The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-24

Sharp Advance on the Short
 Interest.
 THE CLOSE WEAKER. ! Declined in Spite of Fall in
 Wheat Prices.
 Yesterdays stock market was distin- gulshed by sharp rise in prices es- , pecially in the active stocks, due chif- !; ly no doubt to shorts covering.
 The great decline that has occurred since the first of the month, and which has caused a fall of to 20 points in active shares, seemed to be out of all proportion to the conditions just now surrounding the market.
 The declines were not important and were quite possibly result of profit taking sales by operators who bought around Tuesdays lowest The mar ket's signs at the close suggested main- ly that new level of prices had been fairly established and that this, like the higher level of a week ago, must be tested by the progress of events.
 That a good deal of stock carried through the panic was transferred to new hands this week, along with part of the stock taken up at the low level of March was indicated.
 Speculative options declined over cents as the weather conditions in the winter wheat states were much more favorable, and conservative officials in Canada and the west indicated that the damage done and the outlook were not near so serious as has been claim ed from private sources,
 Prussian report showed 94 per cent. of its winter wheat acreage abandoned, which means a larger actual loss than the 70 per cent. in the state of Texas. Probably, the Danube states would show up even worse, In Europe, as in America, such occurrences will un- doubtedly throw somewhat feverish interest on the later crop.
 Time money was firmer on the con tinued heavy corporation borrowing. The Delaware and Hudson $1O00O, 900 note issue ard provisional issue of $5,000,OO by the Erie indicate that the demand for capital is not abating. Re- cent note issues were quoted fraction ally lower.
 The $1O,O0O,0O0 new Delaware and Kuhn, Loeb & Co.,, representing the Hartman interest, and the First Ma {. tional bank, were put out at 95. They yield about per cent. The $5,000,000 loan is said to have been made to the Erie Is thought to have been secured on slightly more favorable terms than the last one, which cost from to 8 per cent.
 The advance in such stocks as Smelt- CTS, Reading, Union Pacific and Steel indicated where the short interest was located. Shelters sold above 119, com pared with Wednesdays low level of 112 3-4. The stop loss orders on the advance were nearly equal in volume to those on the decline.
 As a group the Gould roads are show ing the best results of any They are able to greatly increase gross through the tremendous activity in the south west and middle west, and have held their operating expenses about even with last year, Wabash has, indeed, reduced them. The March statement of Missouri Pacific to-day showed a gain in gross of $376,00O and in net of S347,O0o.
 The story regarding the alleged sale of controlling interest in Tennessee Coal and Iron to the United States Steel corporation by the Gates syndi- cate, which was circulated after the close of business Wednesday, was de- nied yesterday by all parties inter- ested.
 Several thousand men, out of the 49, zoo employed on the New York Central railroad between New York and Buffa- 10, not including office employees, will lose their jobs as a result of the gen. eral order that has been sent out by Vice. President and General Manager A. H. Smith for big reduction in the payrolls by June 1. This order has gone to all the local heads of the New York Central lines. The lessening o1 the force is explained by the officials as the annual lay-off, but larger thar usual. due to lessening of new con- struction work.
 Jersey Central showed a gain of over $1, ,000, ,0O0 gross for April, or nearly double last years business. This was due to comparison with a strike month 5 in 1906.
 By vote of S7 to the New York senate yesterday passed the bill of As semblyman Baldwin fixing at two cents a mile the rate of passenger fare or all railroads, over 150 miles in length E in New York state. It has already passed the assembly and now goes tt the governor.
 It was recognized that the short in terest was large and the dominating