Evening star., 1915-08-07
LANSTON MACHINE CO.
MAY PAY A DIVIDEND
President ]. Maury Dove Says the
Corporation Is in Prosperous Con-
dition-New Equipment Small.
Little Interest Shown in Washington
Securities, Pending Solution of
Important Matters.
By I. A. FLEMING.

BY 7. A. FLEMING.
'"rhe Lanston Monotype Machine
Company Is doing an excellent business
and I have great hopes that it will be
able to resume the payment Of divi-
dends to the shareholders of the cor
poration before the end of 1915" said
j. Maury Dove. president of the cor
poration, in an interview this morning.
Il am not predicting just when divi-
dends will be resumed. nor the rate that
We hope we may be able to pay" con-
tinued Mr.. Dove. but we are doing an
excellent business. without much in
crease in the cost of equipment and
without erecting any new buildings, as
reported.
our normal output from abroad we
have large part of one of our fac
tories at our disposal for the manu-
ftcture of any orders outside of our
regular line as we may receive. Need
ed equipment, other than normally en-
ployed has not cost us over $4,000.
Il have not taken the shareholders into
my confidence in the matter of executing
orders for what is termed munitions,
although ] understand that they are
generally entitled to information, but 1t
is also fact that there are times when
the business of corporation should not
be made public property.
LAS a real matter of fact, labor condi-
tions in American factories may be given
as the reason why l have not coHmuni-
Gated before this with the holders of
Lanston stock. We have good business
on our books, in untitled orders. and the
Lanston Company is prosperous"
Shareholders in the Lanston MonotyPe
Machine Company have received informa-
..J, he IF fa.y hat We
pany had large foreign war orders" but
this is the first official statement from
the president of the corporation.
Moreover, shareholders have had reason
week of SO q share. AT so, the current
price 4 few weeks ago. the stock was at
the low point for 1915, with no Indications
for improvement.
publication of the story that the COM
pany was manufacturing gun parts and
sharing in the profits resulting to Amerl-
can industrials through the war, caused
tie advance to 20. further rally would
seem within the probabilities, helped along
by the probabi of dividends.
Hopewell Enterprises.
Washington interests are largely in
terested in Hopewell, Va, enterprises.
Eldridge E. Jordan. B. r. Walters and
others were early in the field and Sc
cured large tracts of land adjoining the
site of the new Du Pont factories on
the James river, and have been prom
inent in real estate, traction and bank
ing corporations in that vicinity.
the Farmers and Mechanics, and Bes-
tor r. Walters, formerly treasurer
cashier Of the Citizens Savings
Bank and later a vice president Of
has been chosen president. He has also
been named as secretary of the COM
pany building trolley road between
Petersburg and HopeweH.
The payroll of the Du Pont Powder
Company at Hopewell now totals mil
lion dollars month, the bank handling
the greater part Of the checks, which
were formerly cashed by brokers. The
now about $4,000.
Closed Today.
The Washington Stock Exchange was
closed today. following the usual GUS
tom Of adjourning on Saturdays dur
ing July, August and September.
There was very little interest in Sc
curities during the week just closed
other than the new development in
Lanston. The rumor on the street is
that Lanston has booked orders for
ceived through the English corpora
tion, but the exact amount has not
been disclosed nor has there been any
official information on probable addi-
tional war orders.
The various traction shares are
rather slow. Investors are awaiting
with interest the completion of the
physical valuation estimates being
made by the Washington utilities COM
mission; the hearing on the question
of the separation of the Potomac Elec-
tric Company from the Washington
Railway and Electric Company Coined
together by act of Congress), and the
decisions in the various suits now
awaiting judgment in connection with
holdings of Georgetown Gas Light Com
pany stock. All these matters tend to re-
strict investment operations. notwith-
standing the fact that money is easy
and plentiful in the city.
Washington bonds acting we'll
end the prices continue strong, even
above the average of high industrials
in other cities.
Profit Taking.
There were evidences of profit taking
on Wall street. but there was no un-
casiness, no wild rush Of liquidation.
nor anything to indicate that the war
Ss-cks lad reached the top and turned
for a serious decline.
In the early action some Of the spe-
cialities rose sharply, and then, when
the rails turned weak and distribution
of stocks was sensed by traders, there
was weakness and a decidedly heavy
closing, with a twelve-point loss for
Bethlehem Steel common, and six
points on Crucible and Motors, while
the entire list was lower.