Evening star., 1933-01-26
INSURANCE PARLEY
LARGELY ATTENDED
Lynch Presides at the Fit.
kg teenth Annual Sales
+ Congress Here.
BY EDWARD C. STONE.

John p. Lynch, president OF the lis
trict of Columbia Life Underwriters
Association, called the fifteenth annual
sales congress of the Washington and
Maryland associations to order at 10
O'Clock this forenoon at the Shoreham
Hotel The attendance was well over
500, Baltimore sending the biggest
out of town representation. Leading
insurance men from other parts of
MARYLAND, as well as from Richmond
and other cities in Virginia, SWelled the
numbers at the most important life
insurance event of the year In this
locality.
The Life Underwater of 1932-1933"
was the general topic of the congress.
The program included addresses by
Griffin M. Lovelace, vice president of
the New York Life Insurance Co.;
Robert B. Coolidge, Aetna Life, Cleve-
land; NJ j. Donnelly, Equitable Assur
ance Society, New Castle, Pa; H. j.
johnson, Penn Mutual. Pittsburgh, and
Louis c. Roth, Mutual Benefit Life,
Buffalo.
Five-minute talks by agents in this
territory were also on the program
three from Baltimore, Thomas w. Har-
risen, jr, Carl E. Hecht and Abram M.
Seigman. and two Washingtonians,
John B. Cleland. jr, and Paul H. Primm.
Thomas P. Morgan, jr., was chairman
Of the Arrangements Committee. The
conference will be concluded late this
afternoon.
Graymur Corporation to Dissolve.
A financial news dispatch from
Wilmington, Del, states that stock
holders of the Graymur Corporation
have voted to dissolve the corporation,
IN, hn III,
approved under which the assets of
the Graymur concern will be sold to
the Tri-Continental Corporation.
The stock and debentures of the Tri-
Continental Corporation, the dispatch
states, to be received shortly by the
Graymur Corporation, will be ready for
distribution to the Graymur stockhold-
ers soon and will be distributed by the
repositories, c. Mp. Murphy g. Co.
and ]. & w. Seligman & Co.. with
whom the Graymur shareholders should
deposit their stock
At the time this stock was put out
1t was widely distributed among Wash
tngton people.
Pierce Acquires Brokerage Firm.
E. A. Pierce &, Co., New York Ex-
change house, which has a Washington
office under the management of Thomas
w. Brahany. has acquired the business
of another broker firm, as shown by
the following announcement, made in
New York by D. NJ. Collins &, Co..
Having decided to discontinue the
commission business we have arranged
with E. A. Pierce & Co. to transfer to
that firm such of its customers ac-
counts as are satisfactory TO E. A. Pierce
& Co. provided that the customer ap-
proves such transfer. Pierce & Co. has
likewise arranged to take over certain
of our personnel with a view to enab-
ling former customers to maintain un-
interrupted contact with the personnel
with whom they have hitherto dealt.
1t is also planned that D. NJ Collins
will maintain a close association with
Pierce & Co. and retain his membership
on the New York Stock Exchange"
Pennsy Stockholders Surprised.
Hundreds of Washington stockhold-
ers IN the Pennsylvania Railroad were
surprised and OF course delighted with
the declaration of dividend of so cents
per share announced yesterday. This
stock has been widely held in the Cap
1tal for many years. 1t is true here, as
elsewhere, that high percentage of it
Is held by women.
The dividend is payable on March IS
last previous dividend was a 5O-cent
quarterly disbursement made on Feb
ruary 20. 1882. That payment was in
cluded in dividend appropriations for
1881, which were charged to profit and
loss Last April when the MAY divi-
dend was due the company stated that
IL mad decided to defer consideration at
that time
Declaration of the current dividend
yesterday, continues unbroken the rec
ord OF the Pennsylvania Railroad of a
cash payment in every year. The direc-
tors state that further payments this
year cannot be made unless there is
marked improvement in business.
Today's Trading on Exchange.
Trading on the Washington Stock Ex-
change today opened with Washington
Gas Light IS, series A, selling in small
denominations at 1004. Later larger
denominations moved at lOOl2, closing
with a small sale at 100as.
In the unlisted department more of
the new issue of Washington Gas Light
5s, 1858, appeared on the board, at
S4A. This completed the days busi-
ness with the exception of a small sale
In Potomac Electric Power 51a per cent
preferred stock, at LOT, same as yester-
Ody safes.
Today was the date for the delivery
OF the new Washington gas bonds.
They have met with an unusually cor
dla! reception since they were offered
a short time ago.
Trusts Buying Common Stocks.
One OF the most striking developments
revealed by the 1882 year end state
ments OF leading general management
investment trusts was the concerted
movement toward increased invest
ments, says the Standard Statistics Co.
in a current analysis, which continues
in part:
In practically every instance the
large holdings of cash, call loans and
United States Government bonds shown
in the portfolios of investment trusts
at the beginning of the year were sub
Stantially depleted during 1882. The
major portion of these funds was lodged
in common stocks, although bonds and
preferred shares also were well repre-
Sented among new purchases. At the
close of the year the companies still
had important liquid reserves, but their
investment position was materially
higher. Thus the concerns are now so
situated as to derive substantial benefit
from any sustained improvement in Sc
curity markets
Analysis of the relationship between
the net asset values and prices of in
vestment trust preferred and common
stocks discloses that the senior shares
and the junior equities without lever
age are selling at approximately the
same average discount as was the case
a year earlier, with a tendency toward
a narrowing of this gap on the part of
certain OF the common shares"