The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-07
IN FINANCIAL CIRCLES

New York, Feb. 7-The Washington rurnor that Louis D. Brandeis was slated for the chairmanship of the proposed board of trustees of Boston & Maine was the basis of some inter- esting comment. in financial circles His frequent denunciations of what ne termed sfaiIroad mismanagenent, and his assertion that by scientific methods the railroads of this country could cut down operating expenses to fabulous extent have made him theoretical railroad operating genius; but it is not believed that he cares to risk his teputation as. such by ac- cepting a@pesitien sSwhisht Woud afford him opportunity to demonstrate the merit of his claims No definite ac- ton has yet been taken with regard to naming successor to Morris Mc- Donald, as president. The names Of Benjamin Campbell, vice president and traffic manager of the New Haven, and vice president Hobbs have been mentioned as possible candidates for the, presidency.
 Up to a few days ago Wall Street was very hopeful that the Interstate Commerce Commission would render favorable decision in the per cent. freight rate increase application some time in the early spring. It. has not abandoned hope that the decision will be in favor of the roads. but it is not so confident that the final decision will 1 be handed down in the spring. This change of mind was due to the Com missions request for information con corning the privileges accorded to ip- dustrial tap lines. The railroads have received list of questions on this point, and the preparation of re- plies will necessarily take considerable time, and thus delay the proceed ings
 A syndicate composed of J. P. Nor gan & Co, First National Bank and "a h. lscriptions for $1O.000,000 Republic of Cuba external. debt 5 per cent. bonds, due 1949. at 98 1-2.
 A disappointing Buckeye Pipe Line i annual report and Standard Oil of New York dividend of $2, instead of $3 as was generally expected, precip- 1 itated 8 wave of liquidation in Stan dard OilNsecurities on the curb, result ] ing in declines of 2 to 28 points from the, closing prices of the preceding day A great many of these shares
 have been vigorously pulled for the past several, days on rurnors of special dividends, efc., which now give poor
 promise of eventuating. Much of the
 stock was acquired on slender mar
 gins, and quickly wiped out when I stop loss orders were uncovered. Phelps Dodge & Go. have issued statement denying that the company. has been a buyer of Rock Island 1 stocks or that it is in any way re
 
 I The Pennsylvania Railroad has sold, 1 to a. Philadelphia banking house s. 1 21t, GOO of the Connecting Railway Co' S l first mortgage per cent. bonds, due 1851. The road has also sold s7e0,- 1000 Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt. Joy & Lancaster Railroad first mortgage As, due 1943
 I Net earnings of the Federal Mining
 & Smelling Go. for the four months
 ended December 31, were approximate 1 ly $300, GOO, or at the rate of $75, 600 per month. This is at the rate of l7 1-2 per cent. per annum on the pre- 1 ferred stock.
 l December operations of the Great 1 Northern Railway made much poor CT showing than expected. The gross for the period amounted to $5 56l, ,360, l which was a slight gain over the cor 1 responding month in 1912, but the net l of $1,648. .o36 was more than 8, ,0o0, 600 l below 1912.
 Earnings of the Detroit United Rail- l ways Go. in 1913, after deductions of 1 all charges and reserves, equalled l 1924 per cent on the SIP, 500, 900 capital stock, as compared with 11.60 per cent 1 in 1912. Owing to the fact that in l 1913 dividends at the rate of 6 per | cent. were paid on the stock as com pared with per cent in 1912, the l final balance for the year was $78o, ATT 1 a decrease of $44, ,9S7A