The Washington herald., 1914-03-04
EXPRESS STOCKS
TOPIC NSTREET
Reports Of Liquidation Of U.
S. E. Cause Demand in
Wall Street.
BOND SALES KEEP UP
Municipal Securities Feature OF Feb
ruay Trading National
Bank Statistics.
BOND SALES KEEP Ut
By w. srEALEY.

Byw. sTEALEY.
Prices I'm the New York Stock NEx-
eFsnre Yesterday were irregular and
comparatively few shares were sold.
Steel. closing at dl-i. copper az !ss-4.
lost fractionally. Canadian Pacific closed
at 9oS 1-2. losing 1l-2 points. heaoine,
Baltimore and Ohio and Chesapeske ana
Ohio gained.
Gossip over United States Express
stock was the festure of the day. The
stock now Is selling at n and has maoe
i considerable rise in the last two weeks
While 4 is not known definitely what
is the cause of the demand, II Is not
improbable that IL was based on the
likelihood Of the company going out Of
business in the near future and distri-
butine its assets among its stockholders.
In which event It is likely that holders
Of the stock would receive an amount
considerably in excess of the present
market value per share for the holdings
So far as can be asccrtained the ques-
tion of liquidation has not been definite
Iy settled: in fact, it is doubtful II 1t has
come up before the directors Tor their
official consideration. But II Is known
that some of the interests controlling the
COMPANY take the view that II, after
the new rates ordered by the Interstate
Commerce Commission have been tried
out for a short time they shall prove
to be so low as to make IL Impossible
for the company to continue IN business
without impairing its financial condition,
the only thing to do in justice TO Stock
holders would be to hquidate.
Liquidation. it is conservstively esu-
mated. would not be at less than s..
Local stock Exchange.
business on the local stock exchange
was improved yesterday.
One 500 Washington Gas soio
at sIOS. being the extent Of bond trans
actions.
Ten shares Of National Metrop jlitan
Bank stock sold at 192. ten shares OF
Washington Loan and Trust at z51, and
one share of American Security and Trust
at 800.
Four shares of Mergenthaler brought
2I6 IL, five shares OF Capital Traction
IIO.
Municipal Bonds in February.
The month of February, while a short
one of ONLY eighteen working days, after
deducting Saturdays, Sundays, and holi-
days. was a record period for the NUM-
cipal bond market of last year. according
to The Bond Buyer" The actual
amount of bonds brought out at original
sales was small, permanent issues agsre-
eating only Sc, ,246.50I, as compared with
sA2I9,779 in January. Temporary loans
were negotiated in February by sixteen
municipalities aggregating S,as.ooo,
against sfs.1S4,002 arranged by twenty-five
Municipalities
The important feature of the month,
however. was a marked rise in prices,
which amounted. in some cases, to as
much as three points over the quotations
for similar bonds a year or a half year
ago.
Total of National Banks.
There were 800 national banks doing
business in the United States at the close
of business at the Treasury Department
February IS. Their authorized capital
was 81 -009, ,SS4 go, with an outstanding cir
cuiation of 1858 31Ss,S SIS.
Since the approval of the Federal re-
serve act in December last, 137 State and
private banks have applied for CONVEX
sion to national banks and eighty-six
requests were received from individuals
not connected with such institutions who
desired to form national banks.
A. c. L. Meeting.
The official statement OF the Atlantic
Coast Line relating to the stockholders
meeting in Richmond April l, to vote on
the new 500 100000 mortgage has been re-
ceived by stockholders here. The state
ment says:
Under existing financial conditions, |
which may continue or may recur from |
time to time, bonds bearing 4 per cent !
interest can not be sold at satisfactory |
price, and il is therefore desirable to |
issue no more bonds under the unified |
mortgage, which limits interest to a maxi |
mum Of per cent. but to close that |
mortgage, limiting the issue under 1t to \
the bonds then outstanding, and to pro- /
vide for a new mortgage under which 1
the same aggregate bond issue can be /
made, but in series to bear such lawful |
rates Of interest as may be determined by |
the directors"
OF the new bonds about sa5,oOoooO will
be reserved. for refunding. leaving s175.-
100000 to provide for other needs. 1t is
said that an early issue OF the new
bonds Is not contemplated.
w. b. q A. to BE Listed,
Application yesterday was made to list
the securities of the Washington, Balti-
more and Annapolis kElectrio Railroad
Company on the Washington Stock Ex-
change.
The application covers the bonds of
the company and preferred stock, but
not the common stock. The authorised
issue Of the bonds is T.5oe,ood They are
dated March !, 1911; bear interest at the
rate of per cent and mature in 1sl.
The issue of the preferred stock is for
$. $3.50, the par value Of each share
being $50. The dividend on the stock il
paid quarterly at the rate of per cent
a year The authorized capital stock
OF the company Is 100000 of common
stock and s2.5ooeo0 of the preferred.
The directors Of the Security Savings
and Trust Company meet today to con-
slider moving into their new quarters,
Seventh and G streets