The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-28
ISENSATNjl iH
 SPEC Rock Island .gr ID
 to ( !
  THEN FALLS sacr Ta 50
Exchange Covef rcls 0fe. s
 Invest 1tiaa.
Startling Movemen' at rrA;sat s.sei May Have Beea Due to Error ef Clerk, But . aCorner. is
 suspected by
 Brokers.

 on it's hands. Common stock of the Rock Island Company rose si 1-4 points almost immediately after the opening today. then even more suddenly dropped to 50.
 Thereby hangs Q mystery. or a fiasco. or something that the governors of the Stock Exchange will immediately sift to the bottom.
 With the close of today's session the governors quickly held conference and 1t was announced that special investigation had been instituted. Francis l.. Eames, former president or the exchange; !. T. Atterbury and Ern-s est Groesbeck were appointed com
 mittee to conduct the investigation. Conservative members of the exchange are much exercised over the episode and rigid and searching inquiry is de- manded. with summary punishment or the offenders if their guilt te estab- iished.
 oficers of the Rock Island disciaim any responsibility for the movement.
 At the offfce of Daniel G Reid, who with ex-Judge W. H. Moore Is the acknowledged leader of the Rock Is- land group, 1t was said that Mfr. Reid was fndIsposed today. Another report said that he was entertaining q house party a, his country home near here.
 Judge Moore arrived here from Chi- cago during the afternoon and affirmed what had been said earlier in the day. that personally he knew nothing Of the excitement until told of It upon ms arrival in New York.
 Mystery and Confusien.
 So much mystery and confusion sur rounds the movement that anything like a clear explanation seems well nigh impossible at this time.
 During the brief session which the
 governors of the exchange held this afternoon. several members who ealied before the committee. but no details regarding the preliminary tn- vestiRation we're made public. Those broksfa connected with exec- uting the orders declined to throw any light on the subject. They VIII be called to testify later before the Investigating committees Stories purporting to explain the situation are numerous and conflict ing. One theory was that an attempt at nanipulation in the stocks had mis-
 carried. According to this explana- ton heavy buying orders were placed on the market, but through some oversight the corresponding selling orders did not appear. The result was following out this theory, that there
 was comparatively little stock for sale and the brokers who had charge or the buying orders had to bid the mar ket up in order to execute them. If such was the case, the orders were destined to be so-called match orders" which were the principal subject Of the recent investigation of the stock
 exchange instituted by Governor Hughes.
 During the furry of the stock to- day. the balance of the list, including
 the active issues. was extremely weak. with vague apprehension of another corner"
 Today's operations in Rock Island common totaIled approximately 21S,- l 900 shares, or more than 25 per cent | os inc whole. The stock fiuctuated between 4s s-4 and s1. its top price l of the first half hour, and closed at
 5l 1-2, a net gain of s-4 points. An officer of the First National
 Bank of this city, which has intimate relations with the Rock leland. ex- pressed the belief today that the whole matter had its inception in
 huytng for European interests. who are supposed to have been short in the stock.
 ing throughout the securities list and there were numerous declines of l to
 3 points.
 been selling something he did not own" said a director of the Rock Is- land. "The controlling interests of the country have nothing to do with the spectacular advance and 1t lookS as though there was a considerable short interest in the stock and this interest was apparently badly squeezed today" The opening sale of Rock Island was 500 shares at 50 5-S and then the stock advanced an eighth. quarter, three quarters. and then by leaps and bounds to a high price of ST.. On the advance blocks of stock from 100 to 1000 shares changed hands.
 At the top figures enormous supplias of stock came out, and a violent re- lapse ensued. The decline, however, was much steadier than the advance, the recessions running generally by fractions and from one to two points. Within fifteen minutes the price had fallen back to 50. e
 Traders generally believe that cor ner had been engineered In the stock and there was a general rush tp unl Iad scurities throughout the speculative list. The market became quickly uH- settled through fears of consequences of a bear panic in Rock Island. Southern 1aCintt oPGhhS Nb one point, ran off four points below Friday. Amalgamated Copper dropped back 33-s under Fridays closing and there was a general unloading of se- curities causing acute weakness. The loss in Pennsylvania reached 21-2 In the first half hour. Reading S-S. United states Steel l, Union Pacific Il g end Smelling points
 The spectacular rise in Rock Island common stock was generally credited to frightened short interest. since 1t was quickly recalled that the contro; of the company does not lie with the common stock and therefore any sug-
 gestions that competitive bidding by Interests seeking to control the proper
 ty were not to be entertained under the circumstances.
 one of the directors of the Rock Is- land and also connected with the bank :. ing interests of the road, said of the movement:
 "The officials of the company and oth. CT leading interests in the property had nothing to do with the spectacular pd- vance in the stock.
 London and Paris financial interests
 have been heavy buyers of the stock