Evening star., 1915-08-03
LANSTON MACHINE CO.
BOOKS s5OO,OOO ORDERS
Making Parts of Guns for English
Arms Company-New Plant and
English Branch Busy.
Stock Advances to So 631-Bethlehem
Steel's Big Rise and Profits.
Gas Companies Prosper.
BY I. A. FLEMING.

BY I. A. FLEMING.
The Lanston Monotype Machine Com
pany has entered the lists as manu-
facturer of gun parts for the English
Arms Company, the first order amount
ing to $JOOOO0, and additional orders
for larger amounts are being consid-
cred. The company has recently COM
pleted the construction of a new plant
at Philadelphia. and is in a position
to execute orders for gun parts rap
idly
The British subsidiary company In
England. which has been practically
idle since the outbreak of the war, has
also booked war orders freely, and is
being worked to capacity on their ex-
ecution.
That this information was known on
the local exchange was evlednced by
share advance of 21s points on the
stock and round lots sold, in all 30
shares, the ten shares at 81 and the
hundreds at 63. 63A and 631s.
Odd 10; trading on change was con-
fined to Capital Traction at 90, Railway
preferred at S2a4, Mergenthaler at $50 and
District National Bank at 1887.
Capital Traction IS sold at LOG. Rail-
way As at S134 and Potomac Console
dated 5s at 100as.
Gas Companies Prosper.
Both the local gas corporations are
doing much larger and therefore
more profitable business than they did
year ago. This report bears out the
stories of similar conditions in other
sections of the country, and demon
strates that wherever gas loses to cleo
tricity for illuminating uses it has
more than gained from coal and wood
for fuel consumption.
The Washington Gas Company is.
perhaps, making a little higher per-
centage of profit than the Georgetown
Gas Company for the reason that the
former has the more advantageous oil
contract. made just at the time oil
prices dropped materially, but with the
expiration of the Georgetown Gas Com
pany's present oil agreement the COM
pany will be able to make a material
saving.
The gain in business by the George
town company is largely in the way of
added consumers, while the Washing
ton Gas Company has made material
profit from additional consumers and
enlarged consumption.
1t is stated. on good authority that
the Washington Gas Company for the
seven months ended with July made
net profits aggregating $4,000 in ex-
cess of the returns, net. Cor the same
months of the previous year This
Bethlehem Steel, Common, S275.
Bethlehem Steel common stock, the
real sensation of Wall street, shares
that have advanced in a lettle less than
a. year from around the $50 share
mark, jumped this morning from S259
to $275 share.
There was reason for it, Some of
the facts that have been known to in
oiders and to the early speculative con-
tingent. whose orders boosted the
stock above par. were made public. 1t
was boldly stated that the war orders
to the company would run above
$250,000,000; that the profits have been
SO far above the expectations of the
officers of the corporation that a divi-
dend might be declared in the near fu-
ture.
Before the close of the current year
1t is considered probability that the
company will have orders totaling
close to s4OO. .OOo. 400 on which an esti-
mated profit of s1O0.OOO,O0o is said to
he modest. Last week Dow. Jones &
Co announced that the total orders
were for 2JOO0O. 900 of supplies
Steel activity the United states over
Is largely in helping Bethlehem Steel
and other corlArations and in war or
ders for which different companies
have contracts. as the Bethlehem COM
pany has no facilities for making war
supplies to fill the large orders
In Chicago, some months ago. the
word was passed to big financial in
ferests that the Bethlehem Steel cor
poration was making SO much money
that it could easily retire the pre-
5erred stock, which it has the right to
do. and pay large cash dividend to
the common shareholders. This was
while the stock was around s13o a
share. and soon after the big rise
caught the speculative contingent
short hnS CT
for more than few days since then
The Boston News Bureau today says:
Bethlehem Steel has now s25.Oo0 900
cash on hand; it will soon have
S25.o00 900 more. This equals more
thnn $500 a share on the $4,000. 600
common stock. The prospective profit
OF the company for two years is esti-
mated at about SIS, 900. 900 on its com
mon stock. equal to $500 a share
This and other inside and outside
talk was responsible for the big ad-
vance today.
National Banks Organized.