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l TTEARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, (1A„ SUNDAY, JUNE 1. 1013 13 D News and Views by Experts of Finance, Industry, Crops and Commerce Grain Case, Tallulah Falls Litiga tion, Tariff and Money Re form Are Pending Issues. By M. A. ROSE. Legislation and litigation with vital bearing on the future of business and finance have drawn more attention during the week than any actual change in the drift of Immediate af fairs. Indeed, the trend of business seems little altered. Consumers are buying from retailers, retailers from jobbers rnd jobbers from brokers or manu facturer? in the same restricted way that has been noted since the begin ning of the year. There is the same eagerness on the part of borrowers, and the same caution on the part of lenders. If I could get hold of a barrel of cash I’d make thi* season pay well enough to enable me to retire," sighed a wholesaler the other day. “My country dealers are begging for sup plies and offering the moet heavily gilded kind of collateral for credit. If I had the cash to buy all I could sell take their notes and collateral, and wait for the crop to enable them to pay out. I’d get rich this year.’’ But he hasn’t the cash, and neither hao anyone else, to go into such venture. Four Undecided Factors. With business restricted by tight money, then, the attention of business and financial circle? is attracted, un divided, to two court actions which will have a great effect in this terri tory, and to the two most important subjects under consideration by Con gress, which affect the Southeast in as great or greater measure than the other sections of the nation. The Nashville grain case now be fore the Supreme Court of the United States and the Tallulah Falls case tried in the Superior Court at Clayton are the two important piece? of liti gation, and. of course, the tariff and the currency reform bill are the na tional questions. A decision was predicted for last Monday in the Nashville grain case. For years the railroads have ex tended a privilege to Nashville grain and grain products dealers w'hich has been denied to Atlanta. Stripped of technicaliteis. the sit uation is that Nashville dealers are allowed to buy grain or flour at any of the Ohio or Mississippi River crossings (Memphis, Cincinnati or Louisville, for instance); move this grain to Nashville; unload it and put it into elevators there for mixing, grading, drying and sacking; and at any time within six months rebill it to any point in the Southeast, paying only the through rate from the river crossing to the point of destina tion. How It Works Out. Atlanta dealers, on the other hand, pay the through rate from the point of origin to Atlanta; then must pay the local rate from Atlanta to desti nation. As this works out. it amounts to $12 to $18 per car difference In freight in favor of Nashville, when shipping to such points as Griffin and Macon. Indeed. Nashville dealers can deliver flour in East Point, at Atlanta’s city limits, cheaper than can Atlanta dealers. Atlanta won its case against the carriers in the hearing before the In terstate Commerce Commission, lost before the Commerce Court and ap pealed to the Supreme Court. Tf Atlanta wins, the railroads either may cease the practice at Nashville or extend it to Atlanta. Whichever they do, the result will be beneficial to Atlanta. Atlanta does a grain and flour busi ness conservatively estimated at 40.- 000 cars a year, and believes this will be enormously increased by a favor able decision. Translated into dol lars, this is a staggering sum. Local Stocks Affected. The Tallulah Falls case is being watched because it is certain to affect the price of Georgia Railway and Power common and second preferred stocks, which have been the most ac tive feature of the local stock market recently, and which are held by al most evervone in Atlanta who holds any stocks at all. The decision of the lower court, however, will not be final in this case. Georgia cotton mill men have been presenting their view's of the cotton schedule before the Senate subdivi sion of its Finance Committee. In general, they are anxious for greater distinction between the grays and colored goods, and between the plain and fine goods. Reports from Washington indicate that they made a strong appeal. On the surface, the South is not much affected by the cotton sched ule as framed and passed by the House. The fine weaves are the only grades slashed, and most of the out put in the South is coarse numbers. Fear an Overproduction. Where the shoe pinches is in the fear that spinners of fine numbers in the East, robbed of tariff protec tion, will turn to coarser yarns, thus increasing the South’s competition and perhaps bringing about overpro duction. When the tariff schedules first were made public leading cotton and wool en mill men of the State, in interviews given to The American, expressed lit tle concern, and nothing bordering on alarm. Either they have awakened suddenly since that time, or they are engaged in the very human occupa tion of trying to get the best and the most that they can. Southern bankers w f ere among the first to plead for currency reform, and have been among the stanchest advocates of a better system ever since. The “catechism’ of 35 questions, sent out by the administration to national bank presidents all oyer the country, therefore are much discuss ed. and from the South the President and his advisers may expect some interesting and instructive replies. HANDWORK FAVORED. Embroidered waist fronts are com ing in for a good share of success this ■season. Some excellent handwork of tols kind done in the Philippines is shown by a local importer. MONETARY REFORM SEEMS IN PROSPECT Bryan Not Hostile and Other Powers of Ad-, ministration Seem Favorable. NEW -VORK, May 3].—While stav ing In thv background for diplomatic reasons, the leading New York City bankers are keeping in as close touch as possible with the progress of cur- f e " Cy I? form Prospects at Washing ton. The latest advices are under stood to be encouraging The Influ ences that are preponderant with the administration are those which favor banking and monetary legislation of the conservative and safe kind. It is not known in just what shape the hill will be presented which is now undergoing the scrutiny of the Dem ocratic leaders in Oongres. but well- informed bankers feel satisfied that its essential features will be those which have been largely agreed upon In banking discussions the country over. New numes may be given to provisions that are borrowed from the so-called Aldrich plan, but the ideas of concentration of available reserves, more or less central control, elasticity of the currency, and wider bank pow ers are understood to be preserved in the administration program. Of much importance in the shap ing of a measure which will restore confidence in the business and invest ment community is the attitude taken by W. J. Bryan. It is understood that the Secretary of State is holding himself rigidly aloof from active par ticipation in the conferences over the proposed financial bill. The course pursued by President Wilson is encouraging the Eastern banking community in believing that practical results will be rendered as regards currency reform at the ex traordinary session of Congress. The course is the devotion of the admin istration’s entire energies upon one question at a time. All the “punch" of the administration is now concen trated on getting its tariff policy through. Nothing is allowed to inter fere with the fight in that direction. But while concentrating to work on tariff reform. Mr. Wilson and his Congress advisers still find time to thrash out the questions relating to a banking bill and to pave the way for taking it up promptly as >*oon as the Underwood tariff schedules be come law. It Is this faculty of practical pro cedure that the President has devel oped so early in his administration that lends confidence to the financial interests that improvement in cur rency conditions will be achieved In the first year of Mr. Wilson's tenure of office as well as the tariff revision he considers the primary work at his hands. •LOT SIES ARE BUSED Quotations on Ten-Share Lots Now Are Used on Ticker Under Certain Conditions. NEW YORK, May 31.—Within the short period since the Stock Exchange acceded to the request of several odd- lot specialists and directed that on both the noonday and closing list of quotations sent out by the ticker where the 100-share quotation is per cent or more apart, the 10-share quotation may be substituted t closer; odd-lot trading has received a pronounced stimulus. The low prices at which stocks are selling have attracted bargain hunt ers, and brokers who specialize in small lots agree that business :n this department has increased all the way from 10 to 25 per cent in the past three or four months. The odd-lot buyer has a peculiar relationship to the Stock Exchange. He is regarded as of far greater im portance than the trading customer who buys and sells speculatively and Is concerned with crop news, railway earnings and Industrial activity only as bearing on day-to-day movements of the market. The Ultimate Consumer. The trading customer, dipping ir regularly in and out of the market, is naturally of particular Importance as a producer of commissions, but the odd-lot trader In nine cases out of ten Is an ultimate consumer, the man who stows away in the upper right-haud pigeonhole of his office safe the ten shares of Reading or Steel or North western preferred which he has pur chased because he believes that the conditions which have lowered prices will pass and that his investment will pay him more than the. savings ba-'k or more than it would earn if put back into his own business. The odd-lot buyer reduces the floating supply of securities and is an economic factor of greater importance than the small scale speculator who in the course of a year may buy and sell many times the number of shares which represent the purchases of the odd-lot man. Exchange Favors Him. For this reason the Stock Exchange has sought always to encourage and protect the odd-lot buyer. Such rules as have been made for his benefit represent all that has ever been asked In Ills behalf, and it is safe to say that if any suggestion can be made which will encourage him still fur ther and safeguard his Interests even more than they now are, the govern ing committee of the Stock Exchange will enact the necessary legislation without hesitation. One of the earliest steps taken to protect the small trader was the adoption of the low share unit of trading, the odd-lot Investor was then only hanging on the fringes of the market and was willing to pay the 1-8 more than the market to sell at 1-8 under. The investor who put stocks awav then was usually in po sition to purchase 100 shares. Then in March, 1910. the rule was adopted which ended the practice of breaking down a market by offering stock in large blocks below the bid price. Stop Bear Hammerino, Where a number of bids on a cer tain stock might be in at, say. 75, it was a practice to break the mar ket by offering several thousand, “a 1 or none,” at 1-8 or 1-4 below the bids. Under the ruling then adopte i. the seller who offered several thou sand shares was required to accept all pending bids for 100 shares or more before attempting to offer stock below that price. The practice of exacting 1-8 morr from the 10-share or odd-lot buyer and of forcing him to accept 1-8 less when he sold was ended, and the small investor is now on the same basis as the man who buys 1,000 or 10,000 shares at a time. A BIG MELON. NEW YORK, May 31.—John D. Rockefeller, who at the time of dis solution of the Standard Oil trust got one-fourth of the 815,000,000 stock of the New York company, and who is believed not to have sold any of it since, receives a handsome melon of $15,000,000 more stock by the increase of the company’s capital to $15,000,000. If the new stock has a value of $150 a share, this little disbursement to m D. will be worth $22,500,000 ital silver or gold dollars. Wealth of 140,143 New Residents From U. S. Placed at $1,000 Each in Budget Report. OTTAWA, ONT., May 31.—In his budget speech in the House the Hon. W. S. White reported the number ot immigrants who entered Canada from the United States during the last fiscal year. There were 140,143 entered and their Intention of permanently set tling was shown by the fact that they brought with them capital and effects to the value of $140,000,000. Far East Leading Producer of Rubber KEEPS DOOR OPEN At last has come a device that will keep a door open at any desired point. It is made of a flat piece of steel, bent in the form of tongs, with a short, strong spring to uupply the required upward pressure to keep the door from sliding. A projection at the end of the shorter leg pre\ents t :° device frqm being dislodged easily. Brazil Is Passed for First Time in History—Reduction of Export Tax Recommended. For the first time In history the crude rubber crop of the Far East w.M exceed that of Brazil this year, ac cording to estimates made by experi enced growers and traders. The fig ures are placed at 54,000 tons*for the Eastern countries, and 52,000 tons for Brazil, including Bahia and Ceara. In an endeavor to conserve the rub ber industry of Brazil and to lessen the cost of production, a group of cap italists and steamship owners in 1911 sent a commission, in charge of C. E. Akers, to the Far East. According to Consul General J. G. Lay, Rio de Janeiro, the report of Mr. Akers shows that rubber is already being pro duced in parts of the Orient at 30 cents (gold) a pound, and bids fair before long to be produced in that part of the world generally at the fig ure. Against this is a cost of pro duction in Brazil of 72 cents. Mr. Akers advises a 75 per cent reduoti >n in the export tax levied on this co i- modity, which is now 19 per cent at Manaos and 22 per cent at Para, to help lessen this difference. He also suggests the importation of 50,000 Chinese coolies into Brazil, and the hiring of a number of Malaysian planters to instruct the Brazilian collectors in modern methods of tap- •Mrig. The entire cost of carrying out the proposed scheme would be approxi mately $5,500,000. Chemical National Drops U. S, Funds Notifies Treasurer it Wants No Gov ernment Deposits Since Inter est Is Demanded. The Chemical National Bank of New York City has notified the Treasury Department that it wants to be relieved of Government deposits of $150,000. This is the result of Sec retary McAdoo’s order that national banks must hereafter pay 2 per cent on Uncle Sam’s money. The Chemical Is the first institution to ask Mr. McAdoo to take his deposit elsewhere. Other New York banks arc expected to do so. They say they will lose money If they pay 2 per cent Interest on Government checking ac counts. The Chemical says that for over 80 years it has never paid such in terest and doesn’t want to begin now. It explains that it has plenty of de positors whose balances are larger than Uncle Sam’s and are much less trouble. Besides, it does not want to discriminate among depositors. The banks here figured that they will lose from $166.17 to $861.97 on each $100,000 of Government money. Country banks, which do not keep so large a reserve and seek prestige, are taking $30,000,000 which the Treas ury Department is now banking. SEES POLITICAL CRISIS AHEAD E. P, Ripley, of Santa Fe, Says House and Senate Are Too Radical; Wilson Untried. BY BOERSIANER. E. P. Ripley, president of the Santa Fe Railroad, is distrustful of the country’s political future. He has no downright fear that the United States Is heading for disaster; the tendency may be checked in time to prevent a catastrophe. There are certain signs which make him hopeful that the headlong course will be stopped, but he is far from sure. The House and the Senate, in his view, are dangerously radical. Wil son, to him, is as yet an unknown quantity. The one compensating fac tor in Washington is that which is relative to the railroads. He believes that the Interstate Railroad Commis sion is less perilous than it was, say, a year ago. Mr. Ripley has just returned from California. The president of the San ta Fe is gradually recovering from an acute attack of indigestion, which occurred seven weeks ago in Califor nia. Thinks Majority Unsafe. “I suppose I have unwittingly ac quired the reputation of being a pes simist,” said Mr. Ripley. “I am per fectly conscious of not agreeing with the majority of people who elect leg islators, but long experience as a rail road man and as an observer of pol itical tendencies impels me to say that the United States of to-day. in its general political aspect, that Is to say. in its political trend, is not at all what the founders of this country in tended. , “It was not the intention of the framers of our Constitution to have the crowd rule. The intelligent and experienced minority were to rule; men who by their intellectual gifts and by their statecraft were to guide the country. That idea was kept up for many years, but of late the men have been elected to office who sim ply do as the crowd dictates. The editors, and not the elective, govern. “History is instructive. It tells us that whenever the mob becomes para mount then was the beginning of dis solution. Lauds Commission Form. “I am glad to qualify, however, my general view, for here and there I see signs of the return of the scheme of government by the fit. I mean by this that certain communities have resorted to government by commis sion. instead of government by muni cipalities. who are entirely swayed by the crowd. The signs, true, are few and somewhat indistinct. Let us hope, however, that these are the be ginning of betterment in the right di rection. “I think the appropriation bill for funds for the prosecution of trusts passed by the House and Senate is extremely bad legislation; a measure that provides for prosecution of one class in a community and absolves an other class is tinged with demagog- ism. The measure, in effect, was ve toed by Taft. Wilson will give us a better idea of his statesmanship when the bill comes to him. By his action in the matter we shall be able to judge Him in a very important respect. “However, there is much to be said in Wilson’s favor. His tariff bill I indorse; also the income tax. His currency' legislation promises to be beneficial and these are'features that extenuate much that is disquieting in the political situation. Expects Rate Increase. “I believe the Eastern roads will be accorded a small increase in freight rates, for which they have applied. Heaven knows that they need it. When a body like the railroad com mission is in office for any length of time they cannot help but perceive that there are two sides to every cor poration question Tht* commission is beginning to see the other side and 1 trust that they will have the cour age of their perceptions. “It is, of course, unfair to argue that the commission has allowed as many increases as they have favored decreases. In number this may be true, but in import it is very' untrue. The increases have been small in im portance and in significance, compar ed with the decreases. “Obviously, the railroads cannot go on increasing their wages and paying higher prices for their material with out compensatory measures the other way. Should this disproportion con tinue without relief in the way of freight increases it is inevitable that some, if not many, roads must be operated by receivers." MONEY: LOSES COTTON OIL EXPORTS i SHOW FALLING OFF 1 ■ j Large Olive Crop or Big Year for Milk in Bel gium May Affect Shipments Adversely. STEEL EARNINGS Good Stocks Show Increased Yields Twenty Active Industrials and Rails Yield 6.196 as Against 6.06 at Low Point of 1911. NEW YORK, May 31.—The higher interest that New York City has been obliged to pay draw’s attention to re turns rhown by prominent dividend- paying stocks. Twenty active industrial and rail road dividend-paying common shocks at Wednesday’s closing show average yield of 6.196 per cent. Average yield at record low prices in 1912 was 5.66 per cent, and in 1911 was 6.06 per cent. At the high points in 1912 the yield was only 4.87 per cent, in 1911, 5.11 per cent. This large increase in yield is due to increased dividends as well as de clining prices. In 1911 and up to April. 1912, Amalgamated Copper was on a 2 per cent basis, comparing w ith present rate of 6 per cent Reading increased its dividend from 6 per cent to 8 per cent the current year, and United States Rubber from 4 per cent to 6 per cent Canadian Pacific went from an 8 per cent to 10 per cent basis in February. 1911. St. Paul reduced its dividend from 7 per cent to 5 per cent in 1911. and New York Central from 6 per cent to 5 per cent in the same year. The average rate now paid by the 20 slocks is 6.25 per cent Ministry Demands Resignation of Man Who Allows Funds to Cross the Border. BY BOERSIANER. CHICAGO, May 31.—M. Spitzer re signed neither voluntarily nor leisure- I ly from the Societe Generale Pour Favoriser ie Development du Com merce. a leading French bank. It was some time before Europe, including France, knew of Spitzer’s resignation. The Incident is of international im portance and significance. it also throws in high relief the tension of relations—political and economic— between France and Germany. The Societe Generale. though founded by Frenchmen, is now owned partly by non-French capitalists, by Englishmen. Swiss. Bulgarians and Germans. Some years ago it was in a distended condition. It had extended too much credit to swift entrepre neurs of slow payment. Much unmar ketable paper and insufficient cash threatened the bank’s convenience. At this rather uncomfortable juncture Sir Ernest Cassell and a number of his business associates in England, Switzerland. Belgium and Germany put $20,000,000 into the Institution, thereby acquiring an influential pro prietorship. German Is Chosen. Sir Ernest Cassell and associate In vestors deemed the then head of the executive committee of the bank not competent, a view quite forcibly in dorsed by the state of assets and lia bilities. The chief was superseded by a German banker, Herr (subsequently Monsieur) Spitzer, of Berlin. Spitzer soon justified his responsi bility and Cassell's judgment. The Societe Generale retrieved its im paired prestige, an achievement that only financiers can appreciate, for nothing !e more difficult in the science of finance than to restore confidence in a bank whose standing has been weakened. In a relatively few years the con stituency of La Societe Generale Pour Favoriser le Development du Commerce embraced the sovereign states of Europe. Under Spitzer’s ex- ecutiveship it made large profits and earned a world-wide reputation. Incurs French Enmity. Spitzer incurred the hostility of Frenchmen, not because he was a German, but because he had made the bank an impregnable success, somewhat at the expense of other French banks. A Paris banker who had so little business of his own that he could devote time and energy and vigilance to other bankers’ business, ascertained, through the treachery of a disloyal employee, that the Societe Generale had been discounting more German than French paper. The situation was transitional and In a sense Inadvertent. Spitzer had been actuated by purely business rea sons. The Germans needed money badly and were offering a high rate of interest. 'As a former German, ex pert in German credits, Spitzer se lected a lot of sound paper bearing German names and these purchases overbalanced the notes wdth French names. Damned for Success. Within a fortnight the directors of the Societe Generale were invited by the Minister of Finance to call, in a body,, at the ministry. There they were told to select. Immediately, a successor to M. Spitzer. A “request" from the French Gov ernment in a matter of this kind is tantamount to an imperative order. M. Spitzer "resigned” at once. The Government has no interest whatever in the Societe Generale, which is a "private corporation. But a refusal on the part of the direc tors to comply with the Finance Min ister’s ‘request’’ would put a decid edly violent end to the bank. Its doors would have been closed in a few days. Not a line about the disposal of Spitzer has appeared in the French papers; for, while the Government at present Is coercively chauvanistic. it is at the same time commercially dis creet. It wants no trouble in French finance Just now. NEW YORK. May 31. Recent ac tivity in American Cotton Oil Com pany common has not been due to new developments, according to di rectors. Several of them declare the financial position of the company is strong, but do not seem to favor early resumption of dividends on the Junior issue unless earnings for year end ing August 31 should be exceptionally satisfactory. One director says: “The ('rude cot ton seed oil situation has not been as good this season as last. The 1912 cot ton crop w r as smaller than in 1911, and cotton seed prices ruled higher. A great deal of this year's supply was of poor quality, due to unfavorable conditions under which cotton was picked. “Exports have been curtailed some what. which may be attributed to political uncertainties abroad and the fact that England, a larger user of American oil, has shown a disposition to w r ait for lowering prices. However, these are only some of the factors en tering the cotton oil business, which is subject to so many influences that i- it is impracticable to gauge the sit uation by one or two. For instance, a large olive crop in Italy may affect demand for cotton oil, as would also a large “milk crop" in Belgium. When there is a shortage of the inilk sup ply, much of the famous Belgium but ter is manufactured from American cotton oil. “All our mills are shut down for the season, as seed crushing has prac tically been completed. The next months will witness distribution, of a large part of our stocks of oil. and developments in that period will de termine much as to the final result of operations for the current fiscal year. “It is not possible to state how net will compare with previous fiscal year, as accounts are not made up until the end of August, but business of our principal subsidiary, the N. K. Fair- bank Company, is excellent and well ahead of last year.” For ten months ending April 30. 1913. exports of cotton seed oil were 275,983,034 pounds, against 360.626.488 in corresponding period of the pre vious year. CONVERSION OF RET! STORE REFERS BONDS Holders Seem in No Haste to Take Stock in Return for 5s Selling at Same Price. NEW YORK, May 31.—Conversion of Atchison 5 per cent convertible bonds of 1907 has been slow* and small. In April $1,189,000 were con verted, and during first 20 days of May $789,000 were turned In for com mon stock. Atchison common is sell ing around 99 per cent, and the price of the controvertible 5s is about the same. Beginning June 1, the $43,686,000 4s issued in spring of 1910 may be converted Into stock. These bonds are now selling on a parity with the common. In fact, all Atchison con vertible issues are quoted under par. Since 1905 Atchison has issued $14 7,- 711,000 convertibles. Of $104,025,000 bonds now subject to conversion, $76,334,000 have been LITTLE CHANGED Estimate Places. Figure for Period Ending June 30 at Between 37 and 38 Million. Adds Gilt-Edge Securities to Stocks of Ribbons—Tries to Reach Poor Man. NEW YORK. May 31.—City bonds of the recent issue are being offered by one of the largest department stores at a price below the average at which the issue was alloted. Wall Street is much interested in the move, and brokers remarked that the five and ten-cent stores would have bonds for sale next. The department store believes that the average man with $10 to $100 to invest knows nothing of bonds, but thinks only of a savings bank as a place for small sums, while these bonds pay better Interest than sav ings banks. The idea of introducing high-class securities through the medium of tlie turned in for common stock, or 73.3 stores is new, but it Is believed that Ocean Lines Force Good Cotton Baling Steamships Take Action Aimed at Prevention of $50,000,000 An nual Loss of Staple. WASHINGTON, May 31. For many years the railways have sought to have cotton shippers exercise greater care in packing cotton. Gov ernment experts have estimated that of the cotton crop of the United States there is. between the gin and spinner, a wastage and damage of $50,000,000 per annum, The trans-Atlantic lines who in re cent years have been mulcted in heavy damages because of the poor condition in which cotton has been delivered to foreign consignees have now taken action that will reinforce the efforts of the railway?. From September 1, 1912, to March 31, 1913. on the average one bale of cotton out of every six offered at the South Atlantic and Gulf ports was condemned; one bale out of every ten was improperly marked. Beginning July 1 next, their requirements will be more rigid; higher charges will be ex acted for cotton loosely baled. LOSS ON EGGS. Ex-Secretary Wilson, of the de partment of agriculture, estimates that between the producer and the consumer there is an annual loss of $45,000,000 in the *>gg crop of the Un ited States, thei greater portion of which falls on the farmer who is by far the largest producer. Of this enormous loss about one-third, or $15,000,000. is caused hv heat, which develops the embryo of the fertile egg. causing what is known to the trade as a “blood ring." As it is impossible to produce a “blood ring" in an infertile egg such an egg wlP stand a higher degree of temperature without a serious deterioration than with a fertile egg. per cent, leaving $27,691,000 outstand Ing. The conversion privilege on the 4s of 1905 and 1909 runs until June 1, 1918. In the 4s of 1909 the conver sion has been heaviest in proportion to total issued. Atchison has outstanding $177,312,- 500 common stock. Total conver sion of $76,334,000 bonds into common means $4,580,040 additional to annual dividend account. But charges of $3,212,160 have been cut off, making the net addition $1,367,880. Atchison, for the time being at least, has stopped raising money through convertible bonds. The last financing was in the spring of 1912, when $18,290,695 California-Arizona lines first and refunding 7Vi per cent bonds were sold. It Is not likely that the company will be in the market for more money until end of the present calendar year at earliest. Dividends Paid By Subsidiaries Of Standard Oil Twenty-nine of Thirty-four Standard Oil Companies Make Dis bursements. Since dissolution of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, on Decem ber 1, 1911, the 34 companies Into which the corporation was split have all paid dividends but five, the total being $122,539,946 In cash and $103.- 100,000 par value In stock. Valuable subscription rights have also been granted. In 1912 cash dividends totaled $53,- 299.969. So far In 1913 they have been $69,239,977. The largest disbursement in a single year before dissolution was $58,000,000. The five companies which have not paid any dividends are. Atlantic Re fining, Colonial OH of Kentucky, Union Trunk Line, and Waters-Pierce Oil Co. Several have published bal ance sheets showing large earnings available for dividends. The following table shows the cash dividends paid by Standard Oil and former subsidiaries; Total 1911! 1913 to flat** $40,000 4,000.000 $2,000,000 230,000 100,000 210,000 960,000 Bor-Scry Bkeye 1' L Cheabr Mff Contln ? >11 Creac I* 1.. . . Ctiiub I* It. . . Kurekfl 1’ 1.. <;•! sir n lo i>f ImJ I» L. Nat! Tran N Y Tran. . North 1* I. Ohio Oil . I’r O A (1 8<ilnr lief* Southern 1* I, Bn Penn O S W P P l. 8t Oil Cal St Oil Ini!.. St Oil K aim St Oil Neb. . St Oil N .1 Ht Oil N Y* St Oil O Swan A K Vacuum OH Wash Oil Ann Am O . Totals . * One dlvtdem 60,000 1,300.000 KOO.OOO 400,000 2,000,000 1,327,309 1 500,000 200,000 2,000.000 2,500,000 100,000 2,800,000 750,0011 700.000 1.250.000 3,900,00'* 50,000 160,000 19,667.660 3,900.000 175,000 900.000 480.000 1.000.000 200.000 100,000 1,600,000 381.827 1,000,000 200,000 1,000,1*00 600,000 loo.ooo 1,600.000 500.000 175.000 2,500,000 3,900,000 170,000 120,000 49,169.150 900.(MX* 175.000 25.000 450,000 44.000 750.000 Total $40,000 6,000.000 350,000 210,000 1,440.000 $0,090 2,500,000 1,000.000 506.090 1,909.136 2.500,000 I 3.000,000 3,100,000 200.000 4.400.000 1,250,000 875,000 3,750.000 7,800,000 220,000 280,000 68,886,810 4.800,000 •50,000 25.000 1,350,000 4 4. (*<>(! 1.750.000 the move will serve to assist In edu eating the people of the United States to the fact which the French wage- earners long have known, that bonds are not a rich man’s luxury, but a safe place for the poor man’s sav ings. PLAN SUCCEEDS IN ST. PAUL. ST. PAUL, May 31.—A New York broker conceived *he plan of selling bonds over the counters of depart ment stores, which tried out in St. Paul, resulted in $55,000 worth being sold in a few hours. His idea reached local bond men through Charles W. Gordon, a prominent St. Paul capi talist. According to Mr. Gordon, the pro moter explained the plan is to mar ket high-grade securities to people of small means, or “the men and women with savings of $50 to $100." The success of th*- plan has been remarkable. No profit has been made by the department store. Exception ally favorable circumstances are con ceded to have attended the inception here, however, for the bonds pay a trifle less than 6 per cent and run for eleven months, the store guaranteeing them, and agreeing to take them back at purchase price and accrued inter est at any time. Parisian Slippers Designed in U. S. NEW YORK, May 31.—Estimate* of earnings of the United States Steel Corporation. for current quarte**, show very little change. The cor poration suffered from the floods in the middle West, and then again cer tain departments have been unable to operate fully on account of pro nounced scarcity of raw steel. It is believed, however, that net earnings for the second quarter will aggregate between $37,000,000 and $38,000,000. compared with $34,426,801 In the pre ceding quarter. The increase during the current quarter will be the result of a larger production and deliveries of steel on a slightly higher price basis. If earnings are between $37,000,000 and $38,000,000, they will compare fa vorably with the corresponding quar ter since the organization of the Steel Corporation, except the second quar ter of 1907, when they were $45,503.- 705; the second quarter of 1906, when they were $40,125,032. and the second quarter of 1902, when they were $37,- 662,058. The following table gives the nat earnings for the second quarter >f each year, with th-> current quarter estimated: Quarter End Net June 30: Earning#. 1913 *$37,500,000 1912 25,102,265 1911 28408,520 1910 40,170.960 1909 29,340,491 1908 20,265,756 1907 45,503,705 1906 40,125,033 1905 30.305416 1904 1 9,490,725 1903 36,642,308 1902 37,662,058 1901 26,363,840 •Estimated. Total earnings as above stated would enable the Steel Corporation to show a surplus for second quarter of more than $10,000,000, which, added t *> the surplus reported in first quarter, would give a total for the first half of the year of about $17 500,000. Assum ing that the corporation’s earnings in the last half will be as large as in the first half, balance of surplus for ths full year would be approximately $35.- 000,000. This would be sufficient ♦ > more thun cover entire construction expenditures for twelve months, as it is estimated that outlays for this purpose in 1913 wi” amount to ap proximately $30,000,000. Manufactur ers are confident there will be no in terruption to the upward tendency cf the Steel Corporation’s earnings f >r the next five months at least. This means that If there is a setback it will occur In last quarter of year. Copper Production May Exceed Demand Present Rate of Increase Will Give 2,000,000 Pounds in Decade. No Use for So Much. Last year will be remembered as the first year when the total world production reached a million tons. One hundred years ago the average annual output of copper was about 10,000,000 tons. The quantity for the decennial period 1811 to 1820 was, to be exact, 96.000 tons. In the middle of the century, from 1851 to 1860, the total output was 505,999 tons, or, roughly 50,000 tons per annum; and by the end of the century the output had reached half a million tons. It will be seen, therefore, that in the comparatively short space of twelve years another half million tone have been added to the annual pro duction of copper. The question nat urally arises whether this tremendous rate of increase is likely to be main- Style Fails to "Catch On" Until Sent I talned. for if so in the course of an other ten or twenty years the trade Across Ocean for Approval by French. $53,299,960 $69,239,977 $122,539,946 of 20 per r«*nt p*ld December. 1911. The satin slippers with wide ribbon streamers that have been s*poken of so much of latjj in the Paris fashion ca bles are the result of an American idea. Last March a Brooklyn shoe manu facturing firm in making up samples for the coming season, designed a sat in slipper trimmed with rhinestone ornaments and having wide ribbon streamer? attached to each ornamenj.. These streamers crossed over the in step and were fastened with rhine stone slides. They were tied about th« ankle, well up to the calf of the leg. on the order of a high-strapped bathing slipper. These slippers were shown to a number of Americans for approval. All admired them, and .‘■•aid they were pretty, but no one thought of buying them. There were eight pairs of these slippers, all made in different colored satin. Later the slippers were called back by the Brooklyn firm, and sent to Paris for display purposes. Within a week the American papers began to tell of the beautiful new style foot wear that was being shown there. Since thee* 1 articles have been pub lished there have been many calls for these slippers. This Incident simply goes to show that American ideas in footwear are right, but that they must be approved by Paris before’American women will buy them. will have 2,000,000 tons of copper to deal with every year. It is almost in conceivable that employment can be found for a quantity so enormous. The increase in the output has been lately very large, nearly 130.000 tons having been added during 1912, against only about 20.000 tons in the previous year. The electrification of railways may open but a large mar ket for copper, hut, on the other hand, this process will throw upon the mar ket a very considerable quantity of old copper and old metals of which the principal constituent is cop per. and the release of these metals will tend to keep down the consump tion of new copper in other indus tries. FAMOUS HOME PASSING IN OLD-TIME ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS, May 31.—Bellgrade, the historic St. Louis home made famous in ’ The Crisis," where Virginia Car vel was wooed and won by Stephen Brice, now Is tenanted by two negro families and undergoing the last rav ages of decay. Famed at a time when St. Louis so ciety was brilliant with old-timo Southern flavor, when women were proud and men chivalrous, the one time scene of many a famous ball and reception is about to be razed. EXPORT BUSINESS BETTER. Exporters report a picking up in the Inquiries from abroad for staple prints. Foreign business in these goods has been none too heavy in the last few months. BROWN FURS DOMINATE. Brown furs are expected to doml- j nate thi? fall and winter. Natural, or j undyed, furs will be much in vogue. This is attributed in no small degree 1 to the wide showing of brown fabrics , for women's wear for the coming sea son. i nni TIT* I A DC FTP AT LOWEST PRICES TO FRUI I J AKh, t I L. RETAIL MERCHANTS r>ur traveling men are now showing, among •tb«r good tltfittgo, the best makes of Fruit Jars. Jelly Glasses, Fruit Jar Rubbers, etc., at very attractive price* to the trade We specialise on s, & nea* and Queen Fruit Jars Wholesale Showrooms 57 North Pryor Street DOBBS & WEY CO.