Evening star., 1939-10-19
CAPITAL Insurance
Sales Up IS Per Cent
During September
Maryland Shows Rise
And Virginia Slump,
Compared With 1888
BY EDWARD C. STONE.

ny LIZ hnD ~ . oINLs
Total sales of ordinary life insur-
ance in Washington in September
amounted to s4.576,OOO, an increase
OF Is per cent over the like month
a year ago, and IN the first nine
months reached the sum of S45,84O,-
600, an advance of per cent over
the same period last year. accord
Ing to the monthly report from Hart
ford the Nations insurance capital.
Maryland sales were up IA per
cent and per cent, respectively,
September business totaling $6,8ll,-
600 and the nine months S68, ,032 900.
Virginia sales of $5,782,00O were off
Z per cent on the month but the
-year-to-date total of $62 951 900 was
4 per cent ahead of 1898.
The whole country reported exact
ly the same amount of new business
In September, s422, ,597 900, but gain
OF per cent in the nine months
when a total of 76,479,OOO was
written. North Carolina was up per
cent for the month and per cent
for the year: South Carolina off 20
per cent and up 3 per cent, and
West Virginia up 3 per cent for the
month and ever with last year for
the nine months.
The South Atlantic States totaled
S43595 900 in new business. a gain
of l per cent in September, and
total of S445, ,7O5,OOO in the nine
months, gain of per cent, the
Hartford report stated.
Washington led Boston, Chicago,
Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York,
Philadelphia and st. Louis in Sep
tember percentage gains but trailed
Detroit. In the nine months the
Capital ran behind all these cities
except New York, where sales were
up only 2 per cent
Lanston Develops New Model.
Lanston Monotype Machine Co.
stockholders in Washington will be
deeply interested in an improved
type-settlng machine perfected at
the firms plant in Philadelphia and
soon to 60 into production.
The keyboard unit of the new ma
chine was recently exhibited and
demonstrated at the National
Graphic Arts Exposition at the
Grand Central Palace, New York.
The type-casting unit is already in
operation in the Philadelphia plant,
according to announcement by Har-
vey D. Best, president.
The new device is called the 512
typesettlng machine. so named from
the fact that the matrix case will
hold 5l2 matrices, more than twice
as many as the standard model in
use Tor so many years. This capac-
1ty permits the use of much wider
variety of type faces and sizes. Mr..
Best states that the new model is
the result of several years of effort.
1t will go into commercial output
just as soon as the necessary tools
and dies can be made, he said.
There are large number of Lans-
ton stockholders in the Capital The
stock is listed on the Washington
Exchange, sold the other day at
$4O.25 share and at one time it was
one of the most active issues on the
board. 1t pays 81 year dividend.
President Best believes the new
model will add materially to the
company's yearly sales.
Tolbert Lanston, inventor, was
employed in the Pension Bureau and
lived in Washington while develop
ing the monotype machine which
was manufactured here until about
1900 when the company moved to
Philadelphia
j. Maury Dove, Washington coal
merchant and hotel owner, organ
lied the company in 1888, became
the first president and remained its
head until his death in 1925. Incl
dentally, the present chairman of
the board is j. Thilman Hendrick
OF this city.
Home Loan Records Smashed.
Building and loan associations OF
Washington enjoyed the largest VOL
ume of home loans for the year dur.
ing September, according to figures
released today by F. Wilson Camp,
secretary of the D. c. League. Out
standing mortgage loans increased
$5,606,428 over August, totalling
new high of $126 ,O8O.
Analysis of the report discloses
that 1873 construction loans were
made during the month while ad-
vances on new houses not previously
financed numbered 2O4. Other loans
granted brought the total up to 77S
individual transactions Total sur
plus account of the reporting asso-
Citations moved ahead considerably,
being in excess of S5,438,O0O.
New share accounts continued to
be opened. 779 being added in Sep
tember. The grand total of the q
groups reflected a satisfying balance
sheet with resources of S135, ,102 ,250.
Every association participated in the
upward movement, Mr.. Camp an
nounced.
Bank Loans at Years Peak.
The Federal Reserve Board re-
ports further increase in COM
mercial, industrial and agricultural
loans in the Fifth Reserve District,
which includes this city. Such loans
are now at the years peak in this
territory.
The District Life Underwriters
Association will hold the first fall
luncheon at the Willard Hotel Mon
day at 1915, when an address by
William Allen White in New York
on the annual message of life in
surance will be rebroadcast. Com
plete plans for the special insur-
ance week activities will be out
lined
The Commerce Department re-
ports that sales in chain variety
stores were Az per cent above the
comparable 1893 period. Retail bus
iness in the United States in Sep
tember was little affected by Euro
pean war conditions, the report
added.
Heard in Financial District.
Washington Gas Light common
stock sold ex dividend on the Wash
ington Stock Exchange today at