The morning journal-courier., 1908-08-20
WALL STREET NOTES Early Bidding Up, Followed by Heavy Unloading, Breaks
 the Market. N. '. CENTRAL 0MIN0US Copper Metal Market Little Better Gloomy Report on Business
 Conditions.
N. Y. CENTRAL OMINouS

plete control of the stock market They bid up Reading. Southern Pacific Union Pacific and United States Steel during the morning then turned around between twelve and one o'clock and tried to unload. This resulted in gem eral recessions. American Smelling broke i Is points under these sales. and Union Pacific fully as much. The weakenss of New York Cetral was re- earded as ominous and probably this had as much as anything to do with curtsilins operations in stocks. Tho Hill Issues were steady for a time; hut later sold off with the general list. Around o'clock what looked like a bear attack was made at the market, with St Paul used as the leader. With a fresh break in New York Central 10 around l0l 1-2 by 2.50 o'clock, stocks sold off very sharply In the last half hour. Many thousand share lots of Union Pacific, Reading, and other is- sues were taken on the decline These had the appearance of supporting or dcrs, but they may have represented liquidation The street was filled with rumors about the New York Central dividend being reduced.
 Occasionally q stock gets to he re- >garded wlth-a good deal of suspicion, and when that is the case many of It's one-tlme supporters desert lt. Of late St Paul has fallen from grace as far as concerns quite a number of operators. They have given up oper- atons in 1t. and simply say they are trough with st. Paul. As to reasons why, these they are shy of. and they are not inclined to discuss any that may be suggested
 The copper metal market was de- ecrIhed as a little better, with more in- uulries than was the case last week, Some hold to the idea that last weeks break was largely due to the unload ing of the speculative holdings of an American operator, who bought before the rise began. II was contended that leading companies are sold ahead into october and that If any considerable demand for the metal springs up It will carry the price up to IA cents again Such demand does not seem to be in evidence at present.
 It was generally assumed that the views of Edward II. Hartman regard ing the New York Central dividend would have weight, just as was the case with the Baltimore and Ohio divl- dend. Union Pacific has stock-hold- ing interest in New York Central, ac- cordlng to the popular view. which was never disposed of. Union Pacific natur- ally wants to maintain It's own Income account as long as possible. One of tho most recent reports credited Union Pacific with owning, through the Orc gon Short Line, s1t,2S5, 700 in New York Central stock. The purchase price Is supposed to have been at very much higher figures than prevail today. Early in July. 1906, which Is thought to have been the time when some of this Gen. tral stock was acquired, the market price was about 13O. Today it sold be- low 104 A reduction of the dividend on the amount Of stock above menton- ed from 3 to 4 per cent. a year would mean sl42,S57 year less.
 Opinions have differed widely on the exhibits made couple of days ago by the Hartman roads. From one point or view of course, much is made of the fact that such large savings In expenses denote complete control over operating departments and point to efficient management and ability to keep profit-making from going too far behind. From another viewpoint the heavy cutting into operating outlays simply means that property has been skinned and that some day there will have to be squaring of accounts which will be both costly and unpleas- ant
 A wholesale dry goods merchant, whose house does business throughout New England the East, the Middle West and the farming districts, wac asked how far his trade had recovered in the direction of normal conditions His answer was Tn July we did 60 per cent. of normal business today we are not doing 30 per cent Merchants have very generally made Up their mind that the trade of 1908 is over and that they may as well give them selves up now to aawitlng the indlca tions for 1909" This was in some guar ters looked on as an extreme view, but 1t was generally admitted that the July recovery ended in disappointment.
 CLOSING PRICES.