New-York tribune., 1911-02-12
TOPICS OF THE STREET.

COPPER TRADE CONDIriONS.-NalN
er's Copper Letter says:
Copper is quiet. and prices again show
a declining tendency. Lake is 127s to 1875
cents and eIectroytic is l2H to l2l2 cents
pound. The report of the Copper Produc-
ers Associs tion. published on wednesday,
made an extremely disappointing showing.
During the month Of January the American
surplus increased 20 i09.2!3 pounds. me
item chiefly responsible for this was that
Of exports which showed falling on as
compared with the previous month, oi near
ly 35,O0000 pounds. Domestic DELIVERIES
were 42O7S,.57 pounds, decrease Of about
$4,000 pounds Production showed lalI-
ing off. however, of nearly S,ynHo pouhpS'
but as a result of all this there was an
increase during the month i'm the worlds
surplus of about 100000 pounds. Previous
t. the publication Of the January aSures
there had been steady decIile III ,be ire
W, rid surplus tor a period OF seven noi tlS'
resulting in total shrinkage OF about 81
sOOOo0 pounds. This sudden reversal IN tno
tendency il difficult to explain, nut II ~
probably due to moderate falllng OF IN
the domestic consumptive demand, and 10
a temporary halt in buying by consumers
the world over, because OF the circulation
of more or less unfOunded reports or enor-
n Gus invisible supplies of metal stored III
Europe and elsewhere. The belief has
been growing among consumers for some
time that there would be further cut IN
the price OF the metal. and they nave peen
Using uD their small stocks and delaying
H. this country. the growing demand to'
now investments the expressed determlna-
tion of several large railroad corporations
TO make heavy expenditures on ConStruc-
ton this year. and the activity IN electrical
circles encourage the belief that the gen
eral business situation VIII undergo very
decided Improvement i'm the coming ieW
mo nthS and that With IT VIII come =
heavier consumption of copper While the
ortl,ok for the metal market Is some
what depressing as viewed at short range.
future prospects are even brighter thah
they were three or -four months ago;
BUSINESS OI'TIOOk.-The Bache Re-
view for the last week says:
The steady slowing down of general bust
ness hal up 10 the early days Of tins month
continued for 2 long period over year.
Stocks Of goods on shelves and i'm manu-
facture were being more or less gradually
reduced and the wheels turned slower ana
slower. With processes ike thls at work
there comes a period. with millions of in
hahitants to he fed and clothed. when.
stocks having hecome very low people VINO
supply things and merchants who buy them
become convinced that a little larger out
nut may he ventured. and when enough of
these people take this action all at once an
around there is increased activity rms II
what seems to be happening now. and. like
the start of heavy wagon i'm the mud, the
first movement must be very slow. But IL
gains by lis own impetus. ana. proVlded no
Unforeseen impodimentS show up, the prog
ress will continue and develop into more
rapid motion.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN. - The special
meeting of stockholders of the Norfolk
Southern Railroad. which was to be held
on Monday to authorize a %o,VVlcV' mort
gage to take the place Of the present ST.
900 COO mortgace. has been again postponed.
The directors will meet on February q and
approve the form of the mortgage. ana the
Stockholders meeting will be called very
soon thereafter Application has been made
to the Stock Exchange to list the $500
stock of the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
BANK CLEARINGS.-The total bank
clearings for the United States for the
week ended February II, 1911 zone day eS,
timated), according 10 The tlnanclal
Chronicle" were $3l0j,661. so, which com
pares with S3.57S, 1856 in the preceding
week and S2.976475.9S7 FOR the week ended
February II, 1910. Compared with last year,
the total bank clearinSs have increased 10
per cent. New York City reports de-
crease OF us per cent and Boston % per
153 per cent New orleans 2G3 per cent and
Baltimore 2Ii per cent.
KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN BONDS
Cable advices from London say that the
Kansas City Southern Railway , per cent
bond offer by j. Henry Schroeder n co.
was very favoraby accepted and that
heavy applications were received on the
opening of the list. The subscription list
I'm London closes early tomorrow morning.
PACIFIC TELEPHONE - The Pacific
Telephone and Telegraph Company reports
for the year ended December 81, 1919. sur
rIus availa ole for dividends OF S1.l99. POS.
decrease of SHEA from the year before.