Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-06
IMER CHANTS BANK g. TRUST co.
REPORTS BEST YEAR IN HISTORY
Chain Store Sales Show Heavy Increases in
December and for the Entire Year.
Installment Buying Watched

500. 100 from 500, 500 200 In 1925.
Sales of United Drug Co. for 1926,
with December estimated, and exclu-
sive of foreign subsidiaries, are
placed at $91 500. 900, against actual
sales of $7S,145, 900 in 1925.
Closer Watch on Credits Here.
| Automobile dealers in Washington
| indicate that a very close watch will
! be kept on instaIlment buying during
| 1927. Talks with dealers bring out the
| fact that first payments will be fully
as large as were required in 1926, and
| in some instances larger. This same
policy of tightening up credit will pre-
vail all over the country.
1t is known that many people are
entering the new year with debts that
| they cannot easily liquidate which
| they contracted largely because the
| partial payment plans were made to
; look so simple. Dealers in many com
| modities besides automobiles are
awaiting payments for their merchan-
! disc, too.
The National Automobile Chamber
! of Commerce recently sounded a warn
| ing against any overextension of
| credit, and that is one reason for the
greater caution noted here.
| Local Stocks Fairly Active.
| Local stocks were fairly active
| again today, trading opening with the
| sale of ID shares of Norfolk and
| Washington Steamboat Co. at 275.
| Potomac Electric Power preferred
| opened at 1878 and closed at 1912.
| Washington Gas came out at 715s
| and closed at 7134 on a very small
| turnover. Lanston, after opening at
| 9414, wound up the day at 941a, sales
| being 80 shares.
| Ten shares of Federal Storage pre-
ferred sold at 10. and 10 shares of
| Merchants Transfer and Storage
preferred came out at 100%. Eight
| shares of Capital Traction changed
hands at 103@. One bank stock APP
| peared on the board, five shares of
Merchants Bank and Trust Co. SELL
| ing at 1853.
In the bond division Washington
! Gas IS brought par and a quarter,
| and Gas 6S sold at 103. Wardman
| Park Hotel 51Ss, which rarely appear
on the board sold today at 971s on a
| $4,000 turnover.
Heard i'm Financial District.
| At meeting late yesterday of the
! directors of the Washington Me-
| chanics Mortgage Co, the usual
quarterly dividend of per cent was
declared on the preferred stock. The
| dividend is payable on January 10
| to stockholders of record on Janu-
! airy 10.
! 1t is announced that the new
! Barber & Ross $1.000000 bond issue,
! which was placed on the market
yesterday, has been oversubscribed.
! The new issue was very well re-
| ceived in Washington and the out
! of-town firms participating in the
! sale also reported a strong demand.
] The Southern Railways earnings
! for the first II months of 1925 makes
| it appear that the forecast of SIT
/ per share on common stock will be
| reached and perhaps exceeded.
| A grand total of $1,399 100000 of
| negro risks carried by American in
| Surance companies was shown by a
! report of the National Negro IN
! surance Association. % companies
! included, which was made public
| through its representatives here.
j: A. w. Iglehart & Co. are partici-
| pating in the offering of S4,136 900
Georgia and Florida Railroad first
mortgage 6 per cent gold bonds made
; today. These bonds are priced at 80
and interest, to yield over 6.17 per
cent.
Eugene +. Thompson has gone to
-
! heid of the Seaboard Air Line to at
tend the opening of the companys
new Miami extension.
! Railroad Seeks Bond Issue.
! The Virginian Railway Co., has APP
Piled to the Interstate Commerce Com
mission for authority to issue nomi-
na!ly So 1868 900 of first mortgage 5 per
cent 50-year gold bonds for better
ments and improvements. Road also
asked commission for permission to
guarantee and acquire $S4, 900 worth
of bonds of the Virginia Terminal Co.
The Orpheum Circuit, Inc, declared
regular monthly dividend Of 1924
/ cents on the common. payable Febru-
! airy / to stock of record January 20.
and regular quarterly dividend of
per cent on preferred, payable April
l to stock of record March Is.
The fact that directors declared only
one monthly dividend instead of the
usual three monthly dividends is
taken in Chicago to mean that an in
creased rate is in prospect at the
February meeting, when results of
1926 operations will have been known