Evening star., 1923-09-08
SUGAR STOCKS POPULAR.
Good Buying in Southern Railway
Among Features Today. $50
BY STUART p. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special DIspatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK, September S.-Through
the greater part of today's brief ses-
sion on the stock exchange interest
centered chiefly in another batch OF
specially movements. while the main
body of stocks remained In the back
ground. merely marking time.
The firmness of the railway issues
with a few outstanding points among
the low-priced members of the group
renewed buying in the sugar stocks
toward the close. the steadiness OF
the steels, especially the shares OF
features among stocks of the spe.
cialty type-these comprise wha,
business was done.
Prices Best Mt Close.
Trailing was rather unspirited and
save for a moderate demand for the
stock of coal-carrying railroads, little
reed was paid to the outside news
The best prices were reached in the
last half hour
Early in the day there was a
Southern Railway. in which an at.
tempt Is being made by a proxy com
mittee to force the payment of divi-
dends on the common stock. for the
Fries partly on the basis of good
EARNINGS, Delaware ana Hudson and
Reading. The other rails were gen.
orally firm.
on the basis Gf resumption of the
demand for refined sugar. and or
expectation of favorable dividend
action in some instances.
Optimism in SterI Stocks.
The steels responded to optimistic
statements regarding conditions ir
that industry. Continental Can con.
tinued its remarkable advance to a
new top, while Jones Tea was q
N iris
leaders were strongest at the close
Southern Railway was actively dealt
in again today. reaching new, high
vancing to within three points of its
top for the year. Many read In the
strength of this stock a demand on
the part of the persons representing
what is said to be a proxy corr
contract and forcing the payment
upon dividends" Southern Railways
earnings so far this year have beer
year the road reported net income
of s13.432.47s, against ss,s77.4a6 in the
corresponding period Of 1922.
But earnings as in previous years
have been put back in the property
after allowance for all charges and
dividends on the preferred stock. II
is argued by certain interests tina:
Southern Railway has been in posi-
tion to pay something on is common
stock and now is~in a particularly
favorable position to do so.
Officials of the company have de-
! ferred declaration on the common
end it is not at all illogical to infer
that the buying in. the open market
, later this week has represented the
Iso-called proxy committee effort at con-
troll. \ majority common stock inter
est would mean more than 100000 OF
the 100000 shares outstanding.
Jones Tea Under Pressure.
pressure, selling down to new low for
the year under fifty. 1t sold more than
fifteen points under the 1923 top and
over six points from Fridays high
The special weakness in Jones Tea ap-
parently was based upon the theory
that the company's earnings would be
affected through whatever difficulty ii
might have in getting supplies of tea
or at least upon the assumption that
prices for tea imported from China
certain sections of Japan and other
parts of the orient. would be higher as
aresult of the Japanese disaster.