The Washington herald., 1913-11-14
STOCKS EASIER
BUT VERY SLOW
Mexican Matters Chief InHu-
enee, Though Europe Start
! ed the Selling Movement.
CAPITAL TRACTION LOW
Bond Market Shows Signs of Weak
Ress-Green-Canane Production.
! Railroad Earnings.
CAPITAL TRACTION LOW
Ry i. A. FLEMING.

0eoiu SSSleTudy, Win scarcely any lIlluS
other than trading market. As rule,
values were OF 1-2a3-4 of a point, practi-
cally an initial decline, the list thereafter
remaining reasonably steady.
The Mexican situation. according to
press dispatches, appeared a little more
acute, and the technical position of the
market was weakened by two days OF
steady covering, so that the buying
power was somewhat exhausted.
Here and there the signs of the time
have lost little of their indigo hue.
stSsl business is bad. bu- many mills are
still working, and there is a slight i'm
provement in some lines. Out West the
symptoms of cheerfulness are little
frnore pronounced, high prices for crops
having maintained a good distribution and
furnished fair freight for the railroad
lines in that section.
Re~is interesting to noSe that in three
months OF the present fiscal year the lead
Yiug Northwestern roads nave made actual
increases in gross earnings Of nearly D
per cent, but this gross, as in the East,
disappears in the net. where the wage
advances and extra operating costs wipe
out earnings. Every road in a select
group of grangers reported increase cost
Of maintenance. In this group the Hill
roads, Northwestern, st. Paul an1 Bur-
lington. the Omaha line of the North
western system being included. Trans
portation cost nearly N,O00,e coo more and
net increases disappeared.
The street is again talking Union Pacific
distribution of surplus, an old tails oft
told. and that is but a possibility today.
A special meeting of the directors will be
held next week. and it is from this gather
ing that something is expected. Perhaps,
and then again perhaps, the other way.
All day long traders waited for Presi-
dent Wilson's statement on Mexican
conditions, and while waiting assured
Vfr,rr
so confident are they that nothing dras- |
tic viii result. Still they are not overly |
confident else they might undertake a !
raid>-on the bears, still short. !,
New Lows.
Mexican Petroleum made a new low, at
Al S-4 and New Haven at &c, but both is
sues showed recoveries, the former at 4S
nRS the latter to Il Is at the close, be-
ing still a point of from Wednesdays
closing.
At the low of the session most of the
rails and industrials were a good point
off, but they came back on profit-taking
TO within 1-2a5-S on an average of We'd
neSday's close.
Steel lost SIS. Union Pacific, 81: Read
ing, 5-S; Nipper and Chesapeake and
Ohio, 3-4; Chino Copper, l; American To-
bacco, 3; Copper. IA. while Pacific Mail
rose Ia and Lehigh Valley L.. Less
. than 1-2 point losses were sustained by
the secondary group Of rails
Local fractions.
On the local Stock Exchange the Tea
ture was the weakness in Capital Trac-
ton. But four shares sold, these at 110.
but later on the stock was offered, at
least one quotation lot at 1O9 IL, while
the only bid came from the broker who
made the 1891 tender, 1O5.
iS l. |
parent intent on the part of the friends
of Capital Traction to give it support, L
movement always evident in Railway.
The management of Capital Traction has
ever been accredited with conservatism,
and it has long been one of the ultra
fashionable stocks Of investors seekingl
safety with dividend returns.
y Railway common was sold rather free
fly at 81. 100 shares in all; then the bid
was raised to 92, and the closing was
90 bid and SO asked.
Washington Gas sold at 81 5-S for small
lots and 81 L. for quotation lots
Bonds were plainly easier. Gas IS,
: bia IS, 100 Ia; Telephone IS, lO3, and Po-
tomac Consolidated IS, 90 Ia
The income tax is operating against the
bond markets here and elsewhere.
Steel Prosecution.
1t begins 10 look as II the Steel Cor |
poration was getting the better of Judge
Dickinson, representing the government
in the suit for the dissolution of the big
corporation. Testimony is very generally
confrmatory of real competition be-
tween producers since 1904 and a higher
plane of operations between competitors
under the influence Of the Steel Cor
poration's methods.
; 1t is even rumored on the street that no
wide split will be made, that, at the
most, two. or, perhaps, three, entities
may be provided for, but then one can
never tell, for the case will have to
go to the Supreme Court before action is
'fnaL ..-
was brisk and that orders were generally
chased by several Representatives OF pro-
ducers. IL
n. & q. outIooIS. IL
Daniel willard, president Of the BaIti- !
rsors and Ohio Railroad, who is spend :
lhgsthe week in New York, is quoted as
SAYING that the increases, in wages i
awarded the trainmen and conductors l
would in the case of his road amount to I
between s55O,oO0 ard 100000 a year. l
'The Baltimore and Ohio. in common !
with other Eastern lines" said Mr. Will !
Ierd, sis not starting any new improve i
ments that are not absolutely necessary. S
-
six or eight months. but, Of course, we :
are going ahead and finishing things al
ready under way. q
$50 far as the Baltimore and Ohio is {
concerned, business seems to be about
the same as a year ago. The big storm :
has checked business in the Central
West the last two or three days"
Mr. willard emphatically denied that
his road is contemplating new financing.
The opinion seems to be growing in
financial circles that the advance of
per cent in the wages OF railroad train
men viii be an argument that will have
considerable weight upon the Interstate \
Commerce Commission when the latter G
takes up its consideration Of the rate N
question. y
Looks Like Passing.
BY deferring action on the regular \
quarterly dividend of per cent, due %
for one month, directors of Y
the American Express Company haveI
met for the time being aNvery perplex-
ing problem. BY December. no. doubt.
Arectors will be able TO Judge how earn II
ngs are likely to shape up under COM a q
petition OF the expanded parcel post. on :,
August Is the latter service was expanded u