Evening Star Newspaper, December 25, 1928, Page 11

FINANCIAL.® Money to Loan Becured by first deed of trust on real estate, 5 Prevailing interest as o1 Joseph 1. Weller £ = Let us have your applications for LOANS ON REAL ESTATE Immediate Acti Courteous Treatment Our record of 35 years speaks for itself. Percy H. Russell Co. 1731 K St. N.W. Consult Us First If you need money for your Real Estate financing let us have your application today. Prompt Service No Appraisal Fee The Commercial National Company Incorporated Paid up Cash Capital $900.000 Commercial National Bank Slds. 1th and G [ e R ——— COMPLETE FINANCING | Ist&2nd - TRUST MONEY ©On tomes, apartment buildings and business properties. No apprai- sal fee. Prompt service. Real Estate Mortgage & Guaranty Corp. 24 Jackson Pl On improved Property sn Maryland and District of Columbia 6% Interest No Commission Charges REALTORS 809 15th Street N.W. Main 9486 Mortgage Loan Correspondent Metropolitan Life Insurance -~ Company 7 Continental Trust Co. 14th and H Streets Capital, $1,000,000.00 Checking Accounts Savings Accounts Acceptance Credits Time Deposits Foreign Exchanges Commercial Credits Travelers’ Credits Travelers’ Checques Collections Real Estate Loans Collateral Loans Investment Securities Corporate Trusts Individual Trusts Administrator, Executor Safe Deposit Boxes Continental Trust Co. 14th and H Streets WADE H. COOPER. President Capital, $1,000,000.00 WHY not start some loved one toward financial independence this Christmas with ode of our 6% First Trust Notes secured by a modern home in nearby Maryland. Very truly here’s the gift of gifts. RUBBER INDUSTRY MERGERS RUMORED Frank Seiberling Mentioned as Leading Figure jn Possible Combines. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR. Speelal Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, December 25.—There has been much talk recently of vast consolidations in the rubber industry, usually with the name of Frank A. Seiberling figuring prominently in the merger. Mr. Seiberling, who is 69, left Heidel- berg College, in Ohio, at 17, and went to work in his father’s factory. At 30 he managed to purchase an old plant in Akron, Ohio, and started in the mbber business. He had little capital, but much industry. His then small busi- ness has developed into whai is uow the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Active in the development of the or- ganization from the start, Mr. Seiber- ling became the president in 1898. 1he company’s growth kept pace with the expansion of the indnstry. It had its largest year in 151J, when sales in tires totaled $168,000,000, and net profits were $23,000,000. Then came the after-war deflation of 1921, and at 62 Mr. Seiberling found himself in a desperate financial jam. He sacrificed his home and all his sav- ings to carry his company over the crisis. Then he resigned. He had a close friend in an oil man | from Texas, Edgar B. Davis, He he#:la | Mr. Seiberling at this critical Le: X | Mr. Seiberling started again. He re- covered his fortune. Today he is cne of the largest individual holders of Goodyear stock, if not the largest. He formed the Seiberling Rubber Co. after his retirement from Goodyear. ZLast year it had net profits of $1,356,000. Mr. Seiberling has never speculated in stocks. He is not a stock market operator. The New York Stock Ex- change has never heard his name in | connection with any speculation. It was his suggestion that started the building of 1,200 homes by the Goodyear Co. in a suburban develop- ment near the company’s plant, for their workmen in Akron. The venture has been highly successful, and is to- day one of the most attractive work- ingmen’s home developments in the United States. (Copyright, 1928, by North American News- paper Alliance.) Wall Street Briefs New construction started in 37 States east of the Rocky Mountains during the week ended December 21 totaled $101,- 610,000, or $4,000,000 more than the , week, F. W. Dodge Corpora- sion reported today. The aggregate now is $6,497,135,000, or 3 per cent above the total for the corresponding period of 1927. The largest project started during the week was a Jersey City Railroad terminal warehouse to cost $13,000,000. Ford Motor - Car Co. is currently producing between 6,500 and 7,000 cars and trucks a day and plans to lose as little time as possible in taking the annual mnventory. Arrangements have been made to take inventory this week end, completing it by the following ;ln\lug:y‘ thereby losing only one work- g day. Chevrolet Motor Co. will begin opera- tions this week in its new assembly p!ant at Kansas City. This makes nine Chev- m assembly plants in the United Household Finance Corporation of New York directors have declared an initial 75 cent dividend on the recently issued 400,000 participating preference stock. The dividend is payable January ;? to stockholders of record December W. Q. Bateman, for the last eight years manager of Montgomery Ward & Co’s Portland, Oreg., store, has been appointed general manager of the com- pany’s retail department store division, with headquerters in Chicago. November net operating income of Chsapeake & Ohio increased to $2,902,- 827 from $1,977,966 in November, 1927. Net for the past 11 months totaled $32,- 669,496, against $34,353,457 in the first 11 months of 1927. Formatien of a new investment trust in mining and smelting industry to be known as North American Mining & Smelting Corporation is announced along with an offering of 500,000 no par shares of stock at $3 a share. The corporation is controlled by Associated Metals* Corporation of New York. An- drew Stevenson, Bank of Alaska, will be president. Net operating income of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, totaling $1,367,993, was the largest November net in the road's history, exceeding November 102 per cent and November, 1926, the record vear, by 49 per cent. Gross of $6,524.900 was surpassed only by November, 1920 and 1926. FORTUNES ARE SALVAGED FROM COPPER WASTE New Inventions Result in Saving of Millions of Pounds in Lake Regions. HOUGHTON, Mich (#).—For many years fortunes in native copper were poured into inland lakes and Lake Su- perior from the stamp mills of mining companies on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigen. Research has en- abled the salvaging of much of the ‘waste matter. Before the efficiency expert came with his relief copper mixed with sand after several grindings was lost because the gravity concentration employed in the mills to separate sand and gravel was inadequate. So millions of pounds of copper were dumped. In 1915 an ammonia process was em- ployed for the ‘treatment of tailings of conglomerate ore, and this method, with oil flotation, reclaimed for the Calumet | & Hecla Co. 187,392 pounds of !in 12 years. The average cost of cop- per last year was 6.63 cents a pound. It now is 16 cents. This year through the co-operation of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology at Houghton and the United States Bureau of Mines Arthur W. Fahrenwald of the bureau perfected an oil flotation method for the recov- ery of copper from the amygdaloid ores of the district. Michigan copper producers now are preparing to use this method. It is intended to save at leaslt two pounds more per ton recovercd. On this basis the saving from current tailings will be approximately 10,800,000 pounds a year. Ohio Divorces 15,000. COLUMBUS, Ohio (#).—In Ohio 15,- placed in child-care agencies. Belle Greeve, State public welfare official, \0( statistics. Markets Closed Today By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December closed today for the sance of Christmas. 000 divorces were granted last year and 10,000 children taken from homes and sees a_connection between the two sets 25.—The New York Stock Exchange, Curb Mar- ket and all commodity -exchanges are wu&\ obsery- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON', D. C, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1928. BANK OF GERMANY DISCOUNT RATE WILL BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Special Dispateh to The Star. NEW YORK, December 25.—One of the first readjustments of the inter- national money market to be made in 1929 will be a reduction in the discount rate of the Bank of Germany below 7 per cent. Throughout this yvear it has been the highest of any of the important money markets of Europe. ‘The time has now arrived for reducing it in recognition of the high ratio of reserve held by the Reichsbank due to a long period of gold increases. { showed that in the past week its gold reserve had increased $10,000,000. bripging it up to approximately $700, 000,000, compared with $465,000,000 a year ago and a little over $100,000,000 when Germany was placed on a gold basis in 1924. Its current gold reserve is considerably higher than that of of France. A reduction in the German discount rate would have not only a beneficial effect on domestic credit, but would be important politically, and from the standpoint of the negotiations about to be entered into in connection with fixing reparations payments. One of the proposals concerning these pay- ments is that of a so-called “com- The statement of the bank today either the Bank of England or the Bank | BE READJUSTED mercialization” of Germany's political debt—in other words, a distribution of its debt to individuals at home and abroad. This would be done through a series of large international loans to which the German people would be expected to subscribe as well as inves- tors in France, England and in the so-called neutral countries of Europe. The proportion of the loan to be as- signed (> the United States has been placed as h as '$1,000,000,000. The di Ities that face any such proposition ut present are the state of the American money market and-the low level of prices at which the entire German list of provincial, municipal and corporation bonds is selling. Many of these give a return of between 632 and 7Y% per cent, which would make hard sledding for those whose business it may be to float a 5 per cent loan, although this might have behind it the best assets which Germany possesses and which do not already underiie the German government 7 per cent bonds. France has this year been a large lender in Germany on short term paper. In order to secure what she considers to be her due in reparations payments, she might be willing to take a substantial slice of the loan, as her resources are much greater than they were in 1870 when she paid off her war debt of $1,000,000,000 to Germany in record breaking time. WOMAN QUALIFIES ASREAL DETEGTIVE Acquires Title. by Work in In- vestigating Thefts by Shoplifters. By the Associated Press. BOSTON, December 25.—Detective is | the title Beatrice Silvia of Augusta, Me., carries by right of practical training, experience® and results. This 26-year-old miss has demon- strated her efficlency by coming to met- ropolitan Boston and trapping 13 alleged members of a shoplifting ring that preyed upon large stores. For months Miss Silvia lived among these thieves as th~ir supposed confederate and “fence.” Some years ago, in her father’s store in Fall River, Mass., Miss Silvia got her first taste of detective work. Since then she has done further- work in stores in Maine. And when the Stores’ Mutual Protective Association in Boston deter- mined to hunt down one persistent group of shoplifters Miss Silvia was called in. Poses as Thieves' Confidant. Last July Miss Silvia was installed, with a chaperon, in an apartment in East Boston in the neighborhood in which the suspected shoplifters lived. Here she met them, one by one, girls in their teens, young married women and even an aged father and mother. She became their confidant and a vis- itor in their homes. In September she moved into a house in Newton and there established her- self as a “fence,” to whom the stolen goodl might be sold. . To her Newton ome the members of the ring brought all manner of goods, including 'dresses, a fur coat, jewelry, pocketbooks and scarfs. These she bought, some of them bear- ing the labels of the stores from which they were stolen.. Daily she made a report to the palice and turned over the stock of goods she had boueht. Discloses Other Thefts. In discussing proposed shoplifting ex= peditions members. of the group re- ferred to their trips.as “; to _the dentist.” Miss Silvid found that their activities were by no means confined to shoplifting. If gasoline was needed, t was siphoned from parked automo- {biles. If a new automobile battery was needed an exchange was made by transferring a worn-out battery to some parked car and appropriating the fully charged battery. So self-confident were the members of the gang, Miss Silvia said, that one rainy day one of the girls stole an um- brella, found it contained a slight de- fect and disdainfully returned it. When Miss Silvia’s testimony was in- troduced in court 13 of the 14 persons on trial changzd their pleas of not guilty, 9 entering pleas of guilty and 4 of nolo contendere. Only 1, who chose to stand trial by jury, was acquitted. ARTIFICIAL COTTON FOUND IN BIRD NEST rial Believed to Be Acoept- able as Substitute. LONDON (#).—A singularly con- structed bird’s nest found in British | Guiana has led to discovery of a weed | product investigators believe may be | used as a substitute for cotton. | Observation of the bird’s habits re- vealed that the nest was made from a fibrous substance obtained from the stem of a common wild plant, a weed that can be grown anywhere. Subse- quent research and experiment have given promise the plant may be used as a substitute for cotton, America's leading article of export to Great Britain. Already several hundred acres are under cultivation in parts of Essex and Sussex and it is predicted that some 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 pounds of fiber will be ready for the market next July. It is sald the weed can be cultivated to produce an annual crop sufficient in quantity and quality to supply the en- tire cotton industry’s demand for coarse count, a product in which the competi- tion in America and Japan is especially een. It is declared by the English Artifi- cial Cotton Production & Marketing Corporation, which. is sponsoring the project, that this “artificial cotton” has certain advantages over real cotton in that it ylelds more readily to dyeing and is less inflammable. Moreover, the corporation says, it will be to put the substitute on the market at a price lower than that of ordinary cotton :::d that the plant is not subject to disease. _— MOVIE VIGILANCE BODY. Club Women Expect to Keep Coun- try Informed as to New Films. LOS ANGELES (#).—Through a committee of club women in Los An- geles who will review from 40 to 60 pictures a month, the General Federa- tion of Women'’s Clubs expects to keep members throughout the country in formed on the exact nature of films coming to their cities. The plan is to have a motion picture chairman in every State and eventually in every lnrg: clly. To her will go > on films from the Los Angeles committee. The latter will be made up of 250 women who will take turns, in groups of six, of previewing the films as fast as they are made in the Cali- fornia studios. Five out of six must indorse a picture before it will be placed on the recommended list. The reports of the committee will be sent to all State chairmen who, in turn, will fer with local exhibitors on what m\uu they wish booked. Probe of Interior Discloses Mate- | ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 25 (Special) —Humphrey Dawson, 38 years old, fell down the front stairway of his home, at 531 South Lee street, yesterday afternoon and died a few moments after being carried to his bedroom by his son, Frank Dawson, 12, and Earl Elliott, 16. His wife, Mrs. Blanche Dawson, who hurried home from a shopping trip when told of the accident, made the discovery of her husband’s death when she entered his room. Mr. Dawson, who was a car repairman for the Fruit Growers'. Express, besides his widow, is survived by seven children, ranging. in age from 2 months to 12 years old. Christmas day here was marked by the holding of church services, special celebrations of various organizations and the distribution of gifts to the city’s poor by fraternal and civic_ ol tions. The day was first welcomed by the St. Mary’s Catholic Church with a midnight mass, and other masses were held this morning at 7, 9 and 11 o'clock. Special services were held in the Protestant churches. The Alexandria Lodge of the B. P. O. Elks distributed provisions to 150 families, while the Salvation Army gave baskets of sup- plies to more than 40 familles. - community Christmas tree erect- ed on South Washington street by a committee representing Alexandria Post, No. 24, American Legion, was illumi- nated last night at 7 o'clock, as public school children and members of the Alexandria_Business and Professional Women's Club sang Christmas carols. The tree will be lighted every night during the holidays. Toasts to the President of the United States, the grand master of thc Knights Templar of the United States, grand commander of Virginia, past command- ers of Old Dominion Commandery and the commandery’s deceased members were drunk at noon today by members of Old Dominion Commandery, Knights Templar, at their annual observance of Christmas. City Manager Paul Morton said yes- terday that he will probe the crash of fire apparatus at the Belle Haven Country Club Saturday night when the fire chief’s car, driven by George Ayres, and the hose wagon of No. 4 Engine Company collided. Both machines were badly damaged. J. W. Drury has been elected presi- dent of the Alexandria Council, No. 5, Order of Fraternal Americans, for the new term. Other officers are W. H. Hurst, past president; C. B. Roland, vice president; James R. Mansfield, re- cording secretary; J. J. Davis, assistant recording secretary; Frederick Eber- hardt, financial secretary; S. T. Park, treasurer; H. P. Cornell, chaplain; D. H. Jewell, marshal; Thomas Simpson, warden; J. D. Morris, inner guard; J. A. Harnage, outer guard; E. F. Cornell, trustee for one year; J. H. Trimyer, trustee for two years; J. R. Mansfield, trustee for three years; J. J. Davis, representative to Grand Council for one year; S. T. Park, representative to Grand Council for two years; W. H. Radcliffe and E. F. Cornell, alternates. Installation of the new officers will be made on January 3 by State Deputy President E. F. Cornell. It has been announced by the lodge that 300 new members were admitted during the past quarter. City Sergt. Robert H. Cox today pro- vided a turkey dinner for the more than 50 prisoners at the city jail Turkey, ‘cake, candy, fruits, nuts, cigars and cigarettes were given the prisoners. Police Justice W. S.'Snow ordered the release of 13 prisoners whose terms were due to expire within a few days after Christmas. Services at Christ Episcopal Church this morning were conducted by Rev. Mr. Gummer of the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, Washington, in the absence of Rev. Dr. William Jackson Morton, who is confined to his home with iliness. Holy communion was ob- served and a special musical program was given. D. Worth_Stanton of Alexandria has passed the State examination for certl- fled public accountants. Funeral services for Richard H. Wat- tles, who died Friday at his residence, 209 Prince street, were held yesterday in St. Paul's Episcopal Church by Rev. Percy Foster Hall, rector, and Rev. James Wilson Hunter of Sykesville, Md. Burial was in St. Paul's Cemetery. Final rites for Mrs. Goldie E. Beach, wife of Willlam H. Beach, who died Sunday night, will be conducted tomor- row afternoon at the home, 516 Cam- eron street, by Rev. Ernest M. Delaney, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, and interment will be in Bethel Cemetery. The deceased is sur- vived by three daughters, Mrs. D. M. Kelly, Mrs. Edward Beavers and Miss Goldie Beach. Miss Mary E. Carlin, lifelong resi- dent of this city, expired yesterday at the home of her sister, Mrs. William F. Fulton, in Ellicott City, Md., where she had been spending the Winter on ac- count of failing health. Two sisters, Mrs. Fulton and Mrs. Nina Carlin Baker of Beverly, Mass., and a brother, J. Frank Carlin, of this city, survive. Funeral services for Thomas S. Cofflin were held yesterday afternoon at the residence of 1319 King street by the Rev. Edgar Carpenter, rector of Grace Episcopal Church. Burial was in Bethel Cemetery. Automobiles driven by Raymond Mid- dleton of 30 East Maple street and Charles Jackson, colored, collided yes- terday at the intersection of King street: and Diagonal road. SEEKS KIN’S OFFICE. Woman Is Candidate for Mayor Against Brother-in-law. THOMASVILLE, Ga., (#).—Mrs. Clifford E. H apparently believes that the mayoralty of this city should be_kept “in the family.” Indications, however, are that Mrs. ~ | Hay is of the opinion that one mem- ber of the family should not hold the position indefinitely, for she has an- nounced her candidacy for the office in her brother-in-law, D. Hay, Incumbent, and Mack Lee| ™% Roy Crawford, third candidate in the tri- angular race. A practicing attorney, Mrs. Hay is the wife of the solicitor general of the southern judicial district of the State. Civic economy is a major plank in her platform. The United States imported nearly 80,000,000 pounds of wghxmse L. the past Jear, 450 FIRMS PAYING EXTRA DIVIDENDS ICash, Stock and Rights to Purchase Securities Reach Huge Sum. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December 25.—Direc- | tors of 450 corporations in the United States played Santa Claus this Christ- mas, placing In their stockholders’ stockings extra dividends totaling more than $250,000,000. Several hundred mil- lions more were distributed in stock dividends, rights for purchase of addi- tional stock and increased dividends. General Motors Corporation heads the list with a melon of $44,500,000 in extra dividends. A dozen other cor- porations have set aside a million and more dollars of their surplus for their shareholders. E. I. du Pont, de Nemours & Co., which is a heavy stockholder in General Motors, is plg.lng out $13,452,- 000, while the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is distributing $6,000,000. 0il Company Melons. The Standard Oil Companies are among the heaviest contributors. Stand- ard of California is distributing $6,297, 000; Standard of Indiana, $2,307,000; Standard of New Jersey, $3,039,000; Standard of Kentucky, $342,000, and Standard of Nebraska, $100,000. ‘Among the other oil companies pay- ing extras Vacuum Oil Co. stands out with $5,024,000. Phillips Petroleum Co. is paying out $1,197,000; Humble Oil & Refining Co., $589,000; Imperial Ofl, Ltd., $813,940; South Penn Oil Co., $200,000; Signal Oil & Gas Co., $200, 000; Northern Pipe Line Co., $400,000. Oceanic Oil Co. of Los Angeles, $100,- 000; Indiana Pipe Line Co. $100,000, and West Coast Oil Co. of San Fran- co, $31,224. m?acl?zrd Motor Car Co. is one of the big payers, sending out checks for $1,502,000. Reo Motor Car Co. is pay- ing out $40,000. %everal of the independent steel mak- ers shared their prosperity with stock- holders. Truscon Steel Co. is mailing out $2,162,000, while Laclede Steel Co. is paying $192,000; ‘Alleghany Steel Co., $100,000, and Midland Steel Products Co., $24,000. Central Railroad of New Jersey heads the railroad gift distributors with $548,- 700 extra dividend. Norfolk & Southern is distributing $160,000; Chicago & Northwestern, $7,400; St. Louis-San Francisco, $16,000, and Chicago, In- diana & Louisville, $105,000. General Electric Co. is one of the most generous of the corporations, pay- ing $1 a share on its outstanding stock of 17,211,484 shares. American Can Co. is paying out $2,473,900, and Eastman Kodak Co., $1,543,000. Other Distributors. Among the other companies making distributions are Willlam Wrigley, jr., Co., $130,000; Pratt & Lambert, Inc., $405,000; Otis Elevator Co., $464,000; National Supply Co., $900,000; Lambert Co., $240,600; Calumet & Arizona Min- ing Co. $642,757; By-Products Coke Corporation, $132,400, and Rossia In- surance Co., $50,000. Montgomery Ward & Co. distributed one of the largest melons in splitting its stock and offering rights for pur- chase of additional shares. VANDERERIS BACK AFTER B VEARS Kentuckian Returns Home _With Fortune to Spread Cheer Among Relatives. By the Associated Press. WHITESBURG, Ky., December 25.— There will be a real Christmas celeb: tion for four residents of this little vil- lage this year after 65 years of wait- ing and hoping. It’s because Jim Stamper came home. For 65 years two brothers and two sis- ters had wondered and worried about him. Each year they gathered arcund the family Christmas tree to make merry, but each year his absence cast a gloom over the group. This year it will be different. Sixty-five years ago Jim said good-by to brothers and sisters and trudged away, a boy of 14, to make his way in the world. The other day he came back, grizzled and gray and possessed of the fortune he went to seek, to spend the holidays with his family. Jim’s story of his life sounds like a page from Horatio Alger. Practically penniless and a lad of 14, he tramped 200 miles on foot to Lexington, Ky., to reach a railroad. From there he work- ed his way gradually toward the West Coast. Time went on and he bought a fruit farm. The fruit farm was suc- cessful and Jim bought more land. To- day he is said to own one of the largest fruit farms in California. PLUM PUDDING UNKNOWN IN DAYS OF SAM PEPYS Diary of Noted Gourmet Shows Plum Porridge Was Christ- mas Dish. LONDON (#).—The Christmas plum pudding is an English national dish of comparatively recent date, for old Samuel Pepys, noted diarist and gour- met of the seventeenth century knew it not. 5 Inspection of his memorable record reveals that the year before the great fire, in 1665, he wrote: p “Dined by my wife’s bedside with great content, having a mess of brave plum porridge and a roasted pullett.’ However, the “plum porridge” must have been the forerunner of the modern plum pudding. It was made of strong beef broth, in which were stewed cur- rants, raisins and dates, which was charged with bread crumbs, highly spiced, and fortified with wine. IN AYRES' BUSINESS BULLETIN “They are usually made by banks acting as agents, but they are not loans involving an increase in bank deposits Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, December 25.—Col. Leonard Ayres of Cleveland, pays his respects in his December business bul- letin to the “bootleg” loans, about which much has been written this year.. He calls them names, too. “Hidden,” ‘“dangerous,” “a mnew in- strumentality of credit expansion which enable them to move from lender to borrower without affecting bank re- serves,” a “kind of by-path or short- cut,” “charged with no responsibility for safeguarding of credit conditions, but res_ponulbu for runaway stock rkets. The “bootleg” loans, or the loans which are designated “the loan to brokers for the account of others,” have increased more than $2,000,000,000 dur- ing the last 12 months. Credit has ex- ded during 1928 more than in 1927, does not show in our bank reports. Again the answer—the ‘“boot- leg” loan. “You see, such loans are not bank ut loans but business loans,” says Col. Ayres, "BOOTLEG™ LOANS DENOUNCED BY KENNETH S. VAN STRUM. NEW YORK, December 25.—Many observers believe that the prices at which stocks open in the morning indi- cate the trend of prices. They say that business men stock buyers, constituting the most substantial class of stock pur- chasers, place their orders to buy or sell “at the opening.” The supposition is that these men do not wish to follow the hourly fluctuations, but are content to make their decision from more fund- amental premises and then get the matter off their minds by buying or selling at opening prices. Thus by ob- serving the proportion of buyers and sellers in the morning, traders believe zhey have -a good barometer of the fu- ure. Many stock brokers undertake to es- timate the predominance of buyers or change at the opening by merely mak- ing a hasty survey and flashing over the wires to their correspondents, “Sell- ers around the room” or “Buyers around the room.” This mental survey hardly seems as useful as one made by watch- ing the actual prices at which stocks open in the morning in relation to the previous night's close, for such a study | weighs the_interplay of buying as well as selling forces, taking both into ac- count in relation to volumes. Opening Prices. ‘The price at which a stock opens in the morning is determined, of course, by the point at which buyers and sell- ers can agree on a price. When morn- ing after morning there are more buy- ing than selling orders received by brokers to execute at opening prices, stocks will open higher than the previ- 9 ous night's close. Often they will open as much as 4 or 5 points above the close if there are a great many more orders to buy than to sell. Of course, if there is little trading in a stock the opening has less significance because wide openings may be due to the thin- ness of the market, and, therefore, gives no indication of the relative influence of the buying or selling forces. How- ever, when the opening price of an active stock is very far away from the | previous close experienced traders often take this as a barometer of the future trend of the stock. Probable Extent of Rise. One of the most interesting of the various theories regarding opening prices is that a considerable rise in price is due when there is sufficient buying strength to cause an active stock to open considerably higher than the previous close. Accor to this |.theory the distance the stock may travel is indicated as roughly three times the amount of the spread. For example, if a stock sold 5 points higher at the opening, its price, according to this theory, would some time reach a price 15 points still higher. The main dif- ficulty lies in the fact that there is no way to estimate how long it wi e i to estimate how X it will take to reach that price. While such theories as this do not often work out math- ematically correct, it is undoubtedly true that as a rule constantly higher openings indicate good buying in a stock. Recent Proof. In this connection it is interesting to observe the opening prices of a group of 10 leading stocks during the past two months. If it is true that higher openings indicate a bullish trend for one stock, # should follow that con- sistently higher openings for a group of leaders should forecast a generally bullish trend. Almost every morning for several weeks after the election, when the market was Tising steadily, stocks opened higher than the previous closing prices. Toward the end of November, instead of opening consistently higher, these the next lower. When they did open higher, moreover, the spread was rarely as much as it had been earlier in the month. While this process was going on the market stopped rising and moved horizontally. Finally as the openings became even more irregular, the market declined sharply. During the reaction prices opened lower for several days, then higher for several days, showing that sentiment was mixed. Last week they again be- gan to open consistently higher day after day, and the market rose sharply. ‘While opening prices move almost concurrently with the market and must be watched from day to day, experi- enced traders use them as a barometer, taking higher openings to mean an up- ward trend, lower openings to indicate a declining market. (Copyright, 1928.) EMIGRATION LABOR PLANK IS RUMORED British Party Is Expected to Press Plan to Transfer 250,000 to Dominions. By the Associated Press. LONDON, December 25.—The recent pronouncements of labor leaders, notably that of Arthur general election will make one of its main planks a scheme to transfer at least 250,000 men from Great Britain to the Dominions, with free passage and guaranteed employment at fixed minimum wages. Mr. Henderson in a speech at Ponty- pridd, said he would endorse a well- considered policy of state-aided emigra- tion with special application to miners. party and the trade union movement in | London have not confirmed the report | that the plan would be a plank in the party platform. It appears, however, fo be a fact that the labor party has had under consideration the possibili- :g of an emigration policy on general | es. in bank reserves, nor do they operate to stiffen interest rates. In fact, they, tend to ease interest rates.’ What of the future? The stock market will be sweet music in 1929 to bull operators if “bootleg” money con- tinues to flow in without check. Stocks will rise and g;m!.s will be plentiful. ‘This is the almost general opinion of the economists. But should the “bootleg” loans recede or contract, or even stop expanding, watch out. In Col. Ayres’ words: “Con- tinuation of prosperity of 1929 is de- pendent on continuat f pansion, which, in turn, appears to de- pend on progressive increases in loans made to brokers by corporations and in- dividuals, ‘for in the absence of such increases the tendency of bank credit will almost surely be to contract, with consequences adverse to business.’ sellers on the floor of the Stock Ex-| stocks would open one morning higher, | Henderson. ; former labor home secretary, have led | to rumors that the party af the next| Inquiries among leaders of the labor | and so they do not require an increase | | FINANCIAL. 1r THRONE OF SAMOA STILL 15 VACANT Tribal Chiefs Fail to Seek Post Made Vacant by Ta- masese’s Imprisonment. ' By the Associated Press. APIA, British Samoa, December 25.— The kingship of Tamasese, deported chief of the Samoans, was still vacant today. No tribal chief has aspired to the leadership of the Samoan League, which for more than two years Tam- asese had stirred to disobedience of the laws and regulations of the New Ze: {land administration of Western (Brit- ish) Samoa. | Leadership responsibilities of the element opposed to the government and the legal risks, including deporta- tion, have deterred any one from laying claim to the kingship. Tamasese, who arrived in New Ze land this week to begin a six-month sentence for refusing to pay tax judg- ments, is said to have lost caste among his followers. He is declared to have shown such poor spirit when he was arrested November 27 that he lost their support. Each of three other chiefs, arrested last week for continuance of the Samoan League of passive resistance of non- payment of taxes, was sentenced to three months in prison for contempt % c:&rt. Ontefiz Aa.!d \é:!tav, was sentenced month ional because m'xi.'s'zd llrren. o long agitation of the Samoan League, called the “Mau,” included pro- tests against the restricted participa- tion of their chiefs in the administra- tion of Samoa by New Zealand, enforcement of liquor prohibition and the regulation of native trade in copra, although such regulation was asserted to be for their protection. BUY MOST HOSIERY. College Girls Wear Fours Times More Than Housewives. CINCINNATI (#).—College girls an- nually buy four times as many pairs of hose as the average housewife, while the school teacher is slighly more re- sponive to hosiery advertisements than the woman of the home. Administration, University of Cincin- nati, following a survey of woman stu- dents, teachers and housewives. Miss Cook’s survey shows women spend from $40 to $100 a year on silk stockings. Mortgage Money Loaned At Low Interest Rates Tyler & Rutherford Representing Mutual Benefit Life Ins. 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