Evening star., 1932-04-26
LOCAL EXCHANGE
IS OPENED EARLIER
Summer Schedule Put Into
Effect-RetaiI Sales
Report Made.
BY EDWARD c. STONE.

Oh Tie summer Scnedule JOQay ana
opened the daily trading session at
1918 O'Clock instead of 11:15 o'clock,
following the lead of the New York
Stock Exchange, which adopted daylight
saving time yesterday.
Trading was light and confined al
most wholly to bonds. The opening
transaction was a small transfer of Po-
tomac Electric Power 512 per cent pre-
ferred stock at 102. Two 81 900 sales in
Washington Railway g. Electric As were
then recorded, both made at 8012.
washington Gas Light 6S, Series A, fig
ured in a $1,000 sale at 99A.
The exchange bulletin board contains
an announcement of the recent decla-
ration by the American Fire Insurance
Co. of an extra dividend OF 3 per cent,
payable May l to stock of record April
rs. This local stock is listed on the
exchange and is now quoted eX dividend
During the session one OF the eX-
change members said he had sold some
local stock at the request Of a New
York broker and had been called upon
to pay the New York State stamp tax
on it. The matter involved several
highly technical points of more than
usual interest.
ID. c. Sales Top Other Cities.
washington made the best record in
retail sales in March of any Of the
leading cities in the fifth Federal Re
serve district, according to the monthly
detailed sales analysis made punlc tlls
noon by the Federal Reserve Bank Oh
Richmond Sales were off only l4.l per
cent in this city, while Rlchmono re-
ported a drop of 14.9 per cent, Baltl-
more was down 19 per cent, the average
for the whole district was off IL per cent,
and a prollp of smaller cities lacked rs
,,er cent of doing as much business as
For the first quarter retail sales IN
the Canital also stood up better tnaA
thew did in other fifth district citleS. |
The slump was 13 per cent. Tooay
Rank of Richmond report ADDS:
Department store sales IN Ihe nIsLi
reserve district in Marcn were olsap i.r,
nointing the Easter trade being very
p+I 71oor nartIv on account of unusually |
roId weather during most of the month.
sales in SO stores averaged l1.3 per
cent less than sales in March, 1881,
and combined sales in the first quarter
of this wear fell 1872 per cent pehlno
sales in the same stores IN the nrsU
quarter of 1881.
EStocks on the shelves OF the re-
porting department stores rose al
average of 5.1 per cent during Marcn, I,
seasonal increase, but on March 81
average stocks at retail prices were IL
ner cent below stocks on hand on Marcn |
Al 1881. stocks were turned .3l9 times
in March this year, and during the nrSs |
quarter of 1882 stocks were turned .ozi
times. a lower figure than .872 times
stocks were turned in the hrst quarter
of 1881. oo l.. o, -.
the 80 stores averaged 26.1 per cent OF
raceivables outstanding on March l. a |
poorer record than that of March, 1881,
when 23.9 per cent of outstanding re-
ceivables as of March l were collected
during the month"
C. g. p. Votes S67,S65 Outlay.
Expenditures necessary Tor the
proper maintenance of the telephone
system in the District OF Columbia ana
for replacements amounting to $67 800 |
have lust been authorized by the board
of directors of the Chesapeake & Poto- |
mac Telephone Co. at its regular
monthly meeting held here today. This
appropriation brings the total amount
authorized to date for expenditures this
year to SO, 1862 1913.
Included in these projects are the ex-
tension of underground conduit along
Benning road from Seventeenth street
to Kingman Lake northeast in the Lin
coln-AtIantic central Office area, and
the installation of additional central Of
fee equipment in various local otflces.
Expenditures necessary for the proper
maintenance of the telephone system
throughout Maryland and Tor replace
mentS amounting to $47140 have just
been authorized by the board OF dlrec-
tors of the Chesapeake & Potomac
Telephone Co. of Baltimore City.
Meeker Defends Short Selling.
j. Edward Meeker, economist of the
New York Stock Exchange, is the au-
thor of a book recently brought out by
Harper g. Bros. entitled Short Sell
ing" On account OF his connection
with the exchange the writer has an
unusual amount OF information to pre-
sent from data on file, he has written
one of the most exhaustive books on
the subject yet published. He is nat
urally strongly in favor of short selling,
but at the same time presents the argu-
ments against it.
Mr.. Meeker has already written sew
eral books on the work of the Stock EX-
change and is always clear and inform
ative Whether one views short selling
as useful or destructive, the author
makes the timely subject most inter
eSting.
Seek Changes in Glass Bill.
The elimination of the interstate fea-
ture of the branch banking provisions |
of the Glass banking bill IS being |
sought by New Jersey bankers through !
their Senators The bill as it now |
stands permits banks so miles over other |
State lines. Such proposal would per
NIT New York banks to establish |
branches in important centerS in New
Jersey.
New York bankers are expressing op- |,
position to the provision giving them /
only three years in which to divorce |
themselves of security aflliates. They |
would have the provision extended to |
five years.
Bus Passenger Service Sold.
Tidewater Lines, Inc, has sold its bus |
passenger service to the Peninsula |
Transit Corporation and will devote all
iE energies to increase its freight buSi- |
ness, according TO announcement by
Maurice Otterback, vice president OF |
the company and president OF the Ana
costa Bank. The company operates
between Washington and Southern |
Maryland points and also has line
from Southern Maryland to Baltimore |
over the Grain Highway. The line |
which has acquired the passenger serv-
ice has been in successful operation I
since 1919.
Heard in Financial District.
William c. Stettinius, who has just |
been elected vice president OF the |
Baltimore Trust Co., is well known in |
Washington He has been a director |
in the bank for several years is a di- |
rector of the Worthington Pump & Ma |
chinery Co. and formerly a general |
partner of w. w. Lanham g. Co.
The American Bankers Association |
has assigned to George Washington |
University loan scholarship for the !,
year 1928. Joshua Evans, jr., presi- |
dent of the District National Bank, will !
serve with the faculty committee in !
awarding the scholarship