Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-05
LOCAL FINANCIAL NEWS.

The annual loss from fire in this country
Is said to be much greater than il should
be- Proceeding on the conviction that this
| is due to defective conditions such as in
adequate water service, insufficient fire.
| fighting facilities and the lack of proper
| building regulations. the national board of
| fire underwriters are conducting an investi-
CATION on a scale colossal enough to in
clude every city in the country.
While in one sense the findings of such
body have no force, yet in another they
are all powerful sthey appeal directly to
the pocketbooks of every property holder
and business man. The experts fthe fire
| insurance companies make certain recon-
mendafions as to betterment in the fire de-
partment, the water department and in the
building regulations. To the extent these
suggestions are carried out, to that extent
| Is the insurance rate decreased. IT
| Is not surprising, therefore, that the visit of
the engineers of the board to a city is fol-
lowed by marked changes in local conditions.
The inspection of this city, which is now in
progress. 1t is expected. will result In
changes that will bring this city nearer to
the point of being the model city In the
country In respect to f1re-resisting and defy
| ing conditions.
The common stock of the Washington
railway and Electric Co. again today
dt the meeting of the stock exchange the
most active stock in the entire list Its
record for the past few days was main
tanned and something more. for Ii did bet
Ter than an advance of one point in one
day.
Yesterday the highest price paid for a
one hundred-share lot was 3Sk. and today
391s was paid for similar lot As was
the case yesterday, the buying was much
better than the selling. At the outset a
couple OF hfty-share lots were bought for
80 and 3sA. and after that there was no
more stock to be had under So
All the stock that was for sale at 80 was
taken. and that continued to be the bid,
and an advance in the bid was made of an
eighth and subsequently of a quarter the
latter being the best bid during the trading
There was good buying at 39Ss. and also
some lots were taken at 1871 After the call
lots were bought both of these levels
and an option was taken at 39a. The buy
ing and selling of options was not as much
of a feature of the trading today as was the
case yesterday. The entire volume of the
sales was over / 500 shares.
AT the close an offer was made to buy or
sell the stock at 391s, but this with
drawn and 80 was bid and 1914 was asked.
The preferred stock of the Washington
halfway and Electric Company was traded
In on about the same level as was the case
yesterday, although at the beginning there
were several lots sold for "a.
After that the trading ranged from 93A
to 93h. The offerings made were in large
blocks up to thousand five thousand
and at prices that varied at different times
from "a to 93as. At the close 93$4 was bid
Tor nfty shares and 1874 for one hundred
shares, and the asking price was $685.
All the Lanston stock that was for sale
at 1871 was taken. and some GOO shares
constituted the supply. The bid was con-
tinued on that level and the stock was to
be had at 164s. After call couple of
1OO-share lots were taken at 1855.
Fifty shares of Mergenthaler stock were
offered at 1879. and 1871 was paid for ten
shares. The bid 1875 and the asking
price 1871.
Gas stock was to be had at 67A, that is,
after the sale of two twenty-five-share lots
at 81. The best bid was 66B.
Better prices were bid for Potomac
Electric Light 8 per cent bonds and for
the telephone company per cent bonds.
The Washington Railway and Electric
bonds sold on the same level as that of
yesterday, namely S9hs
The prospective buyer and seller of
Capital Traction stock made near ap-
proach, but there was no trading; 145b
was bid and 1451a was asked.
Today's Government Receipts.
National bank notes received today for
REDEMPTION 1874 247: government receiDtS