The Washington herald., 1908-02-16
WALL STREET NOTES
Bears Take Advantage of
Hetty Green's Interview.
RECALLS RUSSELL SAGE'S TALKS
Market Traders Wonder why Rich
woman Gives Such "A Pessimistic
Hartman IL to Make Statement.
smeIters Makes New Low Record:

New York Feb. 1j.-The bulls thought
to-day that it was unkind of Mrs. Hetty
Green to say it.
Some of them expressed doubt as TO
whether she really did. but the way they
proceeded to reduce their lines of stocks
was more significant than anything they
said Naturally the bears were elated.
There were in black and white the as
sertions Of embarrassments that few peo-
pie had ever suspected and of pessimlsm
regarding the future. and il was utterly
impossible TO argue that the person re-
sponsibie for them did not know whereof
she spoke why did she do it?" was
everywhere asked. and the only answer
was that Of one Of the large traders-''the
Lord knows"-to which another respond
ed; Il would not bet much on that il !
were you"
The late Russell Sage. at a certain
period of his life. seemed TO take pleasure
in giving interviews.
The large traders-and the market was
still largely in their hands-were nearly
all bearish. Conditions had just begun
to go strongly against them when Mrs
Green's interview supplied them with the
sort OF weapons they wanted Finding
this in their hands. they proceeded %
use il with the result that they succeeded
in recovering much Of the ground they
had lost on the preceding day. They
realized that their new found weapon was
.s,
permanent utility and gave their op-
ponents no time to recover from their
scare or discover its weakness. After all.
the story WAS nothing more than n
parade Of ghosts Of the past, which for
a moment obscured the substantial
present aud the bright future.
Rumor had it that +. II. Hartman
would in the near future make strong
statement in regard to the attitude Of the
government toward the roads which he
dominates-that, indeed he would indulge
IN such vigorous denunciatlons as would
entitle his words 10 as much attention as
anything yet printed on the subject. MIR.
HaTriman's friends were inclined to doubt
if this could be correct
Traders who were short Of Union Pa
ciic made use Of the story that the De
partment Of Justice would at once move
for an injunction to restrain payment to
Union Pacific by Southern Pacific. pend
ing the determination Of the merger suit.
of dividends on the stock of the latter
company held by the former. The legal
sharps doubted il such an injunction
could be obtained. To Justify it. they
said the whole matter Of the legality OF
the ownership by Union Pacific of an in
terest in Southern Pacific would have to
be gone into, and this. it was argued.
could hardly be done. ahead Of the gen
eral suit already entered at Saik Lake
City
In any event, the dividends would uiti-
mately accrue To the benent of the stock
owned by Union whatever dtspo-
siUon might be made OF it-and this was
taken into account in all considerations
of the value Of the parent companys as
sets. as was the case under similar cir
cumstances when the Northern Securities
Company was prevented from deriving a
dividend on Great Northern and Northern
Pacific
American Smelling and Refining made
a new low record for the year. and closed
at only a small advance from the low.
There was no news and nothing to dis
tinguish the trading in the stock from
what had been seen in it practically all
the time for a week past-professional
operations for a decline. with only sur
misses as 10 what they were based on
Of course. it is nothing new to fnd
Shelters the medium Of extensive gam
bling operations, and there is no reason
% believe that buyers Of the stock will
have any reason to complain of lack of
excitement, hut some shrewd operators
think that whatever may be done about
the dividend. the decline in the stock has
certainly discounted = great deal in the
way Of adverse trade conditions.