The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-08
READING
HARTMAN SHOWS IRRITATION
 WHEN APPROACHED.
HIIly and Prick Declare They Are with out Information on the Subject Wall Street is RecOv-
 erlnE

New York, March 1.-The stock mar ket opened weak today. The trading continued under the influence of the sensational Reading movement of yes- teEday but with speculators divided in opinion as to whether the Reading ad- vance was bull or bear argument on the general list, but the first prices generally were lower.
 Reading was ? 1-2, Canadian Pacific 3 1-4 and Pennsylvania 5-S lower. Reading opened at 122, sold at 121 1-2 and then rose to l22 S-4.
 On the stock exchange the trading in Reading was watched with the greatest interest. There were further short coverings but otherwise the buy ing or selling gave no hint of inside development. Operations in the stock during the first hour aggregated about 80, 900 shares.
 Henry C. Prick was at his offlce in the Trinity building, but refused to be in- terviewed. At MT. Harriman's office 1t was said that he was expected there at noon. Mir. Harriman's associates at Union Pacific headquarters said they had no knowledge of any Reading deal.
 J. J. Hill was asked to express his opinion concerning the Reading mat ter.
 T know nothing about Reading and don't want to know anything about it," he said.
 D. H.. Hartman arrived at his office shortly before noon.
 Don't ask me anything about Read ing" he said. Don't place me in po- sition where have to talk about that. don't want to say anything about it."
 MT. Hartman said that he was we'll satisfied with his visit to Washington. He thought the administration had ar rived at the conclusion that more con- -fH uhA ha fn al matters.
 Regarding his views on the general situation, he said:
 "We all make mistakes. we some times have to back track. I've had to do it."
 Mir. Hartman went on to talk about the enormous sums of money put into railroad improvements, saying that his own roads had spent something like $250, 100000 and that the public as a whole had been immensely benefited by the developments of the railways. It was intimated by MT. Hartman that he expected to visit Washington again shortly by appointment with President Roosevelt.
 MT. F~ck was met on his way to the meeting of the Union Pacific Execu- tive Committee. Asked about the al- legged deal In Reading he, said:
 T know nothing about Reading ex- Cept that lI IS d pT6tby HOOu Eoftu.
 The opening movement of prices in- dicated that the bear party had recov- cred from the demoralization caused by the unexpected report yesterday that control of Reading had passed. A wig orous onslaught on prices was made at the start. Reading itself relapsed three points from last nights closing price and Canadian Pacific dropped over points on renewal of yester- days weakness. There were a number of other declines of to Ia among the most active speculative stocks. An immediate rally followed and the ner- vous and unsettled state of the market was shown in the frequent fiuctuation and great activity of the trading.
 The failure to clear up the mystery surrounding Reading was the unset ting influence. The identity of the buyers and their motives remained in doubt The sundry opinions on the subject were of an accumulation for new control, a renewed speculative movement by powerful interests on the