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ITEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, 0A., SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1913. 15 D V. I A ews an id Views by Ex per ts of Finan ce, ■ Indi ustr) /, Crops and Commerce lUNURHIUS hid rifisi nnrm One Hundred IV lillior i Bushels of Corn 111 iutiST BULGE MOr Tstckholder ™ GULSSLH! A stockholder rynrnT ntinrn run Ntn LHDP | Could Be Grow n on Georgia Swamps y ^EXPECTED 8? At the stockholders’ meeting of * A | | 1 1 1 Fn J jlfl 1 rl the Now Haven Railroad A. Max- L/\l LU 1 U U I B Lit Banks Demand Clean Export Pa pers—City Needs Nearly Six Million Dollars for Season, Era of Canal Diggers Here Making Richest TractsTillable—Reclaim ing of Lost Bottoms in Piedmont Valleys and Coastal Plain Possible With Great Profit. CHARLES A. WHITTLE By M. A. ROSE. Aew crop cotton bills of lafling for export made their first appearance In Atlanta during the week. Their advent this year has been awaited with much interest and some anxiety. The remarkable proposal of the steamship companies to deface them with notations of bad condition of the cotton made it something of an enigma what course the banks would * take. Such bills they declared not ne- J gotiable. There has been no solution of the problem. The banks have taken the export bills only on condition of guarantee that there shall be no such notations; In other words, that they shall be clean. Apparently nothing but per fect bales can be exported under such conditions. What will be done with . Imperfect bales remains to be seen. * Probably the best that can be done is to find a market with domestic mills. Money in Keen Demand. Demand for money is nearing its climax Atlanta every year borrows between $5,500,000 and $6,000,000 to move the crops, and with deposits at rather low ebb, this year’s borrowings will be nearer the $6,000,000 mark. Seven-eighths of this is reloaned to country banks. Atlanta is paying 5 1-2 per cent for the funds In New York. How much the $800,000 Secretary McAdoo proposes to deposit here will help, can be estimated from these figures. At best, the Secretary’s motives In offering this accommodation to the South and West were mixed. Doubt less he was glad to aid in moving the crop, and he did inspire helpful sen timent by the use of comparatively a email amount pf money. On the other hand, when Government 2s went to- bogganning on announcement of a currency bill which threatened to rob them of much of their value, some thing had to be done. By requiring 10 per cent collateral in Governme.it bonds against the proposed autumn deposits the Secretary hoped to make a market for these securities and bolster their price. C. F. Childs' Comment. C. F. Childs & Co., of Chicago, spe cialists in Government bonds, make no bones about It. They say: "Bankers now feel that Congress will recognize its moral obligation to provide some form of satisfactory pro tection for the outstanding 2s in the * nature of ultimate retirement in cash. ,* This, of course. Is entirely dependent upon the possibility of the present pro posed currency bill being enacted. Should a prolonged debate or a pro nounced opposition or a radical change in the bill result, we may expect a revival of the uncertainty respecting the future course of the market. “The recovery In prices In a large • measure also has been helped by the ./ ruling of the Secretary of the Treas ury respecting his distribution of . about $50,000,000 Government deposits whereby he requires 10 per cent of the deposit must be secured by Govern ment bonds. Although banks in gen eral have evidenced a preference to borrow the necessary bonds for this purpose ot the customary rental of 2 per cent per annum, few have suc ceeded. It Is, therefore, likely that any increased demand to purchase bonds will contribute temporarily to still higher quotations during the nex; 30 days, although too much depends upon Congressional action with ref erence to the currency bill to permit of even a hazardous prophecy for a longer period." Georgia Stale College of Agriculture. Southern Railroads Moving Much Grain Wheat Exports Through Galveston Large, but Com Figures Are Smaller Than in 1912. NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 30.—Rail roads leading to Galveston and New Orleans have had a most active pe riod of grain trade In which wheat has figured largely. For the year ending July 31, John H Upschulte, chief grain inspector of Galveston. Texas, renorts 13,019,884 bushels of wheat if handled there, of which 1,776,800 bushels were received during July. >' T h e corn inspection for the year was only 197,223 bushels, and Kaffir corn 439 446 bushels. Last year's Septem ber and October trade ran little under 1 000 000 bushels a month and there were six months out of the twelve In which Galveston handled between 1,- , Oil' 1 00(1 and 2,000,000 bushels of wheat. ' A factor in moving grain freights ' to the seaboard Is the backwardness nf European harvests. Rains have delayed field work in Scotland, on the continent and in large parts of Rus- 31 The result Is a fight movement to norts a delay in threshing and an urgent demand for dry wheat fit for milling purposes such as the dry July !n America as well as the dry August furnished to our growers of winter "’iulv exports of wheat and flour as wheat were nearly five t,imes as large 1 in Tulv 1912, at 12,607,000 bushels, compared with 2.778,000 bushels In July, 1912- As much as 100,000,000 bushels of corn could be grown on the overflow an Q iwamp lands of Georgia. One could nearly duplicate that for each t i? e Atla ntic and Gulf States of the South. Six or seven hundred mil- bushels of corn is worth while. Or course, it might be expressed in terms of cotton, potatoes, etc. The fact is that the best lands of the South are overflow and swamp lands. The swamp lands are the black belt lands In process of forma tion. How long ago we do not know, but sometime quite a way back all the black soil region of the South was a big swamp. Either it was humped up and drained itself by some internal Impetus of the world, or It continued to All up with its own veg etation and the wash from higher lands till it became tillable. It is neither necessary for man to wait nature’s process of filling up the swamps nor an earthquake to elevate it. He can dig and drain, occupy, plant and gather the fat of the land. In Florida the era of the canal diggers is well on its way. The water Cyprus, the bullfrogs, the water moc casin snakes, the malarial mosquitoes with all the dismal sounds and sights which they suggest, give way to the industrious chug of the steam shovel nosing into the soo-o-y 'soil, channel ing a canal, drawing off of the brack ish stagnation, the letting In of sun light and life, the upturning of th^* muck, the planting and wonderful reaping. “Look Before You Buy.* By way of a slight diversion. It may be here suggested that before you buy of the Florida land agent, take a look. Sometimes the canals that are supposed to do the draining of the particular land now on the market—when the canal is due-—does not serve the purpose. An invest ment in swamps, mosquitoes, snakes, etc., does not pay, as a rule. Not only are there great opportu nities In drained swamp lands, but great things are possible In the re clamation of lands which were once the glory of the South for big yields. Along the valleys of the Piedmont region, as well as on the prairies of the coastal plain, you will find trust worthy citizens who can tell you when great crops were being raised where now the water flags and frogs are luxuriating. These are the overflow lands. These were once the rich al luvial bottom lands now lost to pro duction. Why? Because of the wash from above. Look upon the gullies of the red hills of the Piedmont region’ There is the answer. Look at the bare lands in the winter with no cover crop to check the leach and erosion! Ivook at the absence of terraces :>r the carelessness with which, they are maintained! Look at the carelessness of landowners In permitting the streams to become clogged with de bris! South Must Pav by Ditching. Now the South must pay for these mistakes by ditching. Fortunately the South can pay for its mistakes and get for the payment the richest land of which it can boast. It is not often that one can recoup losses with so great a success. But why has the South not been ditching and draining its overflow lands, and why is it not taking pos session again of its best lands which it has beeit compelled to abandon and retire to the hills? The reason is that it is too big a Job for single farmers. If it were only the ditch ing and draining of his own farm, that wmuld not be too much; but draining one farm, If that farm does not extend from the source to the mouth of the stream w r hich has been consuming land, is not practical. If the farmer next below' does not also ditch and dig the right depth, the first farmer might as well have saved his money. If all of the farm ers along the stream do not ditch in exactly the right way the reclamation work will soon be lost. Thus it wili be seen that reclaim ing overflowed land, is a stream-long and watershed wide proposition. If the farmers are going to succeed in winning again their best land, they will have to co-operate, employ an engineer, put an efficient contractor to work to follow engineer’s sur vey and recommendations. Government Offers Engineer. During the last two years a great deal of interest has been taken, espe cially in the Piedmont region, In drainage and reclamation. The move ment has Just started and promises to assume large proportions. With adequate State financial assistance, these enterprises would have gone ahead much more rapidly. As it is the initiation is slow because the farmers must educate themselves to it and agree with each other over an area of many square miles in places and raise money by prorating before anything can be started. With a better appreciation of the vast public good that will follow, the Federal Government has provided that wherever a body of farmers will meet the expense of a survey, that an en gineer will be furnished, the expense being that which Is over and above the salary of the engineer. This, of course, is an attractive offer and is eagerly appropriated by the farmers. As a direct result of drainage en terprises, alnds which heretofore could have been purchased for a nominal sum, perhaps from $5 to $10 per acre, are now being sold as high as $200 per acre, and they are worth It. It is a plain financial proposition, that if drained land is worth, say from $50 to $100 per acre, and it costs only a fraction of that amount to ef fect the drainage of it, the sum de pending upon how many acres are drained and the size bf the channe*— that an inviting field for investment is afforded. If overflow lands could be optioned at their present values, they could be drained and sold In many Instances before the option time expires, netting the drainage company all of the in crease in the value of the land. Overflow Land Different. This very thing is being done in swamp lands by promoting compa nies whose actual capital tied up nev er becomes very much. The only rea son’that it is being done in swamp lands is that the swamp lands are owned by very few people and can be easily obtained, while the over flow land has numerous holders, all of whom have to be lined up to a fair basis before the enterprise can be financed. In many places, however, overflow lands can be handled suc cessfully In thisf way. The co-operative undertakings wherein the farmers affected join in the expense, a system of bonding the land to be improved at so much per acre, these bonds to carry as low a rate of interest as possible, with tne land itself backing it with a mort gage, has been successfully worked. Of course, before any financier will put up the money he must first know how much will be required to improve the land, whether or not the scheme is plausible and whether or not the land is to be sufficiently enhanced to make the security attractive for the money to be advanced Therefore, before the farmers can carry their proposition to a banker they must first obtain the services of an engineer, whose report will nm only estimate the cost of drainage, but will approximate the resultant value to the land. The services of such an engineer can be obtained free of salary, from the Government. Ills living expense, materials and assist ance must be met by the co-operating farmers. Cash Outlay Is Small. The actual outlay of cash on the part of the co-operating farmers, therefore, need not bo large to meet the cost of the survey. After the ex penses of ditching and draining should be met by the bonds. Ditching a deeper and better bed for a stream will not mean a permanent improvement of the adjoining land, if care is not taken to check erosion or the flowing sand and gravel from the slopes of the watershed with every rain. To keep the channel from filling up again in a short time, there must be well kept terraces on the slopes, each terrace constructed on a water level and War enough to each other to prevent an accumulation of water that would break over and cause a wash. « Supplementing the terraces should be the winter cover crop of oats, wheat, rye, clover, vetch or some oth er suitable kind. These will serve to catch the rainfall, turn It downward into the soil and hold by its roots a large amount of moisture which oth erwise would serve only to leech away the fertility of the land. Permanent hillside pastures would afford a happy solution of the ero sion problem, as well as^ a means for a live stock business. No better per manent pasture can be found in a greater part of the South than Ber muda grass, and none is so well adapt ed to worn-out gullied lands which are the cause of the choking and fill ing up of the streams. How to Save Waste Land. The grass will grow Qn most any soil, as will Japanese clover, which grows wild in the South. Sowing Bermuda on the land and filling the gullies with the scrub pine which has sprung up on the land will not only check the wash, but start the waste land toward reclamation. The drop pings of the cattle in pasture will eventually bring the land back to a cultivatable state. Bermuda pasture will put on one and a half pound of flesh a day on tick-free and fairly good types of beef cattle, as has been demonstrated at the Georgia State College of Agri culture. When it Is considered that the pas ture which is doing this Is land which was gullied and long since abandoned for agricultural purposes, and when, in addition it is considered that the hitherto worthless land is now cred ited with $1.50 per month pasture for each head of cattle, It can be under stood how easy and profitable it be comes to reclaim gullied land and check erosion. A pound of beef pro duced at 1 1-2 cents per day will sell at from 6 cents up on the hoof. It’s a good argument for stopping the wash and waste of land. Penalty for Neglect Urged. The public welfare demanding it very certainly, and the washing of land being for the most part both preventable and profitable, there ought to be a law to compel reasonable pre cautions in this regard. County en gineers should survey terraces, and farmers should be required to con struct them, or else put their slope- lands down to permanent pasture. Where gullies exist they should be filled with brush, and it should be an indictable offense to permit new ones to be formed. This is no trivial matter. It con cerns slow death and destruction of a vast acreage of faim lands in the South. -The State of Georgia alond is many million dollars poorer to-day for the sands that have been creep ing down from the slopes. It will spend many millions of dol lars to lecover its submerged fertil ity, not to mention its denuded fer tility of the uplands, and when these millions have been spent they also will be lost in time, If a right policy of agriculture is not pursued on the higher lands. This right policy prob ably will never become effective with out law. Enemies of High Prices Count on Heavy Early Movement, Which Fails to Develop. Big Building Pays Savings Institution People Judge the Size and Prosperity of a Bank by the Home It Boasts. ELEVEN-CENT COTTON FOR OCTOBER DELIVERY I NEW YORK, Aug. SO.—Spinners who made contracts for delivery of vams to hosiery and underwear mill, at the 11-cent basis are said to be confining themselves for delivery this side of November 1. There is not much disposition to hazard terms beyond that date. The maturing crop is still uncertain, and they may easily lose before that. It does not appear that the yarn contracts have a tariff schedule con- .tlngency. but that the mills as buy ers or sellers of yarns are preferring leave months after November 1 tree And there is In that very fact ,eod deal of speculative risk In- The knitting industry may be facing a boom wher somemills are nov v running day and night. NEW YORK, Aug. 30.—It pays to build a good savings bank building in a prominent place as a means of impressing the depositing population with the character and standing of the institution, says a prominent New York official. A board of directors recently reviewed the questions and agreed that the policy which its pres ident opposed ten yeas ago—of put ting $300,000 into a bank building on a leading New York street corner—wa« one of the best investments they ever made. The bank was in a populous dis trict, and the people judged the in stitution’s prosperity by the size, dig nity and attractiveness within and without the building itself, rather than by any financial statement. Immediately after the new building was opened the deposits began to run up rapidly and have kept going ever since in impressive fashion. INDIAN COTTON SLUMPS IN GRADE SECOND YEAR The Times of India has some in teresting comments on the recent deputation from the International Cotton Federation to Lord Crewe. It is true that in several parts of the country there has been distinct suc cess in producing cotton of an im proved staple, and the Bombay mill owners have shown themselves readv to take as much of this as they could get. The trouble is that in the second year of cultivation there is a marked tendency to fall back to the low< r grade; this is not confined to a par ticular case or even to one part of the country. The question is whether such de terioration is inevitable, and “the cot ton trade” says that It is not. attrib uting it to “an alleged erroneous wav of selecting seed from one year’s crop for sowing the next crop.” Arkansas Diamond 1 Gulf and Lakes Nov/ Fields Developed Total of 1,375 Stones, Weighing 550 Carats, Found Since August 1, 1906. Diamonds were first discovered in Arkansas August 1, 1906, near the mouth of Prairie Creek, in the vicinity of Murfreesboro, Pike County, and since that time approximately 1,375 stones, aggregating 550 carats, are re ported to have been found in this lo cality. The diamonds in Arkansan occur in a rock known as peridotite, and for this reason search for further areas of the rock has been made. This search has resulted in the finding of three new areas, the known ex tent of which is much smaller than that near Murfreesboro. They lie within an area of one square mile, about three miles from Murfreesboro. The Kimberlite Diamond Mining and Washing Company Is erecting at Kimberley a plant to wasli the dia mond-bearing earth to be hauled on a tramway from its peridotite area and from another tract near the mouth of Prairie Creek. Four diamonds of good quality are said to have been picked up on the surface, the largest weighing 5 carats. Further develop ment work to ascertain the extent of the peridotite Is now under way. On another tract, where a little washing lor diamonds has been done in a crude way without machinery, 20 diamonds have been recovered Crowd Coast Exports NEW ORLEANS. Aug. 3#.—Quite unexpected by the majority of traders in this market, a squeeze of consid erable' proportions has developed in the August position, which sold Wed nesday as high as 13.76, although middling spot cotton was officially quoted at only 12 3-16. The short lntere.^ in August does not appear to be very large, but speculators who had the temerity to remain short of that month until the actual -cotton was demanded have been punished severely. These August shorts probably counted on a heavy early movement depressing the price of August con tracts, but the development of drouth conditions in Texas and Oklahoma caused such an active demand for ne*v receipts in that section of the belt that practically no new cotton has come to tins market for delivery on contract. , Warten Misses Chance. The sensational advance in August after the fiasco in the July deal, which was abandoned by Henry Warten. the Alabama operator, has caused con- .sidemble comment here. Friends of the Athene man expressed their re gret that he had not attempted to bull the August position, which would have yielded him greater returns in the way of profits than did his opera tions in the July option. Any strong, aggressive interest in August could have forced that month to 15 cents, as the amount of certified cotton in the local stock is very small, and It is now too late to bring cotton ' here j from the interior for delivery on con tract, even if the class of cotton need ed for tender purposes were available in the country. One advance has followed another in the market this week, and shorts have been severely pounded in the new crop months, as well as in Au gust. Reports of severe deterioration in the condition of the crop in Texas and Oklahoma have been coming in from reliable sources, foreshadowing a very bullish Government report September 2. Deterioration also is reported in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In Alabama the crop has deteriorated on account of d:\ $th. while in Louisiana and Mississippi the principal damage has been caused by the boll weevil. The market, having advanced above the level of 12 cents, has paused to see how the trade will accept the I higher scale of values. The demand lot ally for actual cotton, except for immediate delivery on contract, is not | very keen, but it is thought that the | bureau report will have the effect of j stimulating the spinners into buying more freely. Triple Holiday. This market, as well as New York, was closed Saturday and will be Mon day, on account of Labor Day. With three days of holiday on a stretch, with a bureau report following, the market Mhows a disposition to even up commitments and await further developments in the situation. Sentiment now is as bullish as r formerly was bearish, and any furthei setback to the crop, either in the Eastern or Central belt, probablji j would start a bull campaign of con siderable magnitude, unless legisla tion should prevent. ey Hiller, a stockholder, had the very bad taste to ask J. P. Mor gan, one of the directors of the road, how much he charged the company for organizing the syndi cate to guarantee the new issue of $67,000,000 bonds at par. Such a question was unprecedented in New Haven meetinas. It shows that in tf is new era of puoucity any stockholder is likely at any time to ask impertinent and rude ques tions about matters hitherto consid ered purely private and personal matters by high finance, into which no stockholder has any right to intrude. REPORT 171! Mr. Morgan replied promptly and - 'y. Hi politely. He explained that “the conditions of the security market were very bad.” Bonds were hard to sell. When the issue was pro posed a few weeks ago he under took to organize a syndicate to guarantee that any of the bonds not taken by the stockholders at par would be taken by a Wall street syndicate at 98. For his services he charged 1*2 per cent on the en tire issue; that is to say, $335,000. The underwriting syndicate get3 $1,340,000 more for its services. In the meantime the 6 per cent bonds are recognized as a prime invest ment ana are eagerly bought by the ublic at 106 to 107,*' although the onds are not vet issued. e Mr. Morgan will not have to take any of the bonds; the syndicate will not take any. The risk taken in this case was negligible. If the bonds had been offered to the pub lic they would have been eagerly taken at a premium. The New Ha ven road would have received $5,- 000.000 or $6,000,000 more than it will now receive. The large profit of the issue now goes to Mr. Mor gan and the syndicate. Mr. Mor gan is a director and, therefore, a trustee for the ( other stockholders, but he fixes his own terms for the bond issue, nas no competition, and “does what he thinks right” for himself and the company. There is no one to say “nay,” no public au thority whose sanction and approv al is necessary, no stockholder strong enough or independent , enough to object in behalf of the other stockholders. Whenever the New ITnven Rail road or the New York Central or the Southern Railway or the Gen eral Electric Company issue new securities Mr. Morgan fixes the price absolutely and charges the companies up to 2% per cent of the entire issue f(/r doing so. Other great companies, like the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Baltimore and Ohio and some times the Pennsylvania Railroad, go to Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Mr. Mor gan never interferes with the Kuhn Loeb companies, and Mr. Schiff and Mr. Kuhn, of Kuhn, Lo©b & Co^ are much too polito ever to bid for any issue of any company of which Mr. Morgan has the monopoly in Wall Street. The National City Bank has its own list of clients and also always co-operates, but never competes with the two private banking firms. ALL THIS IS PERFECTLY REGULAR AND LEGAL. It has been the rule since railroad financ ing began as a purely private, in dividual enterprise. It used to be nobody's business what private terms bankers made with railroad promoters for the issue of new se curities. BUT TIMES HAVE CHANGEO. Iron Stocks Lower Because of Sales Chicago and Cincinnati Take Good Orders and Home Business Picks Up. Entire Atlantic Seaboard Controls but 56 Per Cent of the Total, * Says U. 8. Report. BIG RICE EXPORT DEAL MEETS SUDDEN SETBACK BEAUMONT, TEXAS, Aug, 30.—At a meeting of the board of directors of the Southern Ri‘ e Growers’ Asso ciation and representatives nf the Louisiana State Rice Milling Compa- nv, the contract hetween the associa tion and the milling company, pro viding for the export of 20 per cent of the rice crop of 1913, was by mu tual consent canceled, because of the failure of the rice farmers of Louis iana. Texas and Arkansas to furnish the rice for export under the contract. WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.—Gulf apd Great Lake ports In the United States are rapidly pushing the Atlantic coast ports to the background in the matter of volume of export and im port trade, according to a statement from the Bureau of Foreign and Do mestic Commerce. In 1900 the Atlantic ports controlled 69 per cent of the export trade and In 1913 only 55 per cent. In 1900 im port trade in the Atlantic ports was 81 per cent and in 1913 76 per cent. The percentage of differences had gone to the Gulf and Great Lake ports. BIRMINGHAM, ALA.. Aug. 30.— Further sales of pig iron were mad) during the week, though the aggregate was not large. There is further re duction of accumulations, and if the movement keeps up, which appears to be a certainty, there will be but little iron on the yards of the furnaeu and warrant companies by the end of the year. There is a large amount being shipped to Cincinnati, Chicago ■ and other Western centers. The home con sumption is picking up a little ami there is promise of a strong melt in the very near future. The quotations are firm at $11 tier ton, No. 2 Foundry, as the minimum. There is still special brand and spe- I clal analysis iron sold at premiums of $1 to $1.50 per ton, while small lots of iron, immediate delivery, sell at $11.25 to $11.50 per ton. Steel operations are active in the Birmingham district and there are in- ; dicatlons that the industry is going | to be active right along, not only through the year but into next spring I All shapes of steel appear to be in de- I mand. Charcoal iron is quoted between 5-- The Pennsylvania, the New York Central and the New Haven Rail roads are now public institutions. The Pennsylvania is owned by 85,- 000 stockholders. The issue of new securities affects the public inter ests, involves questions of rates, taxes and practices SUBJECT TO THE CONTROL OR SUPERVI SION OF THE GOVERNMENT, through the Interstate Comemrce Commission. The evolution from the old era of addition, division and silence—of private privilege in corporate finance and banking—to the new era of publicity and public regula tion is shockinq to many high finan- “ir. Mi ciers, but Mr. Morgan, by fiis frank and polite response to the imperti nent, radical stockholder, Mr. Hiller, in the New Haven meeting showed that ho is of the new and younger generation and that, as'the world moves, he moves with it. It is a hopeful sign. Credit Man Answers Discount Grabbers FLORIDA CONCERN STARTS ELABORATE ROPE FACTORY ! and $24.50 per ton | i ST. JAMES CITY, FLA., Aug. 30.— The Sisal Hemp and Development Company has completed its 80-spin dle mill, driven by steam and electric power, with a ten-hour capacity of six tons of rope and twine. It has also completed a machine shop and tar plant for tarring the lath yarn manufactured. Both manila and sis i! hemp are beinp- used, most of the sisal being Imported from Nassau and the manila coming from the Philippine Islands. The company is proceeding rapidly with its hemp planting, and proposes to grow it in sufficient quantities to meet its factory consumption. About 100 men and women are now em ployed in the sisal fields and the mill. Granger' Roads Hit By Drouth in West Rail Lines No Longer Entirely De pendent on Crops for Their Earnings. PENNSYLVANIA'S STRONG BANK The Financier’s roll of honor jf national banks of the country is head ed by the First National of Union- town. Pa. f which has a capital <,f $100,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $1,526,420. The National Deposit Bank of Brownsville. Pa., is second with a capital of $50,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $547,- 549. Of the first ten banks seven aie Pennsylvania institutions. The railToad shares affected most by deterioration of corn and other crops have been sol^ rather more freely than others. There are no longer any roads which depend almost wholly on the crops for freight, as was the case twenty-five years ago with the four “grangers.” St. Paul, Burlington. Rock Island and Northwestern, hut agricultural products still constitute a considerable percentage of the freight of these and other railways. Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Mis souri and North Dakota seem to be j the States hit by the drouth. The geographical position of Atchl- ; son and Rock Island should make j them particularly sensitive to the pre- I dictions of the private crop experts I Northern Pacific, Great Northern, St. Paul, Northwestern and Missouri Pacific also have large mileage within the area where the rainfall has been below normal. Has Excellent Letter for Those Who Try to Get Deductions After Date Specified. A credit man who has established something of a reputation for his po lite but effective handling of troubl some debtors has evolved a form let ter which Is attracting no little at tention. The letter is for use in connection with those customers who seek to take advantage of discounts after the ex piration of the discount period, par ticularly upon the plea that the ship ment of goods was in transit beyond the discount, period. The credit man puts his argument as follows: “If the purchasing house is the re cipient of the confidence of the selling house, there is no good reason why re ciprocal confidence should not be granted by the buyer, In the belief that any error in the execution of the order will be promptly corrected after being adjusted. “We firmly believe that there is no justification in varying discount term* on the ground that the time required for shipment exceeded the discount period, or for any other reason. If the purchaser believes that he should he entitled to delay remittances for invoices until the goods are received, this should have been made clear at the time of entering Into the contract and either agreed to or declined by the selling house. “We take the liberty, therefore, of returning vour check, believing that you will concur in our ideas upon this subject and mail us a check for the full amount of the invoice.” Oklahoma and Texas Will Yield Five Million Bales or Less, Is Trade's Opinion. Prices for 1913 Pack Opened Monday—Jobbers Clean Up Business by Week-End. MEMPHIS, Ang. 30.—Reduced ideas of the aize of the cotton crop arc in vogue since so much confirmation of losses has developed, although esti mates n.s to the number of bales still are vague. One feature of the past week in the market has been the sev eral private condition reports, the av erage reduction shown compared with a month ago being 9 to 10 points. At first there was a disposition to re gard such estimates as extreqie, but the trade at last has come to the opinion that all of them hardly can be so far amiss. Usually the Gov ernment report comes very close co the average of the private figures, which should mean a report next Tuesday around 70. This would com pare with 79.6 a month ago, 74.6 a year ago and a ten-year average of 74.7. The condition of the crop August 25, 1911, was given by the official guessers as 73.2, yet the crop turned out over 16,000,000 bales, which leads the traders who are favorably dis posed to the bear side to contend that there is time yet for the crop to turn out better than to warrant the recent high prices. However, conditions in 1911 w'ere abnormally good during the latter part of August and through the entire month of September, and there has been a suspicion since that time that the Government made a “miscue” In putting its September report so low. Losses Unimpeded. There has been no cessation during the week to the deterioration in Tex as and Oklahoma, and. the chief source of concern to the spinning world has come from that Plenty of people now think that the crop 1a those States will not go to 5,000,000 bales, and some set their expectations even lower. There have been no rains of consequence and tempera tures have been high, the maximum average for Oklahoma Tuesday hav ing been 106 degrees. It is believed that rains right away would do some good, though for such rains to help much, there also must be late frost and good maturing weather. There has been some further le- terioratlon in sections of the central belt during the week, though it has not been important, most of the loss In condition having taken place ear lier in the month. It still looks as if this district will have the largest crop In the belt. The feeling continues that the east ern belt is going to come up with a large yield, provided there is some more rain and the frost is not too early. Picking soon will be in full sway over the greater part of the belt, and new bales no longer are a novelty. There is nothing to hinder rapid prog. re»s, and labor is reported ample in every direction. Spot Situation Indefinite. The spot situation is not well enough defined to allow many positive statements, though the outlook is for good demand from the start. Forward commitments on the part of buyers and middlemen are moderate, as the spinners have been lullefl into a feel ing of security by the belief that the crop was going to be large. There hns been evidence, however, during the past week of a changed view of the situation, for much of the help toward 12 cents and better for fu ture's has come from the consumers. The local buyers report that they have been getting numerous inquiries from the domestig spinners, chiefly those in New England, and that it will be necessary for the Easterners to buy very soon If they are going to run their mills. There has been no evidence in Texas, where receipts have been fairly heavy, of cotton ^o- Ing begging, and,quotations have been advanced until middling Is quoted at 12 cents or better at all the chief cen ters. Money conditions are not expect »u to be abnormal, and there will not be any occasion for more urgent sell ing than is usually the case. With prices up to present levels, however, the chances favor free marketing. Chinese Knit Goods Shipped To America Customers All Orientals—Products of American Machinery and Yarns Are Preferred. The export of Chinese-made knit garments (made in Hongkong of American cotton yarn) to the United States, is the latest development of Hongkong-American trade, according to Consul General G. E. Anderson. The export of these garments is made al most entirely for the use of Chinese in the United States, but it has grown to considerable volume and Hong kong factories are paying considerable attention to the trade. One factory reports that almost half of Us entire output is now being exported to the United States. The growth of the knitting factory Industry In Hongkong is of decided significance in the clothing and cotton trade of this part of the world. The factories have been developed almost entirely within the last three years. The chief factory in some respects Is a foreign concern known as the Wei San Knitting and Spinning Company, which has been in existence seven years and has a daily capacity of 100 to 120 dozen sweaters or pieces of un derwear. This factory employs about 125 people, mostly girls and young men, whose wages run from 48 cent.: to $4.40 gold a week, the greater num ber earning about $1 gold a week. All of them use American knitting cottons almost exclusively, claiming that the American yarn runs better in the machines and otherwise suits their needs. PITTSBURG BOND PLAN FAIL3. PITTSBURG, Aug. 27.—City Comp troller Morrow’ has admitted his plan to sell city bonds to the people has fallen through, the issue of $150,000 > for street improvement going in all probability in a lump sum to the Un ion Trust Company. Offers from the people amounted to only $35,000. n’ “Salmon week” ended Saturday. At lanta jobbers bought from Wednesday through Saturday practically all of the 60,000 oases of the succulent canned fish which the city and its jobbing territory uses annually. The modern salmon trade, from the time when the fish are caught in the cold rivers of the Northwest to the time when the goods are delivered, presents one of the romances of the business world. \V. M. Burke, of H. 11 Whitcomb & Burke Co., Atlanta’s foremost grocery brokers, gives an In-, teresting account of the trade—a line in which a year’s business is done in tw’o or three days. “We represent Libby, McNeill & Libby,” sa> s Mr. Burke. “Other firms represent other packing ho ises. The competition for this business is keen er than in almost any other line. By concerted plan, prices for the year s pack of salmon are announced on a certain day, usually during the third week of August. This year we re ceived telegrams August 23 quoting prices. Orders In Advance. “We had orders for thousands of cases, subject to these quotation?, from dealers who wanted Libby quali ty and prestige. But most of the Job bers wait to learn the figures quoted by the competing packers. When the price is announced, there is a scram ble. The whole year’s business is do^e in a couple of days. The job bers know Just about what they will need for the year, and usually buy, though some wait to see if there is to be a decline. Others do not buy enough, and have to supplement their orders later on. But of the 60,000 cases of 4 8 one-pound or half-pound ich I woiild estimate that 60,000 are sold during the few rush days of August.” AM the Libby salmon is canned lp Alaska. The fish, caught in almow» every kind of net known and with fish wheels, are brought to buying stations along the rivers. Thence thdy go by fast power boats to the can neries. Machinery cleans and skins the fish, slices it, puts it in cans, seals the cans and cooks the flsh by steam heat. The cans, the labels, the boxes and even the nails for the boxes are taken 'to Alaska when the season begins, and when it is over the steamers re turn with the goods ready for Im mediate shipment. Only Salt Added. Nothing Is added to the fish except a quarter ounce of salt for each pound of flsh. There is no more sanitary food product than canned salmon. As to food value it ranks high. United States Government statistics give canned salmon a food value of .218 as compared to sirloin steak .165, ham .142. macaroni .134, eggs .131, chicken .120 and white bread .090. The Whitcomb-Burke Company has received notice that the Atlantic-Pa- citlc Steam shin Company will run three steamships from the Pacific • to B&vsnn h and Charleston, principally far the accommodation of the salmon trade. One boat leaves pan Francisco early in October, one in November and one ne;;r the end of December. Rates for salmon will be 60 cents per 100 pounds in carload lots and 95 cents per 100 pounds on smaller quantities. Groat Growth Made By Paint Industry Value of Products Rises Sixfold In Forty Years. Increasing 79.6 Per Cent In Decade. ■WASHINGTON. Atift 39.—Statis tics of the nairt cnrl varnish Indus try in the United States for 1909 are nresented in detnil In a bulletin soon to he issued by the Bureau of the Census. Tiie value of products increased f r,r, 327.187. or 79 5 per cent, during the decade 1899-1999. heintr almost six times as preat. In 1909 as in 1869. \v v York rank d first at the oen- sir-e.s of 1999 and 1904 in average numher nf 'vac; • earners, value of products, and value added by manu facture. In average numher of wage oamers, Pennsylvania held second place at both censuses, but in value ..f products and value added by man ufacture Illinois was second. The cost of all materials u«ed in the combined industry was $79,016,000 in 1909, $59,827,000 In 1904, and $44.- 739 000 in is to, the increase for the decade 1S99-1909 being 76.6 per cent. The quantity of pig lead used in the manufacture of paint and varnish In all establishments increased 51.6 per cert during the decade 1899-1909; that of wood alcohol 327.6 per cent and that of grain alcohol, 354.9 per cent. Grain alcohol formed approxi- tnalelv one-flftli of the total quantity of alcohol used in the manufacture of paint and varnish in 1909 and 1899, but a considerably smaller proportion in 1904. COPPER SHARES ADVANCE AS METAL GOES UP BOSTON. Aug. 30.—In a period of a little over two months there has been an appreciation of over $102 - 900,000 In the market value of 33 representative Boston copper shares. Low prices for the year were made about the middle of June, when cop per the motal was to be had at 14 7-8 cents. Since the upward movement in copper shares started, the metal has advanced to 15 7-81?' 16 centa. The shares of the Lake Superior companies have advanced despite the closing down of all the mines In that district, many at present prices show ing advances of from 6 to 10 points from the 1913 low. NOTES OVERSUBSCRIBED. A London special says: Canadian Northern offering of notes was over subscribed. The issue was 1,600,009 pounds in five-year 6 per cent notes, and was offered at 9$ There is evi- | dently a good public appetite for 5 1-2 j por cent yielding securities. I