The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-12-18
CONTRACTION IN
TRADING VOLUME
YoTAr. STOCK MARKET BUSINESS
AGGREGATES HALF MAXIMUM
OF LAST WEEK.
CLOSING RECESSION
HARRIET HOLDS FIRM DURING
MOST OF DAY. QUOTED VAL
Urs REcEDrNG TOWARD
LAST HOUR
CLOSING RECESSION

NEW YORK, Dec i7.--A further
contraction In the volume q tFadlnG
was about the m ost significant lealai g
* todays stock market tolhl pusi
ness aggregated about hal the maxi
+r,nrns attained last week. when prices
gere Reclining under both hgWGAuh%
ard speculative pressure, ana as bus'~
a.ss has fallen away tAis week oh
7soaest recovery, or rally. rrofessionaA
raiders Inter that technical position
II the list has been some7 mar IN
paired. -
THIS might readily result both from
tie fact that the supply 81 s'ochs
hae been enlarged by liquidation. anc
rom su1 stantial retirement q
short contracts At ali events "ls-
nossfson has not been manifested in
n las, few days to follow prices up
Lowest of Day.
The market held rather firmly
suring most Of today's session uhtu
the last hour, when quoted Na1ueS re
coded generally. and althnneh 'he
elese showed only irr 3gular net
~banres Anal figures were about the
oweSt 81 the day. a.
pal}ving tendencies IN Canadian
Pacific aud the American Telephone
group provided supporting Influences
nntil the late dealings, nut ofsets
wore furnished by the appearance OF
selling In New Haven. An'sigamated
copper and The Wabashes among
~ her issues The weakness OF the
wabash shares has developed since
me reDorts that only a relatively
short space Of time could now elapse
before the wabash property woulc
10 sold There was no large amount
~ important information bearing on
partIctIIar securities but the sale OF
100000 Lehigh Valley railroad }
IL per cent bonds TO bankers. whicn
waa rumored recently, was conhrm
ed. The regular quarterly dividend o.
z per cent was declared on Reading.
Encouraging Item.
An interesting and somewhat en-
cotlrsgtng item OF news was the gov
eminent estimate of wlnte~ wheat
acreage and condition. The area was
given as 4,119, 600 acres more than "a
year ago. when fall planting resulted
in this years bumper crop At the
Same time the condition figure OF 97P
Is eight PORTS above tho average.
end the highest In more tran a
decade Arropos crops It is worth oh =
serving that the South is filling with
1r1E7-T7 wee X cot
ton which has been undergoing
iiquidation lately.
Forcien az ices contained about
rms, mos. striking market,Sise news
3r3ttsh cgnsols sold down 10 n new
low price tho lowest In almost ninety
years whtle the French rcntes re-
manned heavy at bottom figures The
spRead between the level OF th%
worlds tremier securities and the
level ~ official discounts at Lnndor
and Paris continues 10 widen In
fashion that suggests the controlling
influence of the foreign financial stu
alton over wo rid wide positions. In
c1vdlng those in the United States
Foreign Markets Weak.
The London stock market and the
Paris bourse were again weak, and
there In no question that the European
financial problem IL increasingly com
Oliratnd by the critical TORRENTS In
new countries. which are heavily IN
debted TO Europe for capitol supplies
and credit prolonged in the last few
years.
A good weekly statement was
made by the Imperial Bank OF Ger
mary, but there Is no sign of relax
alton IN the European money market
as the year-end approaches
Foreign exchange stifened in re
sponse 10 flrmer discounts from the
other side, but while Wall Street cali
loans renewed al q per cent time
funds were decidedly scarce, and
rates were even more decidedly
strong. Moreover, the short term
note market is softenlng IN way
that denotes selling by financial in
ytitutionH.