Evening Star Newspaper, March 25, 1929, Page 13

THE EVENING TAR, WASHINGTON H MONEY SENDS CURB PRICES DOWN Few} Issues Escape Losses as Heavy Selling Is Continued. BY HARRY H. BECKER. Special T NEW YORK, March 25—Higher money, interpreted as foreshadowing a | revisiopn in discount rates this week, fices into another decline on the The ' weakness followed a somewhat steadier opening, but on the first indi- cation of tightening credit offerings were pressed on an already thin market and quite_pronounced weakness de- veloped. Volume increased when the reaction was in full swing, suggesting that weakly margined holdings had been d; d. a_relatively few stocks were | d in the liquidation. Among these | inbow Luminous, Firestone Tire and Noranda Mmnes moved up sharply inst the main trend. The extent the decline, however, offset any ef- of fect which might otherwise have result- ed from such maneuvers. Among the weakest shares were rdo Sugar, with a further break of & points on top of last week’s 11-point drop; Checker Cab, Hiram Walker, many of the aviation stocks and sev- eral of the important utilities. In the high-priced leaders Newmont lost 7 points, Phelps Dodge 10, Grigsby Gru- now 4 and Auburn Auto a similar amount. Liquidation was heavy also in Gold Seal Electric, Trans Lux, New Cornlia Mines, Bohn Aluminum, American Cyanamid, Rubberoid, Swift & Co. and the Marconi issues. Canadian Marconi in the international group was un- doubtedly affected by the credit situa- tion in the Dominion. In the utility section, American Superpower, American and foreign power warrants, American Gas & Elec- tric, United Gas Improvement, South- eastern Power & Electric Investors were all Jower. Electric Bond & Share felt the additicnal factor of new financing. American Light & Traction was rela- tively steady. International Telephone & Telegraph new was strong while the old stock on the big board was advanc- ing. but came down later. Among the oils Humble was the out- standing strong spot, rising half & dozen points in further appreciation of the 1928 earnings report and merger talk. Indiana Standard, Ohio, Ken- tucky and Gulf Oil of Pennsylvania showed early strength, but lost the im- provement subscquently. All the Citles Service issues displayed heaviness. Aviation Corporation of America broke away from the general market and for a time was buoyant, rallying 10 points above last week’s final figure. The entire gain later was wiped out. Niles-Brement-Pond, Fokker, Keystone and Bliss were weak throughout. Baltimore Markets Special Dispatch to The Star., BALTIMORE, Md., March 25.—Po- tatoes, white, 100 pounds, 75a1.25; new Ppotatoes, bushel, 1.25a2.50. Sweet pota- toes, barrel, 2.00a3.50; bushel, 1.25a1.65. 2.00a3.50; bushel, 1.00a Asparagus, dozen, 4.00a9.00. Beans, bushel. 2.00a3.50. Beets, crate, 2.50a2.75. Cabbage, hamper, 1.00a1.50. Carrots, hamper, 1.00a1.50. Carrots, bushel, 1.50al.75, Cauliflower, crate, 2.0022.50. Celery, crate, 1.75a3.00. Cu- cumbers, bushel, 5.00a7.50. Eggplant, crate, 2.5024.50. Kale, barrel, 1.50a 1.75. Lettuce, hamper, 75a1.75. Onions, 100 pounds, 3.0025.00. Peppers, crate, 2.00a425. Parsnips, basket, 50a60. Radishes, bushel, 1.50a2.25. juash, crate, 1.50a3.50. Spinach, bushel, 80a 1.00. Tomatoes, crate, 1.75a5.00. nips, basket, 35a50. Apples, 75a82.00. Grapefruit, box, 2.00a3.25. Oranges, box, 2.25a3.75. ‘Tangerines, lzzgx.o 1.0023.00. Strawberries, quart, a50. Dairy Market. Poultry, live—Turkeys, pound, 35a43; ! ! old, 25a38; young chickens, 40a45; poor and thin, 25a28; Springers, 46a48; old hens, 32a34; Leghorns, 30a32; capons, 35a45; roosters, 18a20; ducks, 20a32; guinea fowls, each, 50a1.00; pigeons, pair, 35a40. Dressed poultry—Turkeys, pound, 35a 45; old, 25a40; young chickens, 35a40; old and mixed, 30a35; old roosters, 20; ducks, 25a30; capons, 35a45. Eggs—Receipts, 1,203 cases; native and nearby firsts, free cases, dozen, 28; ilgrrent receipts, 25a26; duck eggs, 383 Butter—Creamery, good to fancy, pound, 45a50; prints, 51a52; blocks, 49a 51; ladles, 34a38; rolls, 30a32; dairy prints, 30a32; store packed, 29a30; process butter, 41a42. Live Stock Market. Cattle—Receipts, 500 head; fair sup- ply, market steady. Steers, choice, 12.75 0 13.25; good, 11.50 to 12.25; medium, 1050 to 11.25; common, 8.00 to 9.75. Heifers, choice, 10.75 to 11.25; good, 10.00 to 10.50; medium, 9.00 to 9.75; commen, 7.75 to 8.55. Bulls, good to choice stable, 9.75 to 10.25; fair to good, 8.50 to 9.50; common to medium, 7.00 to 8.00. Cows, good to choice stable, 8.50 to 9.00; fair to good, 6.75 to 7.75; common, 4.00 to 5.75. Sheep and lambs—Receipts, 750 head; light supply, market steady. Sheep, 3.00 to 8.50. Lambs, 9.00 to 18.25. Hogs—Receipts, 3,500 head; fair sup- ply, market lower. Lights, 12.20; heav- les, 12.00 to 12.20; medium, 12.40; roughs, 7.50 to 10.50; light pigs, 10.00; pigs, 11.40; Western hogs, 10 to 20 higher than quotations. Calves — Receipts, 425 head; light supply, market steady. Calves, 5.00 to 17.50; no extras. Warm Buying Power Bpecial Dispatch to The Star, NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 25.— ‘The purchasing power of the farmer’s dollar shrunk rather sharply last week, dropping about 1 per cent to the same level shown at the beginning of the month. Apples, cotton, wheat, oats, steers and wool all registered lower for the week. Rises in corn, hogs and lambs were re- ported, but falled to offset the more numerous decreases, some of which were rather heavy. Non-agricultural prices were higher for the week, thus augmenting the de- cline in the farm purchasing power index which is the quotient of the two. Index numbers of farm purchasing power and of agricultural and nonagri- cultural prices for various periods are given in the following table in which the average for 1926 represents 100: Non-Ag- ricultural 1011 11010 1057 Loud S;en;ker Pages Lost. One of the big department stores of Paris has installed an eflective system of finding lost children. In rush hours the large number ofslost kiddies pre- sented a serious problem. Now the lost youngsters are taken to an inquiry counter, at which there is a loud speak- er, which booms out at frequent inter- vals the name of the child, and reunion i then o & matter of moments. Sales in hundred: 2 Acetol Prod 3 Acoustic Prod 14e 1Aero Sup Mf B.. 1 Ae; 1Alum Goods Mfg 1Alum 9 mer Beve 2 Ass 5 Al 2 Ba T. ¥ 1Gen Real & Util Cor. 1Gilbert (A C) 2 1Glen 3 Gold 10 Goldman Sachs n.. 1 HaPhe’ Oranee” Hui : is_Orenge Huts.. 2 Hart AL s 2 95Inl T & 2Intern ULl B Inl 2 lrving 21tal 1Ttal 1 Jon: aumb. 1 Reystone Aircrafi, 4 Klef 3 3 Laki 16 Mavss mowt] Vs Bo 2 Memphis . Gas. et M 2 Minne Ho; 1Noma Ele 16 Nor Amer 2 North 1Nor Sta P 2 Phil 1Pic 3 1 Consol G B 20 3 Cont Diamond Fib wi 28 1 Prod A 8 Kolster Brandes Ltd. 3 Rainbow Luminous. .. Raybe % 2 Repetti Cand; A ro Sup M Al ro Underw . rage Brit & Cont Corp Br Bov El F...... Cit P & L A Cit P& LB Colortype i Coml Alco vic... Commonw P A 19, 17% a0 t] Fruit & Sug .... uburn Auto C Credit Corp wi '.l heock & - Wilcox B 113 6 /1y 6831 s 5014 430 o3t 87 10015 35 L 1% 32 ali try vic Pub, Alden_Coal."..") Seal Elec.. Hoslery wi Air Chute. uperpow A. Superp_deb as & Naum b, i3 in (D Emil) Co.. e Super C. Harris . phis Gas _. 0 Chain_Sirs .. n Reg . Aviafion ippe k Bar & stos . NEW YORK CURB MARKET Received by Private Wire Direct to The Star Office 1Unton N G Can 2Union Tobacco 2 Un{ Aircraft & T 2Uni Airer & T pi i bon vic . 2Uni Chem pr pid iUni E d rts B 81 L U's 20 iu 20 iU 5U 20 2y i 1W 2 W, iw 2 W iw 1Wire = 2w 23 2Z 7 Norang 10 Ohio G 10 Red 10 Shat 1080 A 8 Uni_ Verae 1 Unity Gt 1Uta 3 Wen, Sales in hundreds. 1Am 1Am Oilfields. ... aibo €6 56, 2 Pantep pec eiter- ol oil Sales in STANDAKD OIL 1SSUES, ST units. MER SUBSIDIARIES 100 Anclo Am Oil.. 80 a 93 O Ohio. . 200 Ohio Ol 100 Swan & Finc Sales in thousands. 1Abbott Dairles 6 11 Abitibi P&P 55 A 53 85 5 Allied Pk 6s 39 COD 51 2 Alum_Co Amer 5s '52 1013, Am Gas & El 5s. 95 11 Am Pow & Lt 6; 5Am Roll Mill 5 5Am Sol 6':s 20 Appal EI Pow 5 812 4 : . Q00w 29900 ) | Figures {bumpy road last week. Except for {the rails, all the ¢ |stocks showed a »| Friday brought a 54| zroups declined rather steadily after the 1 1 3 4 1 1 2 9 1 1Mass Gas 5iis '46, .. 103! 2 Memp Nat Gas 65 '43100 100 4Met EC P 41, D '68 97 97 4 Nat Straus Inc 6s 38121 | 2 Nat P&L 6s A 2026.. 104 104's 104'3 12 Nat Pub Serv 55 '78.. 81!z 81's 81%a 2 Nelsner Realty 63 '48. 107 * 1 07 STOCK PRICE INDEX | SHOWS SWALL GAIN Slightly Higher, but; Market Suffers Sharp Drop in Two Days. Spectal Dispatch to The St NEW HAVEN, Conn, March 25— | The stock market speeded along on a | higher mean level | for the past week han for the week efore, but the | whole story lsn't | altogether encour- aging. rather broad de- |cline with sharp losses numerous_in { most groups. The coppers _went off |with the others, but Utah, Ana- conda and Na- Irving Fisher. | tional Lead showed good gains over the week before and | Kennecott only a small loss. The motor stocks showed good losses Ifor the weck except General Motors, whose huge total of shares outstand- ing dominates this group and sent its index up. The stores, foods and auto accessory first day or so of the week, although the mean price level of each was higher than for the week before. All the industrial common stocks | combired closed the week at just about the same price level as at the end of the week before. The bulge of Mon- day and Tuesday was sufficient, how- ever, to yield a higher index for the week as a whole than that of the pre- | ceding week. Over $2,000,000,000 Turnover. “ New York stock market activity last week reached an average daily value of $415,800,000 for preferred and common stocks combined, which means that total dealings for the week involved a turn- over at full market price of over two and a quarter billions. Common industrials accqunted for more than 90 per cent of the total. Tradings last week were about 37 per cent higher than during the week be- fore. Coppers accounted for nearly 35 per cent of the increase, with almost $240,000,000 of Anaconda changing | hands. Oils were very active, patticu- larly Sinclair with about 300,000 share turnover, Second Grade Stocks Strongest. Second grade common industrial stocks went up consistently throughout the week until Friday, when the broad decline appeared. This group, never- theless, ended the week higher than at | the end of the week before. Both first and third grade industrials lost ground during the middle of the week. First-grade issues recovered the losses on Thursday, but subsequently lost ground again, ‘The speculative group took the sharp- est drop on Friday after having re- gained the day before about half of Wednesday’s decline. ‘The earlier days of the week netted sufficlent advances so that all these groups showed marked gains in the average level for the week. Below are shown index numbers of prices_of common _industrials on the New York Stock Exchange, arranged in classes derived from Moody’s ratings: st Second Third grade ra grade (Invest- (Inter- (Specu- mediate) Iative) (1926=100) ‘ment) Week ended— arch 22 943 1807 199.8 March 15 1883 1744 192 March 1881 1744 1878 March 1868 1705 1837 Year ago. 401 1179 1196 February 11863 1683 1808 January average.... 1847 1666 180.5 December average.. 174.1 1583 1695 November average.. 1749 161.1 1848 1928 average. 1518 1320 1343 1927 averag 1168 1093 1025 1926 average 11110 1000 1000 100.0 High ('26-29). 903 1744 1929 29) (Mar '29) (Mar '20) Low ('26-'20)....... 93. . $3.8 '26) (Apr '26) (May '26) (Apr (Copyright, 1035, by Irving Fisher., Money and Prices Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 25.—The purchasing power of the United States dollar showed only a minute change last week, continuing the high degree of stability which has been maintained for more than a year. Commodity price rises and falls in J e 6 New Eng GAE 55 9N Y P&L 4las Eng G&E 5s '47 90'a 248, 90 both Europe and the United States al- most canceled each other last week, in- dicating a high measure of stability in the world’s dominant markets. Such price movements as occurred thus ap- pear to have been due to special condi- tions affecting some particular com- modity or group of commodities rather than to any general change in the pur- chasing power of money. Fluctuations in the general wholesale price level and in the purchasing power of the dollar are given below for the United States for various periods, based mainly on Dun’s quotations. The average for the year 1926 is the base used. Whole- Purchasing sale power; cts. S A 2 1 {Rdex. drom 1956, ] ndex. from 1026. 4Un Lt & Rail 5'2s '52 87 Week ended— 10n O Prod 8s 31.. T3t 983 +17 20 i 98.2 +18 15l P 982 i1s 1 Warner Quinl 6s ' 99 98.4 +1.6 2 Westv_Chlor 5'zs '37101 101 98.2 +1.8 7 West Pow 5'5 A '571141p 977 +23 1Wheel Stl 4'2s B '53 873 97.4 +26 Sales in FOREIGN BONDS. H it thousands. 982 1 16 Antwerp City 5s '58.. 91% 942 +82 10 Bank Prussia 6s 975 5 1000 0.0 1 Buenos Aires 7s '52; 10015 925 105.2 —49 3 Buenos_ Aires 7Ti3s ‘47102 = 1 924 a 98.9 11 $Bum & W 1923 average. i+ L 3 Com Foreign Commodity Prices. Cable reports from abroad indicate the following European wholesale move- England. France. Italy. 3 Ger Cons Mun 8 8 Reioids edh o 1noy Slate eis, 49 8 83 3 Beynolds Metal bi bl 1 Ital Superpow 63 '63, 76 RS 2Roch Cent Po ARRoslEt MRy 8T 025 763 i 625 '53. 9 891 1 Rolls Ro: 3 Nippon Elec 645 '53, 90 53 A5 20 Ruhr Gas 6l3s° A 919 6.2 2 Root 5 Russ GOV’ 5i2s '21 8.3 ’lbx IR 1Russ G 65 19 cf 913 78 T 44 Stinn_Tugo ' ¥ 911 8 38 2Unl El Sefy 75 ‘A 902 753 8 AUD S W 8 A :“"F‘l’sm )1"“ xd—Ex-dividend, T, H Am Inv... = ? ,agclzlf:“q-fgnf\}nv:;rd. 10858 10 :LN‘%?‘:‘ e ' T e e Indus Inc.. ) —With warrants. el da e i warsots, 7,000,000 U. S. FAMILIES 1Ses fel i 18N TRRYEY S i STANLEY NET OFF. NOW OWN RADIO SETS 11 Sikorsky_Aviation 12| NEW YORK, March 25 (Special).— | Spectal Dispatch to The Star, 4 8ilica Gel ctry 38| The report of Stanley Co. of America| NEW YORK, March 25—There are 11 Southe P & L . 8013 | and subsidiaries for year ended Decem- [ now 7,000,000 families in the United :383"&‘5",.",,1’5 war. | g;;. ber 29, 1928, shows net profit of $1,120,- | States who own radio sets, and Gov- 350u & &6t 415 | 293 after depreciation and Federal | ernment departments estimate the to- zlssn"b'.'f‘{:é"n‘o‘yg 'B" mxgsfl,deg;x;\'alcnc ms;ln.?a a ar'lmlrckeag;l};:g tal number of sets in use at 9,500,000. outhia 3 2| on 904,958 no-par s of stock. an increase fr 2Southw” Dairy” Prod 1813 18| compares with $3.203,582, or $3.08 & | L symaarks sl 3 in 181, | share, on 904431 shares in preceding| Sales have risen from $60,000,000 in 3 392 | year. 1922 to $650,000,000 in 1928. They are 2 2:;,. x1mw p?cg‘edhxg :t nlrn!emwhlch makes . t probable that sales this year will istelg Gt o BB B Letters Swamp Prince. total at least, $500,000,000. Some ex- 18terl Secur pfd aliot 302 302 30'2: The mail of the Prince of Wales is | perts declare the sales of receiving sets 3 Blwar Wioner Gorp 6713 &7 of | getting heavier all the time. Last year | this year will pass the 1928 mark by 40 2 Stinnes Hugo. .. 13% 12% 12% ] he received 300,000 letters. Obviously | per cent. The tube manufacturers are et 131% 13915 13717, | it 15 impossible for him to read many of | securing an equal increase in their 28yra W_M; 19t 19~ 19 . | them. Most of them ask for his signa- | business. 1Tampe El g% g% £3% | ture, but long ago he decided to give | The big gain has undoubtedly been 1‘ R:mgié pid. 93:, 912 991, | Dis signature only to those he knew per- | due in some respects to the develop- 2 Thomps Prod A . €175 60" 60 | sonally. All letters addressed to him go | ment and distribution of receiving sets 2 Thomps Starrett pfd 38, 23 33, | first to a controller, who, with the help | aperated direct from house current. 3 an Dev A 403 139%, 1390, | Of A small army of secretaries, goes | There are now 19,000,000 of the 28,- 2Trans Am . 14035 139%, 139%, [4 2Transcon Air ‘Trsp. . 26% 26% 261, ' through them and hands the prince [ 000,000 homes in the United States H'.‘"t-!',{‘," gn!;nl’ S A 16 y": !nv: only those requiring his personal atten- | wired for electricity. The 15,000,000 or $Tri Cont Corp pid . 104% 10414 14 tion. Letters from friends are the only | more of these which have not -electric 1Trip ‘Safe Glass Lid 23% '23% 23%, ones passed to him unopened—and the | radio sets or have battery-operated sets LT SRl b Anvesi s 80i% 2917 1; controller knows all of these by the | naturally presents a big fleld of pro- §Union Carbide Corp. 75% 73'a 75% handwriting on the envelopes, 8 spective pureidasers. . PRCEE SIS i - BY KENNETH S. VAN STRUM. NEW YORK, March 25.—At the| opening ‘of the market on Monday of { last week the general level of stock | prices was at the high point which it | has reached many times now since No- | vember. Again the heavy selling which “ seems to set in the moment the market approaches_this point was too strong to be absorbed and the market declined. Most stocks moved over a much nar- rower range than for many weeks. In fact, it took a stiff call loan renewal rate, which increased from 7 per cent on Monday to 9 per cent toward the end of the week, to force the general market only slightly lower. On the whole, the market behaved surprisingly well and one is forced to conclude that until prices drop far enough to impair some of the margin accounts which are carry- ing the more speculative issues liquida- tion will continue in an orderly fashion. Passive Bank Policy. As time goes on it becomes increas- ingly evident that the Reserve banks are resigned to a policy of allowing stock | speculation to kill itself. Obviously. they believe a decline in the volume o brokers’ loans desirable, but_ if th attempt to force liquidation they cn expose themselves to the accusation ti they are destroying security values. the other hand, when they merely ta the attitude that a further sharp i crease in the use of bank funds i speculatve purposes will not be p mitted they are not forcing themselv to act unless the market mov sharply upward and begins to abso: additional sums of credit. While it is true that last weck brokers’ loans increased $166,000,000 to a new high level, it is to be remembercd NEW YORK | CURB | DETROIT PITTSBURGH CLEVELAND PHILADELPHIA BALTIMORE BOSTON ST. LOUIS CHICAGO E T CINCINNATI M SAN FRANCISCO| TR P A i g FEB MAR that the volume of brokers’ loans varies from day to day, the total volume out- standing depending on the course of the market. The weekly statement shows brokers’ loans as of Tuesday only, and, since stocks happened to be at higher levels than on previous Tuesdays, the brokers’ loan statement brought before the public eye the maximum amount of credit which has been used during recent weeks by the security market. Probably the volume of loans during last hane [P oomocortonoman S | Moreover, with call rates still high, the week was not much larger than used in ' recent weeks. | “It cannot be forgotten, however, that banks have publicly announced that they will oppose further increases. market is obviously having difficulty in holding on to its credit. | Stocks Versus Bonds. It seems only a question of time be- fore trade reports will show a some- what smaller volume of business. When business does decline, it usually puts a damper on unreasoned speculative en- thusiasm, traders being less anxious to | carry stock on margin. Conservative inyestors continue to prepare them- | selves against sharp declines in those stocks which have had spectacular ad- vances. A most significant feature of last week’s bank statement was the pur- »’_*’fifilfi'_q —145 se of Government securities by the serve banks. Since the first of the ar, the banks in their effort to tighten cdit have been selling Governments. e result has been a sharp decline in nd prices. If the banks have changed aeir policy and continue to buy Gov- imments, bond prices will be bene- ited. Especially will this be true if the banks decide also to stop selling bank acceptances. The bond market is waiting patiently for any indication that the Reserve banks will ease credit conditions. Tl B 140 Oils—Coppers. ‘While most stocks lost ground for the week, the can stocks and oils showed remarkable signs of strength in the mid- week rallles and finally closed with net gains for the six days. The strength in the oils was accompanied by the largest decline in_crude oil production in weeks. This is fhe first definite proof of a change for the better in the oil situation and the oils responded enthu- siastically. Later in the week they lost part of the ground gained. Weekly oil production figures showed that Oklahoma has at last instituted effective means for cutting down the rate of production, although Texas and California, the other important produc- ing centers, have not yet made such definite progress. The future of the oils depends upon the success with which crude petroleum production is reduced and the weekly production fig- ures are the only indication of progress toward this end. ‘The runaway market for the price of copper metal is now in full sway, the price advancing from 21 to 24 cents withirt the course of the week. Only recently copper men were forecasting 18-cent copper, with a ?sslbl]lty of its going to 20 cents, and they now believe that it won't fall below the 20-cent level for the balance of 1929. Such a price would mean large profits for ‘the copper companies. It is significant, however, that while the price of the metal was rising at an almost unheard- of pace, there was distinct evidence of heavy liquidation in copper stocks. With few exceptions, coppers were lower at the close of the week. (Copyright, 1929.) SILVER QUOTATIONS. NEW YORK, March 25 (#).—Bar sil- ver, 56's. Mexican dollars, 4212 FOREIGN BANKS RAISE RATES : TO KEEP CREDITS AT HOME Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 25—While the Federal Reserve Board continues to postpone action on its rediscount rate, in the face of every indication that the money strain in this country is increas- ing under the use of so large a propor- tion of available resources for: specu- lation, foreign banks are adopting the policy of protecting themselves by rais- ing their rates. The Bank of Netherlands has ad- vanced its discount rate from 41z to 512 per cent as a protective policy, for it has been losing funds, due to the attractiveness to Dutch bankers and corporations of interest rates here. Last week the Bank of Italy raised its rate from 6 to 7 per cent and in February the Bank of England rate went from 4!z per cent to 5, per cent. Early Saturday the Federal Reserve Board at Washington stated that it had no intention of meeting unless some situation developed that would call its members together. At 11 o'clock it was called into session, which seemed to indicate that it had important mat ters to discuss, but no statement issued at the close of the meeting. Interest is centered on the situation in Chicago, where drastic measures arc being taken by banks to reduce the borrowings of brokers. It was reported that a $40,000,000 pool had been formed and would be imediately available for stock loans out of contributions madec by corporations who are now lending their surplus funds out on call. This report, however, was denied by the president of the Chicago Stock Ex- change. . This week is expected to bring about” a definite test between the Federal Re-, serve authorities and.the Wall Street element, who have been fighting the high-money advocates. Whether an in- g creased discount rate will be made in# any one of the important centers of, New York, Boston or Chicago will de-,, pend a great deal on the extent to which lquidation in stocks proceeds. , ‘There were evidences of distress Satur- day in some of the larger and more % recently formed pools. m s WHEAT IS LOWER ON OPENING SALES Reports of Good Weather in Win- ter Belt Cause Selling Move. By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, March 25.—With .reports current that in some sections the con- ditions of domestic Winter wheat was the best in years, wheat prices averaged lower early today. Advices were also at hand indicating that in Western Ne- braska and Western Kansas the plants were everywhere alive. Opening un- changed to % lower, wheat afterward scored rallies. Corn and oats were rela- tively strong, with corn starting un- changed to '2 higher and subsequently showing some advance all around. Pro- visions inclined downward. . $275,000,000 COMPANY WILL PURCHASE BANKS By the Associated Press. ST. PAUL, Minn, March 25—Or- ganization of a new financial institu- tion with resources of approximately | $2175,000,000 to own and operate banks COTTON PRICES FIRM : IN EARLY TRADING:: Reports of Favorable Weather mdf‘ Easy Cables Inspire * Selling. werass By the Associated Press. » NEW YORK, March 25.4Cotton* opened steady today at a decline of 9 to 12 points, with active months selling + 12 to 15 points net lower in the early trading under liquidation combined with some southern and local selling. Sentiment was evidently influenced by reports of favorable weather in the South and relatively easy cables. While . offerings were absorbed by covering and trade buying, prices were within a point or two of the lowest at the end of the first half hour. Private cables reported local and Con- tinental liquidation in Liverpool as re- sult of better weather reports from the . South. They also said there was fair cloth demand from China, but poor de- mand from Indla owing to political unrest. g T — $3,000,000 Plant Sold. HAMMOND, Ind, March 25 (#).— The Metals Refining Co. of Hammond throughout the ninth Federal Reserve | has been acquired by the Glidden Co. of district was announced today by St. Paul and Minneapolis bankers. Ownership of one-half of the new company will be identical with owner- ship of stock in the First Nationa Bank of St. Paul, the Merchants’ Trust Co. and the Merchants’ National Co. The other half will be identical with ownership of stock in the Pirst Natlon- al Bank of Minneapolis, the FPirst Minneapolis Trust Co. and the First Minneapolis Co. The new corporatiog will be known as the First Bank Stock Investment Co. and its purpose is to purchase and con- trol the stock of selected banks through- out the ninth Federal Reserve district, | Cleveland, a manufacturing concern op- rating numerous plants in the United tates and Canada. The Hammond Co. has had an annual business-of $3,000,000. William Wilke, president, becomes a member of the board of the Glidden concern and vice president of the Metals Refining. Co. of Ohio. PARIS BOURSE PRICES. PARIS, March 25 (#).—Price changes}, were irregular on the bourse today.s Three per cent rentes, 72 francs 40 cen-* times. Fire per cent loan, 99 francs 30 centimes. Exchange on London, 124 francs 16!, centimes. The dollar was * the announcement said. quoted at 25 francs 58 centimes. only this improve: *It’s a pleasure to say many tourists who, them all. *More than 25,000 “Standard” dealers offer not ly 4 df“;ilandard" Gasoline but the villing, T ice 've ever n. Z1Fs a pleasireto bé served at & -Standurd pump, like this dealer, have tried ‘news, “That’s great I’ve ever seen. shoot through scaring me. GASO “Clean? I'll say. See how clear and white. backed by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.” eJ¢’s the Champion® “STANDARD™ Improved Zit°s the Champion* ‘UI‘his is the best gas I’ve ever sold. And Ive tried them all “But I’'m not a lonesome booster for this improved ‘Standard’. Every one of my customers seems to have elected himself a committee of one to help me and the other 25,000 ‘Standard’ dealers* spread the good stuff.” And so is ‘Standard’. Gives my little old car the fastest send-off Even on cold mornings. And pick-up! I traffic so fast the folks wonder what’s been And it’s LINE