Evening Star Newspaper, January 3, 1930, Page 15

FINANCIAL. CURB SHARES GAIN AFTER DULL START Utilities, Oils and Motors in Upswing as Trading Broadens. BY JOHN A. CRONE. Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. ‘NEW YORK, January 3.—Prices ral- | lied on the curb market around mid- day today, after they had relapsed from the rise that took place following a dull and irregular opening. Utilities, oils, motors and a handful of miscei- laneous industrials formed the bulk of trading. | Leading the upswing in utilities was Electric Bond & Share, which at times was up more than a point from its Initial quotation. American Superpower and United Light & Power A vied for second place in point of activity, but Electric Power Associates common and A, stocks showed the most consistent gains, while American and Foreign Power registered the widest range. Cities Service opened unchanged at 27. The suit today of an installment buyer of that stock against H. L. Doherty & Co., filed in Omaha and claiming the difference between the original purchase price and the price of the stock at time of the default of payment, had no market effect on Citles Service. The oils as a group ranged narrowly in the first part of the session as some trade circles express doubt about main- taining the present price level of crude on the Pacific Coast. Standard Oil of Indiana, after opening higher, relapsed. This also was true of Standard Oil of | Kentucky, but Vacuum held its initial advance. Fox Theaters A was the most active of industrials, moving within a range approximating 3 points, Willlam Fox, in a statement replying to counsel fi« the class A Fox film holders, said the sompany’s assets considerably exceeded labilities and that arrangements were being made for financing notes. Swift Internacional, which only re- cently increased its annual dividend rate, moved lower. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea opened off 13 points at 241, Glen Alden at times was fractionally lower. Safety Car Heating and Light- ing was up a point. ‘The curb admited to trading the stocks of the J. T. Baker Chemical Co. and the Keystone Waterworks and Elec- tric Co. Newmont Mining was the feature of the mine list, as it opened more than three points higher at 1117%, lost two- thirds of its initial rise and then moved ahead again. Roan Antelope as a re- sult of London cables about mining de- velopments, was up more than 1% points at intervals. GOLD MOVEMENT. NEW YORK, January 3 (#).—The first gold movement of any Imgortlnce from this country to France this year will be made tomorrow when two &hip- ments, one of $6,000,000 by Lazard Freres. and another of $1,250,000 by Heldelbach, Ickleheimer & Co., will be sent on the 8. S. Berengaria. TREASURY CERTIFICATES. (R d . W. Bely PateTiiel O & W Selignan & O ?-l Mar. . 12. FOREIGN EXCHANGE. (Quotations furnished by W. B. Hibbs & Co.) Nominal gold Selling checks value (orpar). _today. London. pound.. $4.0665 73, Paris. franc, bel Berlin, mark Rome.' lira. urich, franc Athens, drac! drid, peseta schilling Budavest. penso, ague, ‘crown ( Warsaw. zloty. nhagen. cr Slocinorm " crows SHORT-TERM SECURITIES. (Reported by J. & W. Seligmap & Co) Allis-Chalmers Co. 5s 1937. Aluminum Co. of Amer. 55 ng 194! Tel 15 Amer ilis ARerican Tl & Tei. 3148 16 v iy 1Tl of Canada 58 1957, a Pei. Corp. Slas . Phillips Pet. Co. 5ias Pure Ofl Corp. 8128 1937 Shell Union Oil Co. 5s 1947, Sinclair Crude Oil ug Co. 55 1955. . Western Electric Co. 5s 194 Wheeling Steel Corp. $i3s 1948, ‘Wheeling Steel Corp. 4'3s 1953. BONDS ON THE CURB MARKET. NDS, STt ! 02, HE » 85 0 mesasestZT peararers 55200000 - A A AT O 1 S0 Rt vt s b R or M anover City 7 '3 anover Cred 6s Prussia P8 65 '5: GROUP INSURANCE 2B32ELERS 317 817 e FAI L 0t & '35 10803 10'3 1 e e . ines B¢ 3 kw0 '8 '8 '8 W W wi ints TWiheut Fevrants. Stock and Dividend Rate. Ansco. 1 Agfa Ansco pf. . b Alnsworth Mfg $2% . % Allled Aviation. 10% Allled Mills, (60c) Allled Pow & Lt..... Alu Coof Am pf(6).. Alumin Goods (1.20) Am Brit & Cont. Am Cigar Co.. Am C P&L B (b10% ) Am Colortype (13).. AmCwithPAb10%, Am Cwith PBb10%. 20% Am Cyanam B (1.60) 24 Am Dept Stor . 63 NJev pe1. 110 254 Am For Power war.. K Am Gas&Elec (21) Am Gas&Elec pf (6). 6% Am Invest Inc B.... 1% Am Maracaibo...... 15 Am Superpower (1). 5 Am Yvette (new)wi. 14 Anglo-Am vot (73c). 11 Anglo-Am n-v (73c). 15 Anglo Chil Nitrate 7% Arcturus Rad Tube & Ariz Globe Copper. 3% Arkansas Nat Gas... 6% Arkansas Nat Gas A. 1% Asso-Dyeing & Ptg.. 5% Asso-Elec Ind Ltd 35% Asso GEE, A (12.80). 3% Asso G&E A deb rts.. 3 Asso Rayon........ Atlant Fruit & Sug. 24 Atlas Plywood (2).. 204 Aviation Corp of Am 12 Aviation Credit. 4% Bellanca Afrcraft. 30 Blaw-Knox Co (1) 3% Blue Ridge Corp.... 23% Blue R Corp eV pf 22 Buf N&E P pf (1.60 3% Burma Corp (131c).. 4 Bwana M Kubwa.... 3% Cable Radio T vte... 13 Cab&WireLtdB rcts. 3% Cab&WireLtdpf rets % C A M Coctfs, 3 Can Marcon! 20 Celanese Corp. 80 Celan Cor 1st pf 12 Celluloid Corp. 93Y% Cen &SWUtil pr 6 Cent Atlantic States, 20 CentPSvA(alif). 11 12 Cen States El (340¢). 19 4% Centrifug Pipe (80¢) 6 20 Cities Service (330c) 102 84 Citles Serv pf (6)... 81% Cit Serv BB pf (6)... 87% CitS P& L pf (1) % Clark Lighter A. 2 Club Alum Uten..... Colgate-Pal-P (234). 4 ColonOfl...u.ss % Columbia Syndicate. 1% Comwlith & Sou war. 210% Com'with Edison (8) % Comstock Tunnel 1% Consol Cigar (wa: 4 Consolidated Copper 4 Consol. Cortez Silver 71 Con Gas, Balto(3.60) 20% Con Gas Ut A (2.20). 2% Cons Instrumen 10 Cons Laundries. 214 Consol Royal (60c) 10 Continental Oil.. 30 Cooper Bess pfA(2).. 10 CordCorPerseecesn 12% Corroon & Reynolds, 69 Cor & Rey f A (§) 5% Creole Petroleum. 17 Crocker Whi r(n 29% Crowley Mil 2) % Crown Cent Petrol % Cresson Cons (.08 4% Curtiss Flying 1% Cusi Mex Mining. De Forest Radlo. ... Detroit Afrcraft Cor. Dres(SR)Mfg A 3%. Dubelier Cond&Rad. Durant Motors. Duke Power (35) Duval Tex. Sul. w. East Gas & F Asso. East States Power B Eisler Elec Corp. El Bond & Sh (b6 El Bond & Sh of (6). El Pow Assocla El Pow Associates A El P & L opt war. Bl Sharehold ($1) El Sharehold of (6) Empire Fire Ins. Emp Pub Sv,A( Engineers Gold. 3, ) - e 332 e D10 00 e B 5D b a0 ek 1 DY R GO N R @ 3 w® - S =PI TSI » e AL A NHNDRRE S BN K=o o= EEYe 4 5 21 Franklin Mfg (2) 4% Gen'al Alloys (30c) 8% Gen Am Invest new.. 70 Gen Am Invopfa (6). (5 294 Gen Fireproof (12%) 13% Gen Gas& El (A). 10 Gen Indus Aleohol. 9 Gen Rity & Utilities 24 Gen Theat Equip vte 80 Glen Alden Coal (10) 11% Globe Underwriters. 4 Gold Coin. . 24 Golden Center. 3 Gold Seal Eln. 32 Goldman Sachs (b8) 1% Goth Knitbac Mach.. 162 GrA&PTnv(b).. 114 Gr A &P Teant (7). 23 Graymur Corp... 18 Ground Gripr(t1%). 115 Guif Ofl of Pa (1%). 2 H'd Page p pf (19¢).. 27% Haygart Corp, 14% Hazeltine Corp (1) 3% Helena Rubenstein. 6 Houston Gulf G 6 Hudson Bay M & 74% Humble Ol (3%). 27 Hydro El Service(2), Hygrade Food Prod. Indian Terr Hium, Ind P Lnew (+2%) (b109%). (b6%) %)... Insurance Sec (1.40) % Intercontinent Petn 15 Intl Petrol, n(62%e¢) 25% Intl Superpower (31) 3 Internatl Ut B. 1% Internatl Util (war). 10 Interstate Equiti 1% Kirby Petroleum 12% Klein (H) pt pt (12 20 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, NEW YORK CURB MARKE ~Prev. 1920.~ High. lnlu. Mae M NY Ni 20 19% Stock Dividend Rate. Kolster-Br 1+Am 8h). Lefcourt Real (1.60). Lehman (The) Corp. Leonard Ofl.....eue. Lion O1l Refin (2). Loews Inc deb rt. Lone Star, new (80¢) Long Isld Lt pf(7) Louisiana Lan & Ex. Marine Mid Cp (1.20) Mavis Bottling. Memph Nat Gas Co Met & Min Ine (1.20, Met Chain Store Mesabt Iron. . Middle WstUt(b8%) Mid W Utev pt xw 6 Mid West Ut A war. Mid West Ut B war. Mid Royalty cv pf 3. Miller & Sons (2)... Mo-Kan P L (b6%). Mohawk Mining (12) Montecatini deb rts. Mount Prod (1.60). Nat Amer Co (2).. Aviation....... Natl Fam Strs (1.60) Natl Family 8 pf(2). at Investors (new) Steel Corpx w. Nauheim Phar pf. Nehi Corpn (1.30). New Eng Pow pf (§ 4 New Jer Zinc n(t4) N ¥ Invest (1.20 N Y Merchand t2 N Y Rio&Bu Afre Tel pf (6%). ara Hud P(40c). g Hud P ara Shars b1-40. Bement Pond Nipissing (30c).. Noma El Cor (1.60).. Noranda Mines (3).. North Am Aviation.. North Am Cement. .. North Am Util Sec. . N W Engineer (2)... Ohio Copper. . Ohio Ol (12%..... Orange Crush (1.50). Otis Elevator new. .. Outboard Motor (B). Pac C Bis pt (3.50). Pandem Ojl. Param C Mf . Patterson Sargnt(2). Penn Mex Fuel (2).., Pennroad Corp. ... Penna Wa & Pwr(3). Petrol Corp(1%4).... Plerce Govern (14). Pilot Rad T, A(1.20). Pitney B P n(20c)... Pittsbgh Plate G 3., Polymet Mg ($1)... Power Securitie Prince & Whitely. . Prince& Whitely pf 3 Prudential Inv, Pub Utll Hold war Pug SP & Lt pt (6).. Radio Products (2)., Rallway & Lt S (15). Rainbow Lum ProdA % Rainbow Lum ProdB Reliance Managemnt Reynolds Bros ine. .. Rike Kumler (2.20) Roan Antelope Min Roch G&EI B pf(7) Rockland L & ©.. Rooseveit Field.Ine Ruberotd Co (4) St Anthony Gold. St Lawrence P M pf.. St Regis Paper (1).. St Regis Paper pf(7) Safe Car H&Lt (110) Salt Creek Con (40¢). Savey Ofl.....ccuss Selected Industries. " Select Ind pr (5%). Sel Ind allot cfs 514 Sheaffer Pen (13)... Shndoah Corp(b6%). Shenan Corp pt (3) Silica Gel ct. . Sonora Produc SoCal Ed pt C' (1% S'east P&L pr pt (5 Southern Corp. Southland Roy & W Dairy Produc! S W Gas Util. Standard Motor: . Stand Oil, Ind(12%). Stand Oil, Kan 23%.. Stand Ofl. Ky (12.20). Suarrett Corp. . Starrett Corp pf(6) Sterchi Br St (1.20) Stinnes (Hugo) Stutz Motor Car. Sunray Oil (40¢). Superheater (3%). Swift & Co (8) Syrac Wash M Taggart Corp (1). Third Nat Inv (1) Transamer ($1.60, Tran Con Afr Tr: Tri-Continental Cor. Tri Utilities........ Ungerleider Fin Corp Un NG Can (11.60) Union Tobacco. United Ch pt pt Utd Lt & Po pf (6).. % United Molasses Ltd Unit Ret Ch pt (3%). U S Foll B (1) U S Lines. .. U 8 & Interntl Sec United Stores. ... Unit Verde Ext (4). Utll Power&Lt($1)., Utility & Ind. .. Util & Ind pf (134). Ullity Equities Vacuum Ofl (14%). n Camp Packing. . enezuela Ptm(20¢). Vick Fin Corp. . % Vogt Mfg Co (2).... Auto Sup A (3). son Jones (3).... Zonite Prod (1.60)... RIGHTS. So. Cal. Edison - 1 Received by Private Wire Direct to The Star Office and Sales— Add 00. Open. High. Low. Cloge. 3 14% 6% 1% 19% 18% 36 107% 3% : 14% 6% 13% 3 r Store 23 33 1 10% 9 N RO HARRRE B N RS BN NN NS NN BN -E S BI-BN B TR E RS Ra NS~ AR A8 3 67 3% 24% 24% 8 o A war, & o o Suoarang wD~nREoN - S c) NN BN R ©B®BE PN DN A 2% 2% 2% 2% 66 .09 .10 .09 .10 st quarterly or semi- tra. $Plus extra in stock. a Pasable in e Pai cash or stock b Pavable in stock. d Pavable in breferred stock. PLAN GROWS FAST Several Big Corporations Have Recently Taken Out Policies for Their Many Employes. Spectal Dispatch to The Star. INDIANAPOLIS, January 3.— The plan of applying group life insurance as 2 means of providing financial inde- pendence to men who have grown too old to work- efficiently is being adopted by an increasing number of corpora- tons. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. of ‘Wilmington, manufacturers of explo- sives, have secured $24,000,000 worth of life insurance and supplementary health and accident insurance on which the employes pay & portion of the premiums. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of Winston-Salem, N. C., has arranged for 10,000 employes to be covered by $10,- 000,000 in life, health and accident in- surance. The Brookside Mills of Knoxville, ‘Tenn., have added about $700,000 of ac- cident and health insurance to the $950,000 of life insurance in force for its employes. Y Health and accldent insurance is | fiel being arranged for employes of the Monon railroad system. Plans are being laid to cover em- ployes of the Oklahoma State Highway Department with insurance protection. ‘The last legislature appropriated money with which to pay for the insurance. The second largest group insurance policy ever written in the Pacific North- west covers the lumber jacks, railroad operators, steamship workers and other emplo; in Oregon and Idaho of the ‘Weyerhaueser Timber Co., Group insurance of $1,000 for each person is now available for extension | workers of Iowa State University, also county agents and home demonstration agents. OIL DEAL REPORTED. SISTERSVILLE, W. Va., January 3 (#)—The Petroleum Exploration Co. of Sistersville, has purchased holding: of the Superior Oll Corporation in Ken- tucky, including all developed and un- developed lease-holds and personal roperty, which comprises approximate- ly 13,000 acres of developed and sev- eral thousand acres of undeveloped leasehold. The announcement made to- day said that the net daily production anv.Re ge!:e:n anfin:: than (zlm) b.":el:i e Superior orporation mo its main offices from Lexington, Ky., to Tulss, Okla, and recently decided to disposed of its Kentucky holdings and ope;lte wholly in the Mid-Continent eld. By the Assoclated Tiress. : Directors of the Continental Motors Corporation of Detroit have omitted 1% 19% | e 1084 | 24% D. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1930, INCREASE N BOND FINANGING IS SEEN Movement Against Creation of New Stock Issues Gains Impetus. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Spectal Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, January 3.—The recent announcement by a prominent Ameri- can industrial corporation whose stock has been conspicuous speculatively that it would do its future financing with bonds rather than with junior securi- ties emphasizes one of the most radical differences in the policy of borrowers in 1929 and in 1930. The movement away from creating additional stock in order to raise new capital and toward bonds gained some momentum in December and is expected to be increasingly active in the first half of this year. Preliminary figures of new domestic capital issues last month indicate a total of IP roximately $475,- 000,000, compared with about $180,000,- 000 in November, and with $685,000,000 in the final month of 1928. Of this De- cember total less than $23,000,000 was of stocks. Of the latter a considerable proportion were of the preferred type, which technically are classified as senior securities, where there are no mort- gages ahead of them. The falling off in December, as in November, in new capi- tal issues by finance companies, which includes investment trusts and trading corporations, had a great deal to do with the small stock total. New Issues. Estimated amounts of new stocks and bonds by domestic corporations for 1929 run up to $7,800,000,000, with an addi- tional $1,300,000,000 in the nature of munlclrnl loans and around $800,000,000 of foreign government and foreign cor- poration bonds and stocks. Separating domestic corporation securities from do- mestic municipals and foreign issues, it will be found that the output of do- mestic stocks was two and three-quarter times greater last year than it of domestic corporation bonds and notes and that this ratio was established in the nine months to September 30. Sub- sequent to that date the total of bonds and notes has by a large margin sur- passed that of stock: ‘There is still available to corporations that were able to sell their stocks at a good figure a considerable sum of capi- tal in the market for call money and for short-term securities. As this is re- quired for capital improvements, it will be drawn down and reflect in a further decrease in the loans of “others” to brokers and dealers. The figure is large enough to play a part in the invest- ment market and to postpone for a time the necessity of what at this season of the year would ordinarily be a move- ment toward borrowing in order to take advantage of the January reinvestment demand for bonds and easier rates for money. ‘This situation has additional sig- nificance. It reflects an oversupply of & group of stocks that has had an import- ant influence in weighing down the general market for junior shares. From a technical market standpoint, it is felt that this condition will have to be cleared up before the stock list is again brought back to a healthy state. While banks did_not accept to any extent stocks of finance companies as collat- eral in loans, they did make direct loans to clients on such stocks and on a con- siderable scale. Gradually such loans will have to be liquidated. Sales Problem. ‘The 18 months era of public preference for stocks over bonds has had a de- moralizing effect on the selling organi- zations of firms and institutions that had specialized in senior securities for many years. Heads of sales depart- ments have experienced great difficulty in the past month in getting their sales- ‘men to forego the so-called “‘price equa~ tion” of securities and to deal with them from the standpoint of intrinsic value. Salesmen have been emphasiz- ing for so long the probability of an immediate rise in the type of securities they have been offering to the public that they cannot adjust themselves to a slower moving form of security which must be sold on the basis of confidence in its meeting interest regularly and paying the principle at maturity. Deal- ers in municipal bonds even have found their salesmen recently trying to sell these premier securities on the prospect that they may go up a point or more in the next 30 days. It will require a period of re-education in order to get from them the best results during the prospective transition from stock to bond financing. NEW YORK COTTON. NEW YORK, January 3 (#)—Cotton opened steady at a decline of 3 to 5 points today in response to relatively easy cables and sold about 8 to 9 points net lower by the end of the first half hour. Private cables said that Liver- pool had been influenced by Bombay liquidation and hedging and that the Indian political situation was disturb- l‘(n‘ sentiment in the cotton goods mar- ets, Houses with Liverpool connections were moderate sellers here during the early trading while there was some com- mission house liquidation, but offer- ings were comparatively light, while there was some trade buying and cover- ing on the decline to 17.31 for March and 17.73 for July. Very little Southern selling was re- ported by local brokers, but January was offered a little more freely and the circulation of a few notices seemed to bring out some liquidation. —_—— NEW YORK BANK STOCKS. NEW YORK, January 3 (Special).— Bid. Asked. America .. o« TRk Amer Union Bk of U 8 units Bank of Yorktow, Broadway Natl . Bryant Park Central Natl Chase ... Chat Phenix Chelsea Ex ex rts (= Columbiis Commercial Continen Fifth Ave First Nati Industrial | Lebanon nn Exchange Port Merris .. Prisco State Public ..., declaration of the quarterly dividend |g; of 20 cents a share due at this time on the common stock. The gold movement at the port of New York for the week ending Decem- ber 31 included exports of $11,255,000 to France and imports of $99,000 from Latin America. Gold earmarked for foreign account increased $2,000,000. ‘The American Tobacco Co. has chased 27,000 shares of preferred stock of. the American Cigar Co., which com- pany it controls, and will loan it up to pur- ‘ Yorkville TRUST COMPANIES. Banca_Comm Ital. Banc Sicily ... Bankers ... . Bankers' new Bk Europe T Bk NV & Tr Bronx ... $12,000,000 during 1930 to care for the Pulton. cigar concern’s expenses in extensive improvements in new equipment and enlargement of its selling facilities. ‘The Houdaille-Hershey Corporation, manufacturers of automobile accessories, has acquired a substantial interest in the Schwitzer Cummins Co. of In. glm.pollar makers ofl( Eom-cm ans, water pumps and other auf bile products, e & Municipal units’; New York ... N, Title & i aza Times 8o Title Guaranty ... Trust rtl Thited Brates Washington Ticker BY CLINTON COFFIN, Associated Press Pinancial Writer, ‘Today at The Hague representatives of principal European nations gather to formulate the final decision on the Ger- man reparations issue, and any action taken is bound to have important reper- cussion in American economic and fiscal situations. Under the plan devised by Owen D. Young and his committee of international banking experts, all of the allied and American war claims against Germany will be reduced to a total that can be extinguished by an annual German payment of about $473,- 000,000, running for 57 years, with the machinery of payment to include the setting up of an international central bank. ‘While it seems to be general opinion in official and banking circles that the Young plan's disposition of all the war's internation debts will be an unqualified world benefit, there is an obvious wari- ness in the Washington administrative attitude toward the discussions that rise from the disposition of British d French authorities to connect the payment of German reparations with the payments of allied debts to the United States, a proposition which the American Government under four presi- dential administrations has consistently opposed. Notwithstanding, one of the cardinal features of the Young plan which will probably win approval at the end of The Hague negotiations is an effectual promise of the allied na- tions to Germany that if the United States ever remits any of its claims against them, the reparations annuities will be reduced in somewhat that pro- portion, Latest Treasury figures of foreign payments coming to the United States under the war settlements show the similarity which is being built up be- tween the totals the United States will collect and Germany will pay. This year the United States will get about $236,000,000 from that source, the English payment being $160,000,000, the French about $35,000.000.and the balance coming from smaller countries which obtained loans. But the terms of the separate agreements Srovide for stepping up the amounts gradually until by 1935 the United States will be re- ceiving $300,000,000 a year, and by 1975 the annual increment will be in excess of $400,000,000, which approaches the total amount Germany will be paying. Another feature of the Young plan is an arrangement by which as much as $1,000,000,000. of German bonds, in- corporating a prior lien on reparations payments, may be offered to world in- vestors, the ible market for a large share being in the United States. But, in spite of these and other points on which American interests are indi- rectly involved, it is safe to say that the Washington administration will strictly abstain from any participation in The Hague gathering and will con- tinue to regard the conduct of debt payments as an individual matter with each country concerned. For 1930 it is now considered sure that this country will receive some money from all of the nations to which it lent during and after the war except Russia and Ar- menia, the latter having vanished from the map as a political organization, ‘When the holiday in -congressional proceedings comes to an end next week, one of the first House committees which will hold a meeting is that on banking and currency. Chairman MacFadden and several of the members of that body have indicated that its procedure may lead to an investigation of the late events in credit, markets and finance associated with the Wall street break, while President Hoover’s annual message suggested a study of the sev- eral proposals to revise national bank- ing law that havg emerged with the rise of branch and chain banking. ‘The United States Chamber of Com- merce directors have arranged to test public opinion in the same field by submitting a questionnaire to civic and trade bodies all over the country that will bring out views as to the working of the present Federal Reserve and banking mechanism. The Senate also has pending a resolution ordering in- quiry into the field, and it seems un- likely that the session will pass with- out some rather extensive delving into the country’s financial and credit ma- chinery. Explosives experts of the Federal Mines Bureau are now attacking one of the more serious dangers to which city populations are being subjected by the progressive increase in use of photo- graphic materials. Last year a trail of disasters across the country in such diversified enterprises as hospital labo- ratories, moving picture studios and industrial plants proved the necessity of reconsidering conditions and circum- stances under which photographic films are handled and stored. Dr. Charles E. Munroe, chief explo- sives chemist for the bureau, notes in a_ preliminary report that some types of photographic film used for X-ray and other special work can burn with- out flame, igniting themselves spon- taneously at relatively low temperatures. In this state they give off the poisonou: fumes that cost many lives in the Cleveland clinic disaster last May. This characteristic makes almost as much for fatality risk as does the more com- monly recognized danger of violent ex- plosion. Insurance interests have co- operated in the studies to determine the best practices for storing and handling this class of materials. Chairman Willlam E. Metzger of the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety estimates that traffic accidents last year meant a loss of $1,000,000,000 to the people of the United States, which sum, he points out, is one-third of the total tax budget of the National Government. One of the methods of reducing this loss, he and his associates believe, lies in the successful application of uniform vehicle codes and municipal traffic ordinances that will at least modity the confusion motorists evince when driving in streets of strange cities and sometimes in their own. ‘There are now 25 States which have the uniform code in whole or part, and the conference members hope to see the new year result in a further extension of its application. CALENDAR POOR. INDEX TO PRICES OF STOCKS Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, January 3. cxperiences a “January enough to be on the lookout for it at this time of the year, says the Standard Statistics Co. It is suppoyed to be brought about in large measire by the re-investment demand of lar{'e institu- tions and important holders 'of securi- tles in receipt of interest and dividend disbursements which, in the aggregate, reach a very impressive total There is ample reason for believing, however, that this re-investmént buying exerts no important influence on the course of prices unless assisted by other fundamentally bullish factors. At all events, there are many exceptions to the rule that stock prices January. January, 1929, was a month in which a substantial net gain was scored by average prices, but the first half was reactionary, and the advance came in last half. January, 1928, was one of generally declining prices. The main trend of prices was also downward in January, 1927 Dividend and interest disbursements this year end will doubtless be the largest ever, and inasmuch as market has been in process of liquida- tion for the last four months, a tech- nical rally may very well be in order in January, assuming that business does not fall off at & more rapid rate. Efforts to antitipate market movements by reading the calendar, however, should never taken very seriously. d-Linpayd Plans Stock Increase. NEW YORK, January 3 (#).—The Grigsby-Grunow Co. of Chicago has notified the New York Stock Exchange 1280 cual skock “trom 5.000,000 2% - cal st 000 to 3,- 000,000 shares. 5 vance in | M PINANCIAL #a% A—1S BUSINESS STARTS STOCKHOLDER LIST YEAR CONFIDENTLY Indications Point to creased Activity as Weeks Pass. In- BY J. C. ROYLE. The new business year is now under full headway. The pace is by no means slow, but there is a general belief among business authorities that the present will prove the slowest pace of the year. Little doubt exists that basic conditions are sound. Indications point to a mod- erate advance from present activity as the weeks pass, with a decided recovery by Spring followed by a gradual speed- ing up, which will leave the year with a record fully up to that of 1929, Pessimism 1s not warranted, according to authoritative opinions. R. W. Wood- ruff, president of the White Motor C: and of the Cocoa Cola Co., declares that the stock market break was confined to the stock market; that there is no com- modity rrlee speculation; that inven- tories of business concerns in general 1:5 low, and that ample credit is avail- able. “Corporations,” he added, “are finan- clally stronger today than at any time in American history. People have left the ticker and gone back to work. The question in my mind is what our cor- porations are going to do with the $2,- 000,000,000 they withdrew from the call money market. There are only two things they can do. First, they can put their money away in the corporate ‘sock,’ curtail production, reduce labor, cancel or withhold commitments and begin again the vicious circle. Second, the corporations can put their surplus profits back into circulation by contin- uing and extending operations—spend- ing money to make money—building new plants and buying new equipment. “Commerce and industry are making preparations for these outward steps. a few corporations. It must be made the business of the corporations of the country. It is now strictly up to our corporations. Are they sufficiently for- ward-looking and have they the imag- ination and courage to permit the optimist to paint the’ picture of 1330?" The steel mills are increasing their rate of production. It is still well be- low the high level of 1928, but com- |pares most favorably with average years. The improvement is attributable to the improvement in demand from automobile manufacturers, machinery producers, electrical equipment plants and the construction industry. The automobile shows are on the point of opening. Plants are now turning out the new models so that | deliveries can be made on sales pro- duced as a result of the shows. The tire people are speeding up to keep pace with the demand both for original equipment and replacements. Parts and accessory manufacturers are again fllling grders on old contracts, after a peripd when shipments had been held up _to some extent. The outlook for foreign trade mever was better. forelgn countries is undoubtedly im- proved. Demand for American goods Is high. This is specially marked in the automobile industry and it is like- ly that exports of cars in 1930 will exceed $600,000,000 in value. ‘The outlook for construction is un- deniably bright. The programs out- lined have not w been put into ac- tive operation, t this will develop in a few weeks and will .expand as the weather grows more favorable.s The volume of buying at wholesale for Spring trade has been satisfactory in many centers, although some merchants are still holding back from filling re- e miing industry s fact 2 e mining industry is facing for a time the necessity of restriction ‘of pro- duction. Stocks of copper, lead, zinc and tin are high. The big period of antlual coal production is past. Then, too, other fuels have cut somewhat into the coal consumptive demand. Oil also is under restriction. In connec- tion with the petroleum situation, Pres- ident K. R. Kingsbury of the Standard Oil Co. of California says: “The most encourageing factor in the outlook for the ol industry is the better appreciation amongst producers of problems involved in over-produc- tion of crude oil and realization of the benefits accruing from a balancad sup- ply and demand. If curtailment con- tinues, there is prosperity ahead.” There is a general feeling among governmental agencles that the con- dition of the farmer is better today than for some years. Textile pro- duction is hesitating, as is natural with an industry which has struggled so long with unfavorable conditions, but the outlook undoubtedly is brighter. (Copyright. 1930.) ¢ CHESAPEAKE & POTOMAC TELEPHONE CO. EARNINGS Specal Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, January 2.—Net 6per- ating revenues of the Chesapeake & Po- tomac Telephone Co. of Baltimore Cigy ;‘;‘.59 the State of Maryland totaled ber, g 10 A re| the Public Service Commission, while 8ross operating revenues for the month were $1,170,709. For the twelve months ending No- vember 30 the operating revenues amouted to $13,602,147, with expenses of $10,742,031, mlklng the net revenues for the 12 months $2,860,116, which is equivalent to 6.59 per cent on' the aver- age value of the company's property. The value of the company's property in the State of Maryland as fixed by the Public Service Commission as of R‘e.c:nal:g .‘!‘1’. 1924, %lus additions since ! , was, on Noves N - ”o"&?lh ovember 30, $44, the 12 months ending November :?.35!;;:5 in Maryland Agmunled to GRAIN MARKET. CHICAGO, January 3 (#).—With ex- port business in North American wheat today failing to broaden much, wheat prices here headed down grade to about, Sc under yesterday's top level. Rallies developed, ‘however, at the last. A new bearish factor was the announcement that Russia had sold a cargo of wheat to Genoa, Italy, today. Meanwhile, crop advices today from domestic Winter Wwheat territory clally favorable. ,Wheat closed irregular, ranging from ¢ net decline to an equal advance. Corn closed %c to 3¢ down, oats wn- changed to lic off and provisions Vary- Ing from 2a5c setback to a rise of 5c. Low. Close. Southwest were espe- 1 WHEAT- January March s ay . iy CORN— March .. May ... July ool o R i &3 FOSHAY DIRECTORS QUIT. MINNEAPOLIS, Janua 3 (m). Resignation of the entire board oPdl- rectors of the W. B. Foshay Co., and election of a new board, was announced today by Wilbur B. Foshay, head of the concern, which is now in’ receivership wm-: two other Foshay holding com- panies. Foshay was elected to the new board by the meeting of common stock hold- ers. Out of a total of 7,018 shares of com- T&'?v’m the company, outstanding, X were represented at the meeting, Foshay said. Results cannot be brought about by ! The business situation in. SHOWS INCREASE Figures Reveal Growth of Public Interest in Ameri- can Corporations. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, January 3.—Norman Angell, called by one critic “the greatest living essayist,” has just finished a layman’s treatise on the subject of money. He calls it “The Story of Money.” Mr. Angell emphasizes throughout the book money in its social relation, showing what money has done to human soclety, the problems it has solved and created. Then, in the final chapter, he brings the main monetary and banking controversy of today into understandable form and relates it to the whole problem of the stabilization of the price level. Probably go subject in recent years is of more universal interest than this one, Contrary to popular belief, there are many problems in connection with it that have not been solved. The last fill"l:enfl in Norman Angell's book is “One thing at least, then, the survey has proved—that there is a monetary problem and that the task of its solution deserves the efforts of our wisest econo~ mists and boldest statesmen.” Unlike most books of this character, it is absorbing throughout. Even a casual student of the subject will find fa it plenty of thought for many a day. While the management of industry seems to be concentrating more and more into fewer and fewer hands, the ownership of industry is spreading into more and more hands. The stockholders’ record of General Motors illustrates this impressively. Twelve years ago this company had 1,927 stockholders. Before the year was ‘over a thousand had been added. Ten years ago the number had in- creased in the first quarter of the year to 8,012. This numi again creased during the year by more than 10,000, the year closing with 18,214 stockholders. 1t is not necessary to give the figures for growth for each year since then, but every year shows & large increase, with the exception of 1925 and 1926. The year 1928 had a slight decrease, gt;g};?lnx with 72,918 and closing with But 1929, spectacular in so many ways, probably will break the record when the figures are all in by show- ing that more stockholders are regis- tered on the books of American corpo- rations today than ever before, General Motors started the year with 105,363 stockholders. It closed with an increase of almost 100 per cent. The latest figures available, those of No- vember 23, show a total of 198,600, Common stocks are more widely held gg;v than before the smash of Novem- Investors who have cash in the bank and are anxious to go slow at this particular time might consider rail- road preferred stock as worth real con- sideration. There are many who wish a little higher rate than can be had from high-grade bonds, and who can at this time, by careful search, pick out un- m:lsly attractive railroad preferred stocks. Rallroads are the circulating me- dium of business activity, they are & necessary part of the economic and social life of the country. Any inter ruption in their activities would com- pletely demoralize the business of every other activity. That is why rallroad car loadings are watched very care- fully as one of the important yardsticks in_measuring business activity. Undoubtedly the new year will show some decrease in railroad earnings. Business is not likely to be main- tained on an average at the high levels of 1929. But enough business is in sight now to warrant the assumption in many cases that preferred stocks of high-grade railroad corporations present some of the most desirable investment offerings at the beginning of this year. How much will railroad revenues drop during the year? Well, during the 1920 depression in business rail- roa revenues were _reduced on the whole 10.7 per cent. It is not likely that they will show much over 6 or 7 per cent maximum in 1930. If this figure is anywhere near cor- rect the preferred stock of certain rail- road corporations is and will continue to be an excellent purchase, The United States Department of Commerce has estimated that the an- nual waste in our marketing system is not less than eleven billion dollars, Should this waste be eliminated, even at the expense of seriously crippling certain long established types.of busi- ness? This question is at the heart of the controversy now raging around the head of the Federal Farm Board. ‘The farm board, looking for a solu- tion of the farmers’ problem, has turned to the co-operative movement in its quest. It is using all its great power to organize local co-operatives, espe- clally in wheat and cotton, to bring as large a part of each of these crops as possible into a central sales organiza- tion to control the entire marketing and thereby gain not only the advan- tage of well digested systematic and orderly marketing, but even more im- portant, eliminate the waste in the cost of distribution of these articles. ‘Will this mean the elimination of the middle men in these fields? Per- haps not today or next year, or even in five years. But ultimately does it mean that the middle men must go? (Copyright, 1930, by North American News- Paper Alliance.) o INTEREST RATES. By the Assoclated Press. Collateral interest rates last week, as worked out by ‘Census Bureau averages, showed a slight upward movement tributed to special currency demand over the year end. Figuses for the week and comparable periods follow: Time Call money. loans. Week ending December 28.5% 58 % Preceding week ... 5% 4% % Same week last year. 8%% 10%% Sflyn Steel Firm. NEW YORK. January 3 (#).—The Republic Iron & Steel Co. of Ohlo has purchased the Union Drawn Steel Cos of Beaver Falls, Pa. Yesterday’s New York Stock and Bo:lnd :Averages. 283 333388