The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-19
STOCK MARKET FEATURES
BIC DEALINGS AND LXCETING
 CHANGES

St. Paups Big DrOp-Hin Shares Fall
 Heavily - High Priced MOney-The
 Overburdened Money Market - The
 Immense Demands for Fresh Capital
 -B. & O's strength--Explanation
 From St. Paul Officials.
 It was an exciting day on the stock market yesterday, and very urgent n- quidation of high priced shares occur red.
 St. Paul stock fell with thud and kept dropping until it had fallen six teen points from Mondays high
 The chief reason for the break were the continued tense money conditions here, call loans rising to twenty-five per cent, the advance in the Bank of Ger many's discount to per cent, and the untavorable reception given the $1OO,- 0OO,COO new stock issue of the St. Paul.
 Great Northern and Northern Pacific lost upwards of ten points The unfa VoraDle effect of these declines evident " extended to all parts of the country, since the so-called wire houses were among the busiest on the floor of the exchange yesterday. Of the total 65O.- GOO shares sold up to noon, nearly one half represented orders from the inte- rlor The decline took many persons, including some brokers, greatly by sur prise.
 It was really the St. Paul financing that upset the market. This was lock- ed upon as the last straw to break the back of a money market so overburden- ed already as to be struggling with the load. Within the past few weeks the Atchison, Great Northern and Northern Pacific and St. Paul have indicated the need of over $350,0Oo, 1000 of fresh capital. A good part of this goes into new roads. The Pacific Coast extension of the St. Paul will demand $75OO00O0 and proba- ply $50000 GOO at least vii be required by the Hill lines in their fight for po- sition along the Columbia river and on Puget sound.
 No official statement could be had from the St. Paul directors regarding the closing of the books on December 1s, and the call for 10 per cent. on December S1, it was stated yesterday in quarters usually well informed, that an explanation satisfactory to the share holders would in time be made It was stated emphatically that while all the St. Paul directors did not approve of the plan announced yesterday, the Reg ers-Rockefeller interests had no stock market motive for the action taken.
 Baltimore & Ohio surprised the mar ket by exhibiting strength, and rising several points all alone by itself. A re- port of further increase of the dividend to 7 per cent. was put out
 Not only have Great Northern, North ern Pacific and St. Paul declined yio- lently since the new stock issues were announced by the different roads, but the rights, which have to be considered in making up the full value of these stocks, have also been declining. Great Northern ore certificates and stock rights were originally worth $12O, but now $9S. Great Northern stock was around $40 before the rights came off and now at 200
 Reading and Baltimore & Ohio led the whole market in point of activity. The trading in these stocks was the feature of the day Reading was bought in enormous blocks and while it was an early feature of strength, it broke sharply in the late selling.
 There was great disappointment over the price at which the rights of sub scription to the new St. Paul stock were quoted on the curb. They opened at 99, rose to 40, and then fell to S4 Az. A price of at least 50 had been pre- dicted.
 Union Pacific was weak and sold at the bottom just before o'clock. Other stocks of the Standard Oil group broke sharply, and there was little pretence of supporting them. New York Central also sold down to 12S 1-2.
 Inasmuch as rights to subscribe to the new St. Paul issue are only given to shareholders as of record of December 19 (to-day), it was thought that yes terday would witness active buying to take advantage of the privilege. But everyone wanted to sell what they had rather than buy more,
 The collapse of fl points in St. Paul, from 197 to 1S3, swept away about all the weak margin accounts, calling at tention to the danger of operating in high priced stocks even though con- troled by Heading fianciers," The bringing out of a new plan totally diff ferent from what Wall street expected showed the uncertainties of speculative buying.
 Some good buying of Lehigh valley has occurred recently, both for Phila- delphia and New York account, on be- lief that the dividend will be raised to per cent. tomorrow.
 The opening of St. Paul was spectac- ular. First quotations reported over the ticker were 194 to 193, a net loss of 4 points from the previous nights clos Ing. This was followed by a dozen sales around 192 8-4 to 193, then the rate ran off rapidly to 191
 WARRANTS IN 1OO-SHARE LOTS.