there. So it comes that these great rains have
delayed late crops, but have made an immense
crop Of winter wheat which is early. In the
East, the almost unprecedented drouth appeared
to kill everythiug-aud 1t cid kill small fruits
and other produce which should mature before
July. The pastures appeared to have utterly
gone. Finally the drouth was broken. and
there followed rain upon rain. with fog and
mist between. until it seemed that the sun had g.
gone out of business. In the cities here was,
naturally, much grooming over this awful .
weather." In the country, this awful weather
worked change like magic Only those so stu
ated as to watch the rapid transformation.
could appreciate it. The dry and dusty earth
became fruitful the yellow fields waved with
thick green grass. Things apparently dead
sprang into vigorous life. To note a single IN
stance Indicative of all: a large estate up
the Hudson it thought toward the end or
the dry SPELL that hay would have to be bought
for the fall Ten days ago, the farmer in
charge told the owner that he expected TO cut
200 tons more hay the estate than he cut
7.
1t does seem as if this remarkable year. with
its series of extremes. floods and drouth. drouth
and floods, was after ALL destined 10 work out
a general high average OF good; the losses. Sc
we're as they are. being local and restricted
In respect to the railroads. the losses referred
to will largely appear in their June statements.
II was in the last part Of May and first half OF
June that the destruction in the West by flood.
in the East by drouth. was most felt The
years statement. therefore, will have 20 be
considered in this light The prospect for the
current fiscal year will be viewed IN the light
of the changes that the past three weeks have
made
We have the eleven months statements Of
many of the roads. and generally they make
favorable showing; but in some there is strik-
ing discrepancy between the increase in gross
earnings and the increase in net. All show this
more or less owing to higher cost OF labor and
material: but some make a showing which VIII
cause the detailed annual reports TO be scrU-
tinized with care. The Southern Railroad
ports an increase gross OF over S4.OOO.OO yet
out of this. il only increases net S3s6OOo- How
much of this is due to increased cost OF trans
portation-in other words. less efficient manage
ment Of the property? On the other hand. we
have most excellent reports from the Reading
and Erie companies. All losses OF the coal
strike are not only made up but a surplus
over this; and earnings are growing at a rate
which actually seems TO bring the common
stocks of both within measurable distance Of a
dividend paying period
Contrary TO common expectation. no attack
was made upon Pennsylvania stock when syn
dictate protection was withdrawn. on the con-
trary. il rallied in the early part OF the week as