Evening star., 1923-02-20
RAILROAD SHARES
. MARKETLEADERS
Heaviest Selling for Week
Noted in Some Groups.
j. Review and Outlook.
ny STUART p. WEST.

by STUART p. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 20.-Tht
stock market ran into the heaviest
selling today that 1t has encountered
for fully week. Speculative senti'
ment was very much mixed. Some
good judges claimed to have seen
signs of important distributtve selling
going on for several days. while
others maintained that there were toe
many uncompleted pool operations fol
much Of a reaction to be permitted
now.
One of the first moves was the TAX
ing up Of the railway shares, which
had done little in the market for some
time. This demonstration. as is US
ually the case when the rails become
active, was short lived. Still, while
1t lasted. 1t brought such stocks as
Canadian Pacific. Northern Pacihc
Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Louis
Vile and Nashville. St Louis and San
Francisco and Southern railway either
mp to or above the best prices reacnet
SO far this year.
Industrinls Irregular.
In the Industrial section the move
ment was very irregular from the
start. The street did not like the
news that Phillips Petroleum di-
rectors proposed to increase the pres.
ent stock by 100000 shares. and
Phillips Petroleum broke sharply
In the other oils there was con-
siderable selling also.
The coppers continued to show the
optimistic feeling resulting from the
cents. but after a further advance ir
The early part Of the day they were
jnciined 20 drop behind. The sugars
felt the effect of heavy profit taking
and most of them went lower. The
steels. equipments and motors durine
the greater part of the session did
little more than hold their own.
Tobacco Products and Retail Stores
were bid up on reports that when
y5Alng into account the undisturbed
ilserest in the United Cigar Stores
earnings were running at the rate OF
- share on Tobacco Products COM
ssUn.
Review and Outlook.
The inference that could fairly be
drawn from the course of today's
markets was that financial opinion
regarding the situation In the Ruhl
bad not been changed by the debate
iii the British parliament and the de.
feat Of the proposal to make a media
tion offer to the authorities at Paris
HAD financial judgment taken the
sanguine view Of the outcome st.
tributed to official French and Bel
gian sources, 1t would have been re.
!fected both in the movement of ex.
change rates and in that of govern
Inent bonds. But neither French nol
Belgian francs showed any inclina
ton toward recovering their recen,
losses and. while French bonds Wen,
higher. the advance was compare
lively triflins.
The inward movement continued
in sterling and was the most strik-
Ing feature of the day. Eut at nc
time has the valuation of the British
pound been based upon developments
In the Franco German struggle
Whatever British statesmen have said
Hbout the possible disturbance of the
peace OF Europe, the financial mar
Tets In England and in this country
have refused to indorse these senti-
ments. Sterling today at one time
was within 31a cents a pound of the
s4.75 level. at which it was held by
the British treasury throughout the
var. 1t was only Is cents away from
the pre-War parity
But this fresh advance is merely the
unfolding of a situation which ha:
long been claimed, the keynote o.
which is that when Great Britain
more than balanced her budget
ceased to run in debt on the foreign
trade, and finally arranged for the
debt. she had complied with the three
essentials necessary to the restora-
ticn OF her normal exchange relation
with the dollar. II can hardly be
doubted now that complete restora-
tion Of this parity is only q question
of time.
Associated Dry Goods.
The 1922 report of Associated Dry
Goods will appear soon. and 1t is ex-
pected that it will show at least $14
4 share earned on the common stock
= record for the company. Moreover
Dry Goods has shared the unusual
prosperity of the dry goods trade al
rarlly net earnings have had a sea-
eonal drop.
One OF the first copper statements
for the closing quarter OF 1922 will bs
that of the Butte and Superior Com
Dany. 1t will give satisfactory &C.
count of operations. Porphyry Copper
~ourth quarter figures will be pub.
lished soon and will show decided i'm.
Drorement in earnings. 1t was pre-
dicted today that i7-cent copper meta
would come in March.
Activity and strength in Western
Union today was attributed to expec
tations of a higher dividend rate. The
street looks for an increase from thu
present 81 annually to 50. Earning:
Of the company warrant a higher
rate.
StromberE Jumps IL Points.
Some OF the individual shares move
mentS during the late afternoon wer,
certainly not Of tho sort to be pleas
ing to conservative sentiment With
The utmost that might be said regard
ing the unusual business which tht
motor supply companies are doing. {
1o-point jump in Stromberg Carbu
retor In the space of two days woult
appear pretty extreme.
The pushing up of the fertilizer ant
chemical shares might have been de
fonded on the ground that hitherto
these stocks have borne little par
IN the general advance. On the othel
Iand, IT is still question which ha.
not been satisfactorily answered
whether those companies which
draw their revenue from the manu-
facture of cotton oil have been abb,
TO match the advance in the price,
OF their raw material by anything
like corresponding increase ii
prices of the finished product.
1t was noteworthy that the advanc
i'll railway shares which had been
feature early in the day was no
maintained in the afternoon, despit
the anticipation of exceptionally ia
Torabte traffic return soon to be re