The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-09
IN FINANCIAL CIRCLES

New York, April 9.-For the year
 ended December 31, 1913, Vacuum Oil
 Go. reported total profits amounting
 to $4,832, 929- The report said: After
 charging $1O0, ,4SO to insurance reserve,
 profits for the year 1913 amounted to
 $3, BIS, TIA. In addition thereto the pro-
 portion of the undivided profits for
 the year of the foreign marketing
 cornpanies, which the shares held by
 this company represent, amount to
 $1, 457. 156. Continued growth Of the
 business, which was 25 per cent larg- CT than in 1912, combined with the
 higher cost of both crude oil and fin
 ished products, has absorbed the prof. it's for the year above the $900, 900
 used to pay the two 3 per cent divi-i dends.''
 President Bierd of the Chicago & Alton announces that rigid retaeneh- nent is to be the policy of. his rohd. not by cutting service to any extent, but by holding down administrative expenses Fewer clerks and desk off, cials, rather than restriction of pas- l senger and freight service, is MT. Bierd's idea of accomplishing neces- sary economics. The company has just completed the purchase of addi-# l tiona1 equipment and no more should l be needed for some time. Summer schedules are in preparation, and a few changes may be made, but the i idea is to have schedules perform the service demanded. Maintenance work for the summer has been outlined and
 will be all that is required for the system.
 have decided to pay preferred divi- dends semi annually hereafter instead of quarterly The last dividend paid l on the preferred was 1 3-4 per cent. l on January 15. The directors action means that no dividend will be paid | of 7o l fiscal year on June 90 next.
 1 At the annual meeting of the Cities l Service Co.,, stockholders authorized an increase in the capital stock from
 $50, 0O0. 600 to $65, ,OO0. GOO. Paul R. Jones was elected a director to succeed " T. Hoffman, deceased.
 l. It is contended that the dismissal Of the suit Of the Government against the Delaware, Lackawanna & Vest ern Railroad, and the Delaware, | IzLackawanna & Western Coal Co. by | the Federal Court at Trenton, IN. J., l has an importance which has been I generally overlooked in financial cir lscIes. The court holds that no act of I Congress or judicial decision has de- l clared it to be illegal for any indi- 1 viduala citizen to invest his money in l two enterprises merely because the I two enterprises may be closely con I nected- This, it is argued, may have l a bearing on the United States Steel l Corporation case and similar suits. as El apparently the court in Philadelphia I sees no reason why there should not l be a pro rata distribution, at least if II a plan could be devised by which the segregated parts could be bought for cash by the stockholders of the com l pany ordered to split up In this re- l spect the decision of the court bears
 some similarity to the procedure sane I stioned sb by the circuit court in New I York when the American Tobacco subsidiaries were restored to a condi-
 ton of independence through a pro rata. distribution of their stocks.
 For the first time since the forma-
 tion Of tIlesore trust Great Northern Ore in 1913 depended entirely for it's
 income distributalo1e to certificate l holders upon the operations at the
 pfising the properties. Heretofore add to their yearly income accounts
 the dividends declared by the AL
 Ieuez. Bay & Dock Co, and the Du- l luth, Superior & Western Terminal Co, the ore handling companies at E the head of the Lakes. These divi- q idends from December, 1906, to Decem- 1 Der 31, 1912, teta1led $7.2s0,000 or more II than half the total receipts of the ] trustees. After December 31, 1912, i'll accordance win the resolution adopt
 cd Ey tAc directors and stockholders I of the Great Northern Railway In
 1906, dividends from the two eompa.-
 nies 1onged went to the ore trus- Ii tees. It is generally believed 1 that Great Northern Railway now re- 1 ceives the disburseme