Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1931, Page 12

EXPANSION NOTED INFOURTH DISTRICT Cleveland Bank Reports Manufacturing Gains Ahead of Other Sections. Special Dispatch the The St CLEVELAND, April 7—A further ex- pansion in fourth district business was evident during the past month, although | the improvement was chiefly of a sea- monal pature and operations are still | much _below normal. Manufacturing activity in February and early March in | this district appears to have been bene- fited to a greater extent than in the entire country, chiefly because of the large amount of iron and steel produced locally and because of the importance to many concerns of increased activity in the automobile industry. After allowing for seasonal variations, automobile production increased over 8 | per cent in February, and based on | weekly production reports, a further im- provement was attained in March. This | was reflected in operations at auto parts factories in the central and northern parts of the fourth district. It also had 8 very favorable effect on the steel in- dustry of this section and the slight lag in operations apparent last month disappeared. Production at Cleveland mills was at 70 per cent of capacity in the third week of March, having ad- vanced from 53 per cent in Februa principally because of increased demand for sheets and bars from automotive concerns and for general wire products. Activity at cl-thing and textile fac tories, stimulated somewhat by an carly Easter, increased by more than the usual seasonal amount and employ- ment at these concerns advanced 5 points, in comparison with a five-year average increase of 2 per cent. -Shoe production also expanded more than! seasonally, & 16 per cent increase in| output being shown in February. Op- eraticns at china and pottery centers improved more than the usual amount. Retail trade also was larger in Febru- ary after allowing for the difference in the number of business days. The improvement shown, however, was by no means general, weakness still being observed in several lines. Opera- tions at Ohio glass factories increased in February, but at those in Western Pennsylvania were smaller than in Jan- uary. Coal production declined both from January and last year and build- ing activity remains at very low levels. The rubber and tire industry continues to show irregularities, little change being evident in production after allowing for teasonal variations. The sgricultura situation is quite unfavorable, though recent rains have largely corrected thel dr-ught deficiencles which have existed | for many months. A further easing of the credit situa- tion in the fourth district and the en-| tire country was evident during the| morth ended March 18. Money rates | declined slightly 2nd remained at low | levels during the period of Treasury | financing and income tax payments. | Total credit extended by the Federal | Res:rve Bank of Cleveland on March 18 | was slightly lower than on the same date of the previous morth, but at $87,310,000 was above the level of the | corresponding week of 1930, being buoy- ed up by holdings of Government bonds. Barting March, 1930, just prior to t period of heavy purchases of Govern- ment securities, a policy adopted as a | system matter, total credit extended by this bank is lower now than at any time | since 1924, despite the fact that hold- irgs of Government securities continue at_high levels. | Bills discounted for member banks, representing this bank’s direct accom. modation to banks in the fourth dis- trict, receded to $14.485.000 on March | 18 (mostly for couniry banks) compared | with $22,815,000 one month earlier and | $25.263,000 on March 19, 1930. With| the exception of three weeks last Fall, direct loans to members are lower than at any time since 1917. | Contrary to tbe trend of other recent rs, holdings of bankers' acceptances creased in the past four weeks and on March 18 totaled $14,970,000, against | $8,335,000 in February. At this level, however, they compared With $25,828,- 000 in the same week of 1930 and were smaller than at any similar time since 1922, notwithstanding the fact that the | total volume of acceptances outstand- ing is only about 10 per cent below the | record total of one year ago. \ Despite the general reduction in the | volume of retail and wholesale trade, in pay rolls and pricss, the volume of | Fourth District Federal Reserve notes ! in circulation has been larger since the first of the year than in the correspond- ing period of 1930, although it is about 20,000,000 below the level of the three | years, 1927-29. By the Associated Press NEW YORK, April 7—Unfavorable weather during part of last week was responsible for some slackening in gen- eral demand for merchandise in the New York wholesale market. A feature of the trade, however, was the con- tinued call for men’s and boys’ wear, with & decided shortage of desirable items in clothing in evidence. Mail orders were considerably ahead of the corresponding week of 1930. A re- sumption of activity this week i looked or. Although dried fruits were not par- ticularly active last week, jobbers re- ported a fair seasonal movement, with demand satisfactorily broad. As buy- ers are taking only small lots, it is spparent that active selling will con- tinue. Stocks on the spot are not par- ticularly heavy, and replacements may c;!amo in higher priced, trade reports state, With the coming of warm weather, the food trade is watching with inter- est the extent to which the movement of salmon will be accelerated. Usually Jrexers wholesalers and rTetailers find this widely popular sea food begins to move heavily in April, and develops Mmomentum as the S mer comes on. Owving to the raordinary sales throughout the Fall and Winter, there | is 2 confidence that the new con- | suming outlets opened up by the chains | and independents can be maintained. EARNINGS REPORTED. NEW YORK, April 7 (#).—Great, At- lantic & Pacific Tea Co. increased both sales and profit in the fiscal year ended February 28. Net profit was $30,742,775, equal to $13.86 a common share, against $26,219,631, or $11.77 a share, in the previous year Sales excceded the billion-dol mark for the second consecutive fis period, totaling $1 $12,114,003 et profit of 2.88 cents was realized, the t showing since 1924, when the mer- #in was 3.13 cents on the dollar. At the end of February the company was operating 15,737 stores, an increase of 319 for the year. 5,806,885, a gain of | On each dollar of sales a | THE EV TEN PER CENT STOCK YIELDS SUGGESTS CUTS IN DIVIDENDS Further Reductions in Returns Are Ex- pected in View of Recent Decline in Stocks. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Speclal Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, April 7.—About 10 per cent of all of the shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange were quoted today to yield 10 per cent or more. Actually 100 different issues were cited in the category of stocks returning an amount on capital that suggests a probable dividend reduction: When foreign dollar bonds were hav- ing their downward plunge a few weeks ago it was argued that if an issue of this type sold below 50 it reflected a probable default. This analysis proved to be true in a number of cases, such as in Bolivian and Peruvian bonds. 1t was found to be in error, with many others, which subsequently rallied and have met their debt services promptly. The question is now being asked, in view “of the numerous reductions, whether or not a 10 per cent income basis on the stock is a safe forecast of a change in the dividend rate. Lower Dividends Expected. Among the prominent stocks quoted today at or slightly above a 10 per cent basis are Atlantic Coast Line, Bethle- hem Steel, General Asphalt, Illinois Central. Northern Pacific, Pittsburgh & West Virginia, Texas Corporation, Tidewater Associated 6 per cent pre- ferred and U. S. Realty. Of these stocks it 1s anticipated that the current decrease in earnings probably will compel a lower dividend rate on_ Atlantic Coast Line, Bethlehem Steel, Illinois Central and Northern Pacific _within a comparatively short time. The problem cf the investor is whether prices have or have not dis- counted this event. It is doubtful if few careful buyers of securities have been prompted to purchase any of these shares with the expectation that the 10 per cent return was a perma- nent one, although the same persons bought other stocks at even higher in- come yields last December when prices were so low that they discounted divi- dend changes of a more radical char- acter than those now regarded as probable. In the higher income-return brackets are such prominent stocks as Alleghany Corporation 5!, per cent preferred, yielding 12'{ per cent; American Steel Founders, over 12 per cent; Armour of Delaware 7 per cent preferred, nearly 14 per cent; Chicago & Northwestern common, over 11 per cent; Endicott- Johnson common, 141, per cent; Fox Film, 12'; per cent; International Pa- @he Foening Htar ADVERTISENENTS ( RECEIVED HERE B o per preferred, 17!, per cent; Nash Mo- tors, over 11 per cent, and Southern Railway, 161, per cent. If a 10 per cent return is a forecast of a dividend modification, it is even more true that |stocks quoted to yield these higher | amounts are in danger of having their dividends cut. Again, it may be said that comparatively little investment de- mand exists at the present time for stocks in this category, unless the buy- ers are convinced that the dividend | change has been discounted and are willing to carry the stock through a readjustment period. Decline in Prices. As for the rest of the list of stocks on which the yields run higher than those indicated, it is obvious that they cannot, or are not expected to, main- tain their current dividends. During March, when the momentum of dividend reductions was the greatest of the year, the fall in the price of stocks was sufficient to counteract the effect on income return of the dividend changes. In quite a number of cases stocks actually advanced after their rates had been reduced, indicating that this action had been anticipated before the event occurred. ‘The net result, according to a discus- sion of this phase of the subject by Moody’s Investors' Service today, was that the average yield on all cash divi- cend paying stocks listed on the New York exchange rose in March from 7.29 per cent to 7.42 per cent, in spite of dividend changes in 11 per cent of all of the stocks affected. The trend toward dividend reductions is growing as cor- porations follow the general plan of conserving their cash resources. This is expected to bring a change in the rates of many prominent industrial and railroad companies during the present quarter of the year. A comparison recently made between the current yields on stocks and those in 1921 brings out the fact that in a list of 30 prominent industrial issues the average return today is nearly 2 per cent below that in the aepression of a decade ago. In explanation of this is the fact that corporations generally are in a much stronger position as to cur- rent assets and capital structure than they were in 1921, and therefore are entitled to have their “equity” securities sell on a lower yield basis. (Copyright, 1931) Amateur moving pictures are popular in the Philippines. Have You Rooms for Rent? An advertise- ment in the Classified Sec- tion of The Star will ac- gquaint more - people with what you have to offer than you can reach in any other way. Northwest 11th and Park rd.—Arm- strong’s Pharmacy. 14th and P sts—Day's Pharmacy. 1135 14th st. — Marty’ Cigar & Magazine Store. 17th and Que sts.—Ken- ner’s Pharmacy. 15th and U sts—G. O. Brock. 2901 Georgia ave.—Har- vard Drug Store. 2912 14th st. — Colliflower Art & Gift Co. 3401 14th st.—Bronaugh’s Pharmacy. 14th and Buchanan sts.— Hohberger’s Pharmacy. 14th st. and Colorado ave. —O’Donnell’s Pharmacy. 3209 Mount Pleasant st.— Mount Pleasant Cigar and News Shop. 1773 Columbia rd.—The Billy Shop. 2162 California lodny Brothers. Wardman Park Pharmacy. N. Y., N. J. aves. and M st. —Sanitary Pharmacy. 1st and K sts.—Duncan’s Pharmacy. 7th and K sts.—Golden- berg’'s (time clerk’s desk). 7th and O sts.—Lincoln Drug Store. 7th st. and R. 1. ave.—J., French Simpson. 11th and M sts—L. H. Forster’s Pharmacy. 9th and U sts.—M. H. Hunton’s Pharmacy. Ga. ave. and Upshur st.— Petworth Pharmacy. 221 Upshur st.—Monck’s Pharmacy. 5916 Ga. ave.—Brightwood Pharmacy. Ga. ave. and Kennedy st. —Lampkin’s Pharmacy. 2901 Sherman ave.—Sher- man_ Ave. Pharmacy. 6224 3rd st. — Stewart’s Pharmacy. 1905 Mass. ave. — Dupont Pharmacy. 18th and Fla. ave.—Bern- stein’s Drug Store. Fla. ave. and 1st st.—N. Reiskin. North Capitol st. and R. L. ave. — Parker’s Phar- macy. 1742 Pa. ave.—J. Louis Krick. 21st and G sts.—Quigley’s Pharmacy. st.—Co- ENTERPRISE SERIAL BUILDING ASSOCIATION 7th and Indiana Ave., NW, LOANS ON IMPROVED DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REAL ESTATE 25th st. and Pa. ave.« Herbst’s Pharmacy. 8315 Conn. ave. — Joll’s Newsstand. 5500 Conn. ave.— Circle Confectionery Store. Wisconsin ave. and Ma- comb st—Harry C. Taft. 4231 Wisconsin ave.—Mor- SECURITY 66th Beries of Stock Now Open For Subscription James E. Connelly + Bresident gzan Bros’ Pharmacy. Takoma Park, 359 Cedar st. — Mattingly Bros.’ Pharmacy. At conven- ient points in town and near- by suburbs Branch Offices are located, where copy for Star Classified ads may be left, One in your neighborhood. Georgetown 30th and P sts.—Morgan Bros. Pharmacy. 30th and M sts.—Brace’s Pharmacy. 3411 M st. — Moskey's Pharmacy. 2072 Wisconsin ave.— Haney's. Wisconsin ave. and O st. —Donahue’s Pharmacy. 35th and O sts.—Sugar’s Drug Store. 5104 Conduit rd.—Modern Drug Store. Northeast 208 Mass. ave.— Capitol Towers Pharmacy. 4th and H sts.— Home Drug Store. 907 H st.—Garren’s Music Store. 12th and Md. ave.—Luck- ett’s Pharmacy. 7th and Md. ave.—Louis F. Bradley. North Capitol and Eye— Kenealy’s Pharmacy. 20th and R..I. ave.—Col- lins' Pharmacy, Wood- ridge. 3500 12th st.—Brookland Pharmacy, Brookland. 4th and R. 1. ave.—John G. Biggs’ Pharmacy. Chesapeake Junction—Dr. F. L. Wight, jr. Southwest 10th st. and Va. a Herbert’s Pharmacy. 816 414 st.—Harris’ Drug Store. 4% and L sts.—Columbia Pharmacy. Southeast 3rd and Pa. ave.—0'Don- nell's Drug Store. 8th and Eye sts—F. P, Weller’s Pharmacy. 11th and Pa. ave.—Fea ly’s: Pharmacy. . 1907 Nichols ave., Anacos~ tia—Healy’s Drug Store, 13th and East Cap. sts.— Lincoln Park Pharmacy. 2204 Minnesota ave.— Twining City Drug Store. No fees in connec with this service — regular rates are NING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY," APRIL 7, 1931. RESTRAINTIN OIL | [Weaigton radce] |V STOCK PRICES TRADE IS CHARGED Federal Commission Asked to Issue Complaints Against Certain Companies. The Federal Trade Commission has been asked by the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Ol Association to issue com- plaints against certain of the major ofl companies, because, it is alleged, these major companies are depriving the in- dependent. ofl producers, refiners and marketers of retail outlets through ex- clusive selling agreements with inde- pendent retail gasoline stations. Filing of this application has been announced by Rodney J. Alexander, secretary of the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil As- sociation. “We have asked the Federal Trade Commission to issue complaints against certain of the largest oil companies because we believe that these exclusive dealing agreements operate in restraint of trade.” said Mr. Alexander. “Under the guise of a ‘lease and agency’ agree- ment, a steadily increasing number of service stations ure being closed to the lubricants produced and marketed by our members in Pensylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. The big com- pany induced the station operator to sign a lease, in_consideration of larger discounts or other concessions. The operator is then employed as the agent of the company leasing his station, and only the prodicts of the leasing com- pany are permitted to be sold. “We believe this arrangement to be illegal, and if it is permitted to con- pendent producers and refiners millions >f dollars and may completely wreck heir business. “Not only are the independent oil men being deprived of retail outlets they have enjoyed for years, but the consumer is being deprived of opportu- nity to purchase the products he has been using. It is alleged in the association appli- cation that offers of larger discounts, use of misrepresentation, duress and coercion are among the means used to 66 O tinue unchecked it will cost the inde- |2 Butter —One-pound prints, tub, 321,a33%. Eggs—Hennery, ceipts, 21, Poultry, alive—Turkeys, young, 30a32; old, 25a27; Winter chickens, 30a35; Spring brotlers, 36a38; Leghorn brotlers, 34a35; hens, heavy, 25; small, 22a23; Leghorns, 18; roosters, 16; ducks, 15; keats, large and young, 60a65; old, 25a30. Dressed—Turkeys, young, 38a40; old, 30a32; Winter chickens, 38a40; Spring_broilers, 45; hens, heavy, 27a28; small, 25a26; Leghorns, 23; capons, large, 37a38; small, 32a33; ducks, 24a25; roosters, 16; keats, young, 70a80; old, 40a45. Meats—Beef, 13%,a1515; veal, 14a16; lamb, 19; pork loins, 19a21; fresh hams, 19; fresh shoulders, 14; smoked hams, 21; smoked shoulders, 12; strip bacon, 21; lard, in bulk, 11; in packages, 12. Live stock—Hogs, heavy, 7.25a8.00; medium and light, 8.50a8.60; pigs, 7.5028.25; loughs, 2.00a6.00; Spring lambs, 12.00; calves, 5.00a9.50. Frults—Strawberries, 30a35; oranges, Florida, 3.75a4.50; California, 3.50a5.20; grapefruit, 2.50; lemons, 4.50a6.25; limes, per 100, 1.75a2.00; grapes, Ar- gentina, 3.50a4.00; apples, bushel bas- kets, 1.00a2.25; box stock, 2.25a3.00; pears, 4.50; rhubarb, 75 pineapples, 4 ;ogioo; honeydews, Argentina, 2.50- 82.75. Vegetables—Potatoes, Maine and New York, 120-pound sacks, 2.75; Idaho bakers, 100-pound sacks, 2.75; Florida, new, per bushel, 3.00; sweets, Nancy Halls, per bushel, 1.50; reds, 1.25a1.50; caulifiower, 1.75a2.00; mushrooms, 50a- 90; squash, 3.50; eggplant, 4.50a5.00; asparagus, South Carolina and Georgia, 1.75a3.50; string beans, 2.50a4.50; limas, 34a35; 22a23; current re- | Cuba, 4.50a5.00; Florida, 6.00a6.50; cu- cumbers, Indiana hot house, per dozen, 1.75a2.25; tomatoes, three-pan contain- | | Their position, ers, 2.50a3.50; peppers, 2.00a5.50; car- rots, per crate, 2.75; beets, per crate, i turnips, bunched, per crate, 2.75; kale, 1.00a1.25; spinach, 1.00a1.25; okra, per pan, 1.00; lettuce, iceberg, 3.50a4.00; Florida, 2.50. induce dealers to agree not to handle products competitive with those of the companies making the contracts. The proposed respondents are charged in the application with violating section 3 of the Clayton act, and section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission act, and the Sherman act. REMAIN UNCERTAIN Break In Steers Occurs In Face of Very Small Receipts. BY FRANK 1. WELLER. Associated Press Farm Editor. 1t will take another week to determine what's what in the cattle market. No one can look at & 25 to 50 cent down- turn in weighty steers, an advance of 25 cents in medium weights and a straight show upward of 50 cents to $1 on light heifers and mixed yearlings without questioning the stability of such irrational positions. The break in steers came, further- more, despite the smallest, receipts since July.” It was precipitated by conditions in the dressed trade, which was under- going the weakening influences com- monly seen during Holy week and the set of Jewish holidays comprising the Passover period. Receipts Small. ‘There wa$ no killing on kosher ac- count after Wednesday of last week, nor | will there be any to great extent until after the Wednesday and Thursday holidays this week. So, the true value of medium and weighty steers good enough to ordinarily sell on shipper ac- count cannot be established until nor- mal conditions return. Relative scarcity and competition among killers who were ignoring weighty bullocks forced common and medium grades to the 25-cent advance. when the trade takes hold of heavy stuff again, may be al- tered. Light heifers and mixed yearlings have undergone an entirely different kind of market, compared with a week earlier. Receipts were small and competition strong. For two reasons, however, the 50 cent and $1 advance looks unde- pendable, e advance was more or less the result of starvation supplies, and, besides, light heifers and mixed yearlings now apparently are selling too high as compared with medium and good long yearlings and light steers. ‘The country seems less interested in feeders and stockers. Light, thin-fleshed kinds have not moved there has seemed to b.'n';’mfl"‘}’ out- let .for medium it and wei feeders. Heavy feeders have lost 25 to 40 cents and thin offerings about 25| cents. The week’s 15 to 25 cent advance on hogs came too late to determine the strength of the market. Supplies, which w{ere ndu'i;dt:n"" “:: the week because of storms e producing ar d up almost all of the mmfim“' e Around 45 per cent of the Chicago arrivals went into the direct division, as compared with only 24 per cent for the same first four days of trading a week earlier. Shippers bought only 18,000 head, as compared with 24,500, Hog receipts for the month of March at the 11 principal markets totaled 2,075,979, as compared with 2,117,106 for March, 1930. Lamb Prices Higher. High lamb prices materialized and, in turn, were spurned by killers as re- ceipts expanded during the course of the week’s trade. The fact that values jumped to the highest point since last August, and threatened to hold, prob- 2bly had a negative influence on late HEAVY INTEREST PAYMENTS COMING porals "o OBed et v totals 833 Wumu ?.‘fl Standard Sta Maturities, mlum:um’.‘ these same classes ::.l‘;u’m to uu.m.ls“ for April groups follow: e terest, nfi I Advertising. printing A, i st shipping demand. Eastern orders drop- | Coal ped sharply, and Chicago packers seized Copper the opportunity to bear down on the |Foss market. ' Choice light-weights remained more or less immune to the late decline, hav- ing reached a stage in the movement [ M of the old crop where they are speciali- | B32er ties along with an advanced showing of Springers. Apparently a healthy Easter demand is stimulating lambs of the old crop as well as of the new. Prac-|_ b Steel tically all grades of lambs finished 25 to 50 cents higher, sheep sympathet- | T, ically tending to follow the upturn. An outstanding feature of the cur- rent market is the comparatively high prices thin lambs are bringing. CbiN PLANTIRG‘S. By the Associated Press. Cumulative reports by the Department of Agriculture indicate that farmers in the United States contemplate larger plantings of corn, oats, barley, potatoes, peanuts, soy beans, cow peas and tame bay during 1931 than were harvested last year. Acreage planted to wheat and rice is expected to show a decrease. In corn, and particularly oats, a large part of the increased plantings appear in the Southern States. Every business house was closed and every window shade drawn in Enniskil- len, Ireland, population 5,000, recently, during the funeral of Mrs. Robert W. Smith, wife of a prominent business Totals Japan is subsidizing iron and steel selling agents. Subscribe Today It costs only about 1% cents per day and 5 cents Sundays to have Washington's best newspa- per delivered to you regularly Iex;l'zry evening and Sunday morn- Telephone National 5000 and the delivery will start immedie ately. The Route Agent will cole lect at the end of each month. 1de of the General Offices American Bldg., Baltimore, Md. ., Washington Office: South W. RANGE American Gas snaps into its job with all the precision and smart- ness of a drill sergeant showing a squad of rookies how it should be done! It’s the star performer among gasolines sell- ing at regular gas price—and we’re not asking you to believe that on our say-so. If you're a user of regular gas — just let Orange American show its stuff in the car you’re driving! Jbe AMERICAN OIL COMPANY AWAN L 1egulars M bl e G 99 i it ashir gton! Va, -