The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-06-25
shfpbuiiding and Marine
FreightS Cause Boon, Low
Wages Hard Times.


mia is having combination OF good
Ind bad times. Shipbuilding and
marine freights cause the boom,
while the difficulty OF securing sup
plies from abroad and the failure OF
ordinary wages to NJ the prevailing
high prices cause the hard times.
People who have shares in ships
md the various shipbuilding con-
lerns are having everything their
pwn way. Many persons who have
held stock which paid nothing at all
pr else very nominal dividends OF
from three to Ave per cent year
Tor many years. now have, in some
Eases, received cash dividends of
from twenty-five to fifty per cent.
Stock gambling.
One night not long ago there was
excitement down around the Grand
hotel on the main boulevard OF Karl
Johans gade. Some new stock had
been Issued on the installment basis,
whereby a purchaser paid about one
third down and agreed to pay the
other two-thirds as the money was
needed by the companies concerned.
The stock, one-third paid for. began
to rise in value as general freight
rates advanced, but as the compan-
les began calling for additional pay
ments. many owners found them
selves compelled to sell at least
part of their holdings in order to
pay obligations on the remainder.
The result was conflict between
rising prices on the one hand and
forced sales on the other All sorts
Of people were buying and selling.
from newsboys up. crowds collecting
on the streets and In the Hobbies of
the hotels In order to close their
transactions. However. the values
Of this kind OF paper after the war
Is over is problematical, for with yes
sells selling at about five times their
Intrinsic values. based on 1914
prices. II may be inferred that gem
eral decline will occur However.
many conservative people here say
that freight rates will continued to
be high for long time after the war
Is ended and that present rates will
not decline to any great extent.
Dealing in stocks or shares here
they call 'jobbing," pronounced
'yobbing" and nearly everyone is
'yobbing." The manager of a big
Anglo-Norwcgian shipping concern
was called up by telephone one day
by broker who wanted to learn
something of the credit of a certain
employe who had obligations amount
ing to about thirty thousand crowns
coming due.
Messenger boy Plungcs.
"WhV ~ gnid thu T1nuauap
don't mean Karl, our messenger boy.
do you? Hold the phone a minute. (
say, Karl, come here. Are you the
one this man is talking about? He
says you owe thirty thousand crowns
on some shares. You don't mean
to say you are yobblng' do you?"
why. yes, sir, that's me-" an
swered Karl. We'll. how are you GO
ing to raise thirty thousand crowns
to pay the oblIgat;ons?" "Why,
have II right here" replied Karl, and
taking bank book out of his pocket,
he showed the astonished manager n
balance Of some forty-fve thousand
crowns. THE thirty thousand is not
due till tomorrow and have not yet
been around there, but you may tell
him l will pay it all right.
How They Get Started.
The way these young fellows got
their start is about as follows: An
advertisement appears in the daily
papers inviting the public TO sub
scribe to a certain issue of stock. y
young clerk with barely enough cash
TO pay for the necessary postage
stamp, writes and says he wants a
hundred shares. Maybe the issue Is
over subscribed. so he receives n re-
ply to the effect that, according to
the pro rata, he is entitled to fifty
shares Of the hundred requested and
is invited to settle the account at
par within five days. He does this.
So with the par value of the shares
At five hundred crowns each. he pocK-
cts n neat profit Of anywhere from
ave hundred crowns to twelve hun
bred and fifty crowns. This was
about four months ago. Subscribers
now must enclose at least ten per
cent Of the face value Of the number
Of shares requested; otherwise the
letter or application will not be con-
sIdered.
1t is reported that millionaire
sUlpONutIh III btIEtllt aNOThhg Dlk
shipping center, have increased since
he war began from six or seven to
over forty and that Norway now has
the largest merchant marine of any
country in the world. Before the
war England was its only rival in this
respect.
Hard Times Talk.
The hard times talk comes from
the people who either have not got
ten in on the shipping deals or per-
haps got in on the wrong side Of the
profit column, for Notwithstanding
the upward tendency in the prices OF
stocks, there have been enough fluc-
tuations to cause many people to lose
heavily. However, prices of the ne
cessities OF life are rising and a good
many things cannot be seured at any
price. Salaries and wages have not
kept up with the increased cost OF
foOdstuffs. Salaries and wages have
not kept up with the increased cost
OF foodstuns Taxes are high and
may be higher. and with Norway at
least partially modified. some OF the
productive earning power Of the
country is. for the time being, elimi-
mated