Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-20
BIG MERGER RAILS
| MARKET LEADERS
Florida Hurricane Has Some
Effect on Stocks of South
ern Carriers.
BY STUART p. WEST.

Especial Dispatch to The Star.
I NEW YORK, September 90. - The
EE'lorida disaster had some effect upon
tho stock market today, but it was
mot major influence.
! Shares of some of the Southern car
e-iers We're weak for while, but there
fwas no important selling, and South.
sefn Railway, representing road
which would be as hard hit as any.
Aent up over a point. Seaboard Air
Idne issues We're somewhat weak At
Eantic Coast Line sold off for a time,
chen rallied.
: Altogether. while the great South.
rrn hurricane was a factor the prob
abilities are that the market would
have done pretty much the same as
it did without this sensational news.
Merger Rails Leaders.
( Stocks belonging to the Van Swer-
ingen group We're in the foreground,
although nothing came out over Sun
day in connection with the reports
current Saturday of new and more
Favorable terms for the Chesapeake
and Ohio minority shareholders. New
high records for all time were made
in Chesapeake and Ohio and in Pere
Marquette and the old Nickel Plate
Shares ran up another points.
Motor shares, with the exception
of General Motors, were unsettled by
the break in Hudson, which followed
the publication of the figures for the
quarter ending August 81. These
were decidedly startling, showing q
net income of less than s., 100000 as
against $685. 54 in the same period
n year ago. The comparison was
made with an extraordinarily pros
porous three months in 1925. Also it
was alleged there were Charye-offS
for the introduction Of new models
and the new body-making plant. But
even SO it accounted for the persistent
selling which has been going on for
weeks in Hudson Motor. Nash
Motor, Yellow Trucks and Chrysler
were all lower.
General Motors distinguished itself
in the midst of these trying circum-
stances by selling at the highest I'M
der the present form of capitaliza-
ton. Studehaker was higher for a
time, then dropped off. Further weak
ness appeared in Mack Truck, but
du Pont, moving with General
Motors, had for a while quite a sharp
run-up.
The rumor about Bethlehem Steel
being restored to a dividend basis
continued to he circulated, and the
sum- NIiltIl Ildu ClOSeu Ill 4JHk SAT
urday, rose to 81. Steel common
fluctuated over n comparatively mar
row range. Youngstown Sheet and
Tube were steady, while Gulf States
went off a bit.
Await Quarterly Report.
There was no news of Importance
from the steel manufacturing centers
Wall Street is waiting for the third
quarter report, which will not be out
for another month, before it makes
its mind definitely about the sta
tus of the steel stocks. 1t wants to
know how far operations conducted
at the rate of 50 per cent of capac-
ity-very high, of course, for the Sum
mer season-have been offset by the
low price level.
The oils for the most part were not
much changed, Stocks like Pan
American "B," General Asphalt.
Union Oil of California, Standard Oil
of California and Texas Co. were NOV
ing within fractional limits. Quite a
sharp drop occurred in American
Smelling. the stock going off easily
and indicating a rather surprising
lack of support. The drop in the
Smelling shares checked whatever
rising tendencies there had been last
week in the Coppers.