Evening star., 1933-08-04
STOCK LIST is Dull
BEFORE,SUSPENS|ON
TRANSACTIONS ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE SU
Mild Reaction in Progress;
When Tear Gas Bomb
Forces Closing.
BY GEORGE r. HUGHES.

BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, August IA mild re-
action was in progress when the Stock
Exchange was forced to suspend busi-
ness for the session today as a result Of
the mysterious placing of a tear gas
bomb in one Of the ventilating intakes
Of the building. Fumes released from
the bomb cleared the floor of members
and employees At 12:l5 pm.
Up to the time Of the interruption
prices had been sagging under small
volume and losses in leading stocks
ranged from fractions to ! or points.
More or less, all groups moved together,
but there was little weakness anywhere.
Most commodities were lower while
stock trading was in progress. That
was true Of cotton and wheat. The dol
lar rallied in terms of foreign cur
rencies.
Seek Nearest Exits.
As soon as the fumes spread brokers
and clerks alike sought the nearest
exits. Allen L. Lindley, vice president
of the Exchange. had to grope his way
through the fume-hlled hallway and
stairs up to the rostrum. where he rang
the bell that officially suspended trad
ing In the meantime, one Of the ticker
operators, who had stuck to his post
despite the fumes, tapped out on his
machine and over the stock quotation
tickers the notice of the closing and the
reason therefor.
There will be no bid and asked prices
in today's Stock Exchange bond and
stock tables. The exchange Is unable
to publish such quotations because OF
the sudden closing These prices always
are gathered on the floor from spe-
cialists at the close Of each session.
The exchange put its ofdcial closing
time at 1910 pm. Because Of the
fumes, however, 1t was 12:15 pm. be-
fore the closing was oficially an
nounced.
Trading on the over-the-counter mar
kets today will stop at 3 pm. instead
of the usual closing at pm
Out -of-town exchanges at once took
steps to discourage a now Of orders
from New York to their respective IN
stitutions the rest Of the day. Boston,
for instance, aAnounced that its spe-
cialists agreed not to accept orders until
Monday in stocks that we're listed on
the New York Exchange.
Market Opens Lower.
The market opened lower and sagged
throughout the morning in the lightest
of trading. Some of the selling may
have been in anticipation of the going
into effect Of the new margin rules next
month, and some Of it may have been
the evening up Of accounts prior to the
holiday In any event there was little
incentive to operate on the constructive
side
The insistence of the Governor Of
New York on lower rates for the serv-
ices rendered by the gas and electric
companies brought some selling into
the stocks affected, particularly Console
dated Gas, which was down 21a points
on the first sale and had one of the
largest losses. There was no volume to
the liquidation, II 1t was liquidation,
however. and the stock was steady at
the decline.
Another heavy group was the rubber
issues. Here and there were losses of q
point or so in the leading tire stocks.
Rubber futures were weak. OH 80 to 40
points in the early trading. The rubber
stocks also are sensitive to the changes
| in the imitation prospects and today's
report was that nothing would be done
in Washington along that line for the
present.
Industrials Dechne.
Losses were general among the
principal industrials. Ingersoll Rand
| dropped over I points. but that is q
stock which normally has a thin mar
ket both ways. Air Reduction. which
Is one Of the stocks recently loaning at
| premium. cropped back points
United Fruit. Woo!worth. Reynolds To-
baeco B" and Aub irn Auto were other
issues in supply at lower prices.
The rails sagged In sympathy with
the rest Of the list, although they were
| not weak. One of the best known ad-
visory services gave it as its opinion
that railroad stocks should not be
bought for immediate profits at thu
present time. although long g-term hold
/ ings should be retained.
Attendance in brokerage offices wa.
light. The Stock Exchange and the
Commodity Exchange, Inc. will be
/ closed tomorrow and, although there
Will be trading in cotton, Speculation,
were disposed to make 1t a long weel
end. Another cause for inactivity was
the feeling that 1t would be lust as vel
II speculation were limited in view OF
the attitude Of the Washington authori.
ties toward both the stock and the erair
|