The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-07
READING COUP
 STIRS STREET Rail Stock Takes Sud- den Flight. HARTMAN DENIES PART Corporation Monarch Refutes Hand
 in Movement. soruce of Enormeus buying is Mys- terious, But Indications Poinf to -ara-ter Hands werky Stress
 Affects stochs.

New York March s--sensationai buy ing of the shares of the Reading Com pany today gave wall Street its most generally weak market all through the Pacific contest of six years ago. Read ing had been strong in the face of morning session of the Stock Exchange when shortly after l o'clock there de- veloped an enormous buying movement in the stock which carried the price up more than eight points in half an hour.
 Up to the close of the market there was nothing official to show the source of the purchasing orders. but pre- sistent rumor was in circulation that E. H. Hartman was buying the stock with the object of acquiring control of the property and that MT. Hartman was taking all that was offered in the open market in addition to the holdings of H. c. Prick which he was said to have purchased privately. It was also reported that the stock held by the Lake Shore had been turned ov- CT to Mir. Hartman so that he would have absolute control.
 Hartman in Deal.
 The reports as to Harriman buying
 were circulated generally throughout the financial district and were given -credence in spite Of the lack of any thing official to confirm them but there were other rumors. One of these was that J. P. Morgan and Company who formerly dominated Reading, were buying to resume their former position in the property and another that the New York Central which owns the Lake Shore was adding to the Lake Shores holdings of Reading, and 8 third attributed the buying to the Del- aware, Lackawanna and Western stiii another rumor was that Mir. Prick was buying that stock back that he had sold sometime ago.
 All the time that the stock was going up efforts were being made without success to obtain either denial or confirmation of the various reports in circulation. At the offices of the banking houses mentioned in the ru-
 nors all knowledge Of the movement was denied Mir. Hartman. who Is In Washington, was informed of the use of his name in connection with the Reading transaction and he then made @ statement through he secretary to the effect that he was not interest ed in Wall Street and did not care 10 be denying all the rumors originating there."
 Buying Source In Doubt.
 Further than this nothing official was obtainable. The brokerage houses handling the buying orders were mum erous, and their identity gave no indi- cation whatever as to the persons Tor whom they were acting.
 The trading in Reading reached the extremely heavy total of 736.6Oo shares or about one third of all the transac- tions on the stock exchange for the day. The magnitude of the sales seem ed to preclude the idea that an ordi- nary manipulative manouvre for high CT prices was being executed. The blocks traded in were large, ranging up to 4,o00 and 5000 shares with one block of ,0o0 changing hands at 125.
 The feeling on the Exchange border ed on demoralization, with extremely heavy liquidation and declines for many issues to the lowest point of the year. The Hartman shares and the stocks in what is called the Standard oil group were notably sensitive to press ure and this fact emphasized better strength of Reading and the relative firmness of the Morgan and Hill stocks.
 Reading Prices Soar.
 This condition of the market held until shortly after o'clock when the sensational buying of Reading began. At that time the stock was selling at l16 1-S. Suddenly it developed that all of the stock offered was being taken on an ascending scale of prices. Lots of from 2,OOO to 5000 shares were traded in rapidly, and the price rose in about half an hour to 126. This sudden turn after the recent weakness in the market served to strengthen the entire list and general rally was soon in progress which continued up to the close, which was trong and active with quotations in the main at the best of the day.
 Prominent in the recovery was Great Northern which closed at 15e 1-2, an advance of 3-S; Southern Pacific which closed at s6, rise of 2 points and Northern Pacific which improved 3 T-s to 12s 1-2.
 The Reading Company owns the en- tire capital stock of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and the Reading Iron Com pany, $14,50O,000 of the outstanding $27. 425, 800 capital stock of the Cen tral Railroad of New Jersey and con trr ling interest in the various compa- ines operated by or affiliated with the Philadelphia and Reading Company. The capital stock of the Reading Com pany authorized and issued. is $140,- 0oo,o0o, of which s21,OOO.O0O is per cent. non-cumuIative preferred stock; $42, ,000, 900 second per cent. non-cumu- lative preferred and $70,00O,000 common