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12 D TTEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, OA., SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 7, 1013. News and Views by Experts of Finance, Industry, Crops and Commerce PRICE EXPECTS Great Demand for Agricultural Brains; Many Openings at Attractive Salaries Agricultural Education Pays on Farm; Farm Demonstration Agents, for Agricultural High Schools, for United States Bureau of Agri culture, for Agricultural Propaganda of Railroads. — By CHARLES A. WHITTLE. Georgia Ktate College of Agriculture. r c ; Drouth Eliminates Top Bolls, He Says—State Still Sits in Favored Position. By M. A. ROSE. Two million bales will be the total ' of Georgia's crop for the 1913-1014 cotton year. Three weeks ago it looked ns if! Georgia might produce 2,500,000 bales. J. D. Price, Commissioner of Agri culture, Is responsible for the esti- 1 mate. He has revised his earlier opinion of the crop, has scaled down \ his estimate, admits he feels "blue " This is a surprise. The Govern ment report of condition as of August I 25 show ed Georgia with a crop 701 per cent of normal. More, it lndl- ! rated that, contrary to the usual or der of things, the month had brought no deterioration. August Is almost bound to cost cot ton several points in condition, points which can not be regained. Georgia seemed to he "standing pat." So there was considerable gloating while the gloating was good Drouth, says Mr. Price, Is the fac tor which has cost the State a half million hales of cotton. "My desk Is stacked with letters, every one of them bringing complaint from North. Northeast and Central Georgia that the squares which were to have made the top crop are fall ing off. Plant Is Beautiful. "Some letters put the damage as high as 25 per cent. From South Georgia comes the commenl that while the plant Is beautiful and thrif ty, close Inspection reveals a paucity of bolls, while It is evident the cotton is three weeks late. "Worst of all, the damage Is done. Hain now' can not replace the fallen bolls, nor can It bring new blooms to fruit at this date. "The most It can do Is prevent premature opening, which has been one trouble this season." Georgia’s crop last year was 1,888,- 000 bales. A crop of 2.000,000 bales is not to be hold in contempt The gain of 112,000 bales means $7,000,000 gain in money for Georgia, with 13-cent cotton Thlrteen-ccnt cotton seems assured some radicals look for 15 cents as not an Improbable price for middling. If Mr. Price’* assumption that the top crop is gone proves correct, the date of frost* matters not at all. Put if Mr. Pries is mistaken, as. of course, he may be, the date of frost will be all-important. The average date of killing frost in the vicinity of Atlanta Is November 5 The earliest killing frost recorded \vi«- October 11, this being in 1906. The latest deferred serious frost was No vember 29. 1889. Last .ear frost was ahead of the average by two days. Tn 1911 It fell on November 13; the year before on October 29 Weather Man Cautious. The weather man is cautious, very cautious, Indeed, about forecasting. He will go so far as to say that the chances favor a frost date this year somewhat later than the average. If there’s any top crop left, the chances then are that the weather man will allow it to open. And tha«’s encouraging. This is not to be taken as a gloom column. Suppose, just for tne sake of making it emphatic, that Georgia through some impossible ill luck, raised no more cotton this year than last year—1.888.000 bales. Even then she will have a better crop in propor tion than Texas or Oklahoma. She will, by latest indications, have a bet ter crop in proportion than Missis sippi or Alabama. Louisiana no long er is a factor to be considered. Georgia has made the crop at less expense than ever before was believed possible. There will be no 10.000.000 hales this year—probably not even 15,000,000. lome say not 14,000.000. Nine-tenths of the trade believes the present high prices conservative —It’s a bull year. So things look good for Georgia. $293,000 Steel Bonds Withdrawn by Lot Clerk Takes 293 Number* from Hogshead Containing 186,000 Disks—Winners Get Premium. NEW YORK. Sept. 6.—By drawing 293 numbers out of a large mahogany hogshead containing 186,000 enumer ated celluloid disks, employees of J. P. Morgan A- Co. have withdrawn by lot $293,000 United Staten Steel Go* poration 6 per cent sinking fund bonds for redemption November l There are $186,000,000 of these bonds in the hands of the public. The securities drawn will be redeemed at par and a 10 per cent premium, so that the owners of the securities will anxiously await announcement of the lucky numbers Redemption of the bonds is being made out of the accumulated inten n on $13,000,000 of the -<ecurltles which were purchased from time to time In the open market It Is estimated that the rapid in crease in the annual amount In the company’s sinking funds due to ac cumulation of interest will enable the redemption of all the bonds thirteen years before their maturity In 1963. COPPER SHARES ADVANCE AS META’ GOES UP BOSTON, 8ept. 6.—In a period of • lb tie over two months there ha** been an appreciation of over $102 - 900.000 In the market value of 32 representative Boston copper shares Low prices for the year were made about the middle of June, when cop per the metal was to be had at 14 7-8 tents Since the upward movement In copper shares started, the metal has advanced. The share* of the Lake Superior ompanies ha\ e advanced despite the losing down of all the mines in that ’district. Back to the farm with your brains! Brains will pay well on the farm, especially If they have been trained in things agricultural. At this season of the year the sons of the farm arc preparing to dll th • halls of learning and get brain power Many of them have no definite idea of what they are going to do when they have completed their courses. Oth< rs have a notion that If they get an edu cation they must forsooth turn to other occupations than farming. Most of both classes may find that, after futile efforts to struggle up Into place in the fiercely competitive commer cial world, their hearts pine for the farm land, and they would return to It for that longed for Independ ence, wholesomeness and inbred in stinct for husbandry. But with all their getting they have failed to get agricultural knowledge, and to return to the farm Is to drop Into the ruts of time-worn and profitless ways. It’s a Liberal Education. The farm lad can find no education better suited to him than an agricul tural course. Since an agricultural course also means a liberal educa tion In other courses, nothing is lost In culture, or whatever the uses of a general education, by specializing upon things agricultural. Nothing will ever stand him In better atead, whatever life pursuit he may follow, whatever disaster may befall, than a knowledge of the principles of agri culture and how they can be bast applied for the greatest success. The demand for trained agricul turists Is great and growing. It wLl be an immense task for the agrietU^i tural colleges to furnish the men thw are required for the new’ farm era. j Tiie agricultural teachers are more in j demand to-day than any other kind and at better salaries, because of their { growing scarcity In consequence o$ , the great demand. No institution Is coming Into existence with such tre mendous rapidity as the agricultural high school, and nothing hinders tlrelr increase so much as lack of trained teachors. Movement Sweeps U. S. A movement which is sweeping the country from one end to the other is the farm demonstration agent move ment. The educated and trained ag riculturist can not complete his course without innumerable demands upon his 'service at excellent salaries. The Ideal farm demonstration agent, of eours *. Is the educated, college-trained agri culturist, whose scientific knowledge and general information the farmers want. Here in the South the farm demonstration agent is in great de mand. The great difficulty Is to g«t men with agricultural training, an! those in authority have to be con tent to use such mou as they can find among the farmers for inaugu rating the work. In other sections of the country the demonstrator Is a superintendent, his services are rendered to all farmers w’ho join in his employment, by ren dering advice, assisting them to adopt new methods. In a sense he is the modern efficiency engineer for tha farm. This movement of employing agri cultural specialists has only begun in this country. It is bound to assume great proportions, and as an inviting avenue of occupation for a young man on the farm, farm demonstra tion work or farm superintendency work, is very promising. The trained and scientific agricul turist is not only In demand for the schools and for demonstration work, but there Is a great demand, hard to fill, created by the Bureau of Agri culture of the United States. Ti e army of agricultural workers employ* ed by tliis bureau is large and con stantly growing. Legislation prom ises soon to be enacted that will greatly Increase the demand for this class of workers, not only for farm and laboratory work in this country, but in th** foreign dependencies. Colleges Are Increasing. The agricultural colleges with their experimental stations are increasing every year In their magnitude and in their scope of operation. These in stitutions present exceedingly attrac tive places. They an* continually on the lookout for the most promising graduates of every agricultural in stitution in the country. The sala ries which they pay ure higher than that paid in other lines of education. Railroads and large industrial con cerns have taken up the cause of ag riculture, and the demonstration farm and the trained agriculturists assist ing the farmer with advice is coming to be a work of large proportions, necessitating the employment of a large body of men These Industrial enterprises realize that it pays to invest in brains trained In agricul ture. But with nil these Incentives for agricultural courses, the young man on the farm will find that there is a very important one in addition, and that Is t lie possibilities of the old farm itself, when they arc qpened up to his vision by agricultural informa tion and training. The story of suc cess of men who have received the highest agricultural training could be told over and over. The writer has one in mind, that of a horticul turist, a teacher in a State university, who. feeling the call back to the farm, forsook his salary and attrac tive surroundings and wept into the trucking business. He never spent a year on the farm that he did not make several times more than his former college salary. But ho was too valuable a teacher to be left at the farm, and the Insistent call came till ho went hack to the college and went to the the position of dean of the State College of Agriculture of Penn sylvania. Agriculture Diversified. ^ The educated agriculturists of the Southern colleges are doing most in their farming operations in the South by growing other things than cotton. f>v applying their knowledge of live stock husbandry, of trucking, diver sified agriculture, their knowledge of crop rotation, their information about full fertility, how to supply the de ficiencies at least cost by miking their own fertilizers, by using advanced methods of marketing to get the best prices; by dairying, by raising pure bred stock, by raising rather than buying feedstuff and live stock for food and for work. Of course, there are many men who have not had the advantages of an agricultural education who have learned and are practicing with great success some lines of agriculture. These are exceptional men. They are men with progressive Ideas, men who will tell you that one of the things they would appreciate most is an ag ricultural education. None of these successful farmers stand In the way of agricultural education by their own volition. They are always its best friends. It Is always the un successful farmer who Is attempting to discount agricultural education. But there is more than euccess In any kind of vocational training to be gained. Why should not the farmer have brains, culture, refinement as much ns a man In any other call ing of life? Cultured Planter Passing. The day was when the Southern planter as a rule was as refined and cultured as anybody on earth. It is not so much so now following the devastation of the Civil War and with the departure of the slave system which made possible a life of greater luxury and refinement. Many who then received their collegiate educa tion found that they were not able to give it to their sons and too often th** sons have not felt able or in clined to ^ i vi* a collegiate education to their sons lri turn. Thus has the rural South fallen away to an ap preeiable extent from its former glory of culture and refinement. The former high status of the planter of the South In the social sys tem of the State can not now be re stored except by agricultural educa tion. The Southern States being agricul tural in resources and activities, is it not fair that Its leaders in legisla tion and civic promotion should be agriculturists? How far is It so? It can be almost literally asserted that farmers as a class are not repre sented In legislation. It Is the lawyer, the doctor and the newspaper man Who assume the political power. Why is it htat a measure affecting the welfare of the fanner is turned lightly aside In the legislature? Why, for instance, would a legislature turn down an appropriation for $2,500 in Georgia for farmers' Institutes at the very time the newspapers were re cording that as many as 41,000 farm ers had attended the institute during the summer, instltes which had been held bv the use of a similar amount asked for?W hy these and many other Inequalities falling upon the farming class at the hands of the legisla tures 0 The answer is that because the farmer is not represented In the legislative halls. The reason he Is not tehre is that he has not been edu cated and trained to meet other class es there represented and demand*and contest for his rights Legislation favorable to the farmer is, therefore, another reason for brains on the farm. South Is Reorganizing. The South is undergoing a period of reorganization of its rural life, Into which enters a serious racial prob lem. The white man’s school and church in the country the involved. Men of trained minds and large and clear vision are needed to work out In every community its local prob lems. It Is the call for brains. The agricultural South will come to be more and more co-operative in its growing, buying and marketing en terprises. To the extent the farmers ure trained and are able to conduct their business in a highly business like way, without having 1o hire brains for the purpose on the out side. the more profit there will be to the farmer. A call for brains on the farm! The days for entering college have arrived. Which college? Will the farmer make a mistake at this im portant point? Will he spoil a splen did farmer? Will he have' his sons educated away from the farm? Second Generation Of Weevils Eating Mississippi Cotton Farmers Lose Optimistic Feeling of Two Weeks Ago—Fancy Wages Offered Pickers. JACKSON, MISS.. Sept. 6. Re ports from nearly all sections of the State infested by the boll weevil in dicate* marked deterioration in cotton crop prospects, due to the industry of the second crop of weevils. The farmers who were talking with no much optimism two weeks ago concerning the fight with the weevil are looking a bit more serious, and frankly admit that the pest ia playing havoc. The new generation of weevils lias destroyed millions of blooms and squares during the past few days, and will destroy many more. Only In the northern section of the Delta an* tiie planters confident that the staple is not going to be injured to an> extent by the insects. In fields where early cotton was planted there is already a good bot tom crop made, and it can not be damaged, but prospects for a top crop look rather slim. After destroying blooms and squares the insects next attack the bolls, but the early varieties are so far advanced toward maturity that they will not be able to do much harm. However, even with a full second crop of weevils actively at work, it is still practically certain that Mis- slo ippi's cotton yield for 1913 will be larger than that of last year if the weather continues ordinarily favor able. Gin plants have started operations in many counties during the week, and picking is general in many sec tions, Fancy wages are offered negro cotton pickers. GLOVES FANCY STITCHED. Wide stitching on fall and winter gloves, in contrast to the glove color, is in demand Mi hough prices of raw materials are advancing, a manufactur er said that retail glove prices would probably not change Both long and short varieties are selling readily. SHOES IN COLORS The demand for color combinations in shoes is increasing. One of the latest examples is t gaiter boot. This shoe has a tan calf vamp, a champagne col ored sueae quarter and a Spanish-Cu- b*n heel, covered with tan calf like tiie vamp. Financial Notes * An order for 720 freight cars has been placed by the Southern Railway. In the past thirteen years the Penn sylvania Railroad has retired 7.478 men under pay. St. Louis is to have through passen ger service to the Pacific: coast over the Missouri Pacific. Denver and Rio Grande and Western Pacific New equipment for this service has been ordered. A French statistician estimates that during the holiday season tourists in Europe spend $30,000 per hour, or $160.- 000.000 a year. Riviera, Spain and Italy receive >;;OO»)Q.Ou0 in all, and Switzer land, $32,000,600. STatistics gathered by the Bureau of Labor show that machinery turns out a product ten times greater than possi ble by hand, and that tiie United States turns out twice as much machine prod uct per laborer as Europe. Total of foreign securities listed on the Paris Bourse ten years ago was $ 14.000,000,01)0. now it is $16,140,000,000. Russian securities alone, which footed up $2 200,000,000 in 1902, were $2,720,000,- 000 at the end of 1912 j American Investments in Mexico ag gregate $1,057,770,000. More titan 50.000 persons In the United States are share holders In these enterprise's. As against American investments the English have I interests nggrogating $321,202,800. the French. $143,116,000 and other foreign countries, $118.535,380. HOG BRAINS PURCHASED TO MAKE INTO MEDICINE According to an article in a Danish newspaper, a stock sompany has been formed at the city of Kolding, Den mark. which will buy from the Dan ish hog abattoirs all the brains from hogs they can produce. From these brains the cotnnany will manufacture "lecithin" and "eollestrln" for ex port to Germany and Switzerland, where they are used in the manufac ture of certain medical preparations The brains are paid for at about three cents per pound (persumablv Dutch cents, making the three cents equal 1 2-5 cents U. S. currency> and on an average it takes four brains to make one pound of the above-mentioned products. Lecithin is a fatty sub stance. while eollestrln is a dry powder something like napthallne BROADCLOTH IN DEMAND. There are rumors of an Increasing demand for broadcloths. The luster that is produced in the new lines and the popularity with which it has al ready been received, tend to convince dealers that it will be a big seller before the end of the year. Accord ing to a local wholesaler, the lateness of tin season will work especially in favor of the fabric. Window Trimming An Art Not Confined To United States Atlantan Gives His Views on the Best Modes of Displaying Mer chandise Effectively. At the window dressers’ conven tion it was said the stores of France and England presented few attrac tive window displays because of the tax formerly levied in England, and still levied in France, on the window space in all buildings. This state ment is not entirely true. Many of the Paris and London stores can boast of more window space than those in this country. One* London store has 87 windows. An expert Atlanta window trimmer says, "1 agree with the idea that the use of mirrors behind displays is det rimental to <he merchandise shown. "I think well also of the suggestion that dark window's should have light displays and light windows dark dis plays. Novelty, not freakish, displays also help, provided that they can be made attractive, entertaining and convincing. These three qualities are essential to all good window dis plays." STOCK EXCHANGE MEMBERS CHANGE WITH RAPIDITY NEW YORK, Sept. 6.—The shifting character of the membership of the Stock Exchange is well illustrated by the fact that those who have joined that body as recently as 1S95 are numbered around 275. When a member Is admitted he takes the number at the foot of the list, 1,100, and moves up as members die or older memberships are sold. There fore but 275 of the 1,100 members in 1895 are members to-day, and the memberships of the 275 date from November 20, 1857, to January 1, 1895. a period of 38 years "Number One’’ is J. H Whitehouse, still an active “two-dollar broker," who will complete his forty-sixth year of mem bership November 20. FIFTEEN CENT East Needs Little to COTTON LIKELY ^ nsure Splendid Crop T Moderate Rains and Average Frost Date Will Put Proper Climax on Year. PICTURES ON NECKTIES. In Eng’and the craze for novelty neckwear is bringing out wide four-in- hand scarfs, with waterplanes flying ever battleships, daneng girls, and bunting scenes woven at intervals on the silk. Few in New Orleans Will Admit They Believe Present Level of Prices Too High. NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 6.—A run away bull market, reminiscent of the Sully year, has kept the cotton ring of the New Orleans Dutton Exchange in constant turmoil and uproar the past week. Bullish sentiment gained headway over the Labor Day holidays, and when the market reopened Tuesday morning, buying orders on a large scale had accumulated, and their ex ecution »et prices spinning upward at once. Even before the bureau re port had come out, showing disas trous crop conditions in the western belt, with an average condition 6.5 points below the ten-year average, the market had advanced to 12 1-2 cents for December contracts. After the report was Issued short covering on an immense scale set in, and the level of 13 cents was prac tically attained Tuesday afternoon. Liverpool Seems Dismayed. Wednesday morning Liverpool was "up in the air," having taken the Government report very seriously Indeed. Professionals played for a reaction, but when the weekly weath er report was read, showing that the drouth was spreading to the central and eastern belt, another violent cov ering movement took place, and Jan uary contracts Bold as high as 13.41. From that level a recession followed as a result of heavy profit-taking m the part of longs, reports of scat tered rains in Texas also inducing some fresh short selling. With Secretary Hester’s annual crop statement, showing that the consumption of American cotton dur ing the season of 1912-13 was 14,900,- 000 bales, despite the detriment to trade on account of the Balkan war and tariff agitation, the proposition that now confronts the cotton trade is; To what level will prices go if the present crop should be closer to 13.000,0000 than to 15,000,000? The crop for Texas and Oklahoma combined now is conservatively es timated at only 4.900,000 bales, and should the deterioration now report ed from many portions of the central and eastern belt continue, the out look would be for a very small crop. Consequently, notwithstanding the sensational advance that has taken place, few of the trade here are In clined to admit that the present level of values Is high in the face of the conditions that prevail. Talk 15 Cents. In fact, there are some well-in formed cotton people who are now talking 15 cents for cotton by Janu ary 1. The spot situation, in sympathy, with the advance in futures, has strengthened, and the export demand is reviving on a large scale. Som*} of the farmers shipping to this mar ket show an inclination to hold for higher prices, and consequently the expected heavy receipts may not be such a depressing factor as some of the bears hope. All indications point to this being another bull year, and such being the case, the Southern farmer will de mand full value for an article which he knows the whole world needs. MEMPHIS, Sept. 6.—The Govern ment report on the condition of the cotton crop confirmed the most ex treme bullish expectations, and has led to a sharp revision of expecta tions of yield. The figures 68.2 of themselves would have caused reduc tion of guesses, and, besides, since the date of making up the percentage, there have been continued unfavor able conditions over a large portion of the belt. The deterioration that had gone so far has continued, and some sections, which to that time had ut tered little complaint, since have re ported considerable damage from dry weather and high temperatures. The effect of the low condition fig ures was startling. The indicated crop, taking the official basis of lint yield per acre for calculations, point ed to an outturn around 13,000,000 bales. There were many traders who thought such an amount very likely, though others recalled that two years ago the September condition report was 73.2 per cent, yet final crop fig ures were above 16,000,000. That year the crop received plenty of rains the latter part of August and early in September, bringing about a wonder ful change in prospects, while frost date was late, enabling the late growth all to mature. This year the territory where rains are needed has been widening during the latter part of August and to the present time. Much of the crop is practically past help, and general rains would do more harm than good. Oklahoma's Loss Severe. The loss in condition in Oklahoma, being given at 36 points, standing at 45 compared with 81 a month pre vious, was the most severe ever ex perienced by any State since these re ports have been issued. Texas and Arkansas also suffered severely, and all three States no doubt have gone back more during the past two weeks. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee lost more than normally for the month, though portions of those States have done very well, and have good prospects. In the weevil dis trict of Mississippi, deterioration was very heavy. All three States need rain at the present time, and with out rain will continue to show de creased prospects. The showing made by the Eastern States met expectations, and the feel ing here is that the East needs only a moderate amount of moisture from now on and a frost not too early. ATLANTA SEES American Underwear Beyond Competition Comfort, Style and Workmanship Excel Anything Foreign Makers Can Accomplish. American underwear is sold in nearly every civilized country on the globe. The comfort of short-sleeve and short- leg garments, as well as the union suit and athletic garments all of which originated here, is given as the reason for the world-wide popularity of these goods. Nearly all foreign-made sus penders are more clumsy th^n the American and none can compare with the attractiveness of styles and pat terns and rhe fineness of workmanship displayed in the* American products. The san e tnav he said of foreign-made belts. They are too bulky and few are less than two inches wide Our nar rower belts are in heavy cVmand in the hot countries, and have little competi tion. There is also little foreign com petition in garters, and practically a.l o Europe and Central an.l South America are supplied by American mak ers. In addition, the duties In those countries make it difficult for foreign dealers to compete. Our exports of umbrellas and canes have been comparatively small. and mostly to Canada and South America. The German and English makers bend wood better than we can. but on the other hand there are American houses that produce mountings that can not be duplicated. Woolworth Sales Show Big Increase Gain for July Alone $424,484, and 37 New Stores Have Been Opened This Year. NEW YORK, Sept. 6.—F. W. Wool- worth Company sales for the first seven months of 1913 increased $3,- 225,782 over the same period of 1912. Gain in Juii; alone was $424,484. These figures do not include sales by F W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd., of England, from which the American company obtains a percentage of earnings annually. While this com pany has been located In England only three or four years. It has made ex cellent progress, and to-day Its stores number 25, with four or five more to be opened before the end of the year. At present rate of business the American company ought to receive about $100,000 from the English busi ness in 1913. During the current year expansion by the American company has been even larger than during 1912, when 40 stores were opened. To date 37 new stores have been opened and 17 contracted for to be opened before the close of 1913. This places the total in operation at 668. and the 17 he opened will bring the total to 6S5. E With the opening of the Panama Canal and the development of the markets in Central and South Amer ica, Atlanta merchants and manufac turers are casting their eyes to the new field, and studying the points which may enable them to distance competitors, who at present Ignore many things they might heed with profit. A subject of complaint among merchants and importers in Central America is the failure of some busi ness houses in the United States to make prompt shipments and to exer cise care In getting off consular in voices so that they will arrive simul taneously with the goods or before them. With boats arriving once a week where the service is of the best at a Central American port, and two or more weeks apart at the smaller ports, to miss a steamer with a ship ment when the goods are confidently expected by the importer is a serious matter. If the buyer is a merchant in the interior he has probablv sent a pack train or has engaged a force of Indian cargadores to be at the port, relying upon the assurance that the goods will be shipped on a certain vessel. Delays Are Serious. Failure to ship according to instruc tions means a delay of at least a week, and in all probability two or three weeks. The houses that hold the Central American trade are the ones that are most careful about get ting their shipments off on time. Intimately connected with prompt shipments. Commercial Agent Ger- rard Harris points out in a recent re port. is the matter of having consular invoices available when the shipments arrive at their destined port. If merchandise has been sent ac cording to schedule and the consular invoice comes along a week later, the goods can not be cleared from the customs house until the invoice is at hand. The general idea is that the people of Central America are easy going, but It is an error to assume that business men there do not care for the observation of strict business methods In dealing with their ship ments. Not Considerate. A third cause of complaint against American business houses is that they are not inclined to be considerate and accommodating in small matters. As an example Is cited the experience of a business man in the interior, who gave an order of considerable size to a house soliciting the business. In addition to the goods handled by the firm to which the order was given, a request was made that there be in cluded in the shipment an article that the Central American did not know where to purchase. The firm that received the order could have bought the article and included it without any trouble, but Instead of bo doing the United States firm listed the article on the invoice and after it merely wrote, "Don't handle.” There was no explanation. Some three months afterward the traveling representative of that firm was astonished when the Central American informd him that he did not care to have any further business relations with it. Another Important factor in the sharp advance in the market was the report of Secretary Hester, of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, on what American cotton the world con sumed during the past season. He fixed the amount at 14,903,000 bales, which compared with 14,515,000 for the previous season. Trade Surprised. The trade during the past few months had made up its mind the amount would be 14,700,000 bales. The commercial crop of the season just ended was but 14,167,000 bales, so there was an actual withdrawal from reserves of about 750,000 bales. This was done with Europe involved in serious troubles, political and finan cially, and with the United States in the throes of a Presidential campaign and a change in her tariff system contemplated. The showing was re garded as remarkable, and coming with the bureau condition report, had a tendency to awaken the spinners and shorts. The spot situation is the subject of close attention, but spots did not keep pace with futures in respond ing to the changed aspect of supply and demand. The first reflection of the revised situation was naturally in the contract department, and it has been said that much of the buying came from the spinners and the spot interests. The profit-taking by the speculative crowd and those who thought the rise too rapid failed to check it much below 13 cents, though that level reported an upturn of over 250 points from the low level of about the middle of August. Spot Prices Advanced. Spot prices have been advanced, but business has not been as keen as some expected, one reason, how ever, being that offers were not press ed and holders did not care to sell until they could get a better line on values. When middling at the chief centers reached 12 3-4 cents, con tracts were somewhat above 13 cents, so many traders and spot people were disposed to put out hedges, which helped to check the rise. It was the first time in months that futures were higher than spots in the belt. Picking is general in all sections of the Central and Western belt, and it is expected the September move ment will break all records. There is no complaint anywhere of Insufficient funds. LIN. Gross Earnings Make Gain Which Is Eaten Up by the Heavy Upkeep Charges. Atlantans next season maj' have the opportunity of sampling th« latest thing In the way of food products— dried cantaloupe. Dried cantaloupe Is a brand-new thing. Out In California, where they raise big crops of cantaloupes, many of the melons are a little too small for the trade. Thud D. McCall, of Im perial, Cal., conceived the idea of dry ing these melons. The result was a dried fruit of exceptionally fine fla vor. Now he is thinking of going into the business on a large scale. H. H. Whitcomb & Burke Co., At lanta's foremost grocery brokers, saw In the newspapers brief reports of McCall’s experiments. Believing the Atlanta trade would take kindly to the Innovation, McCall was asked for samples and for Information. His letter Is Interesting. “Relative to your Inquiry about dried cantaloupes,’’ he writes, ‘‘the. supply was very limited, and’ local demand has been far greater than the supply. Hope to come nearer supply ing the demand next season. As to the success of dried cantaloupes, they are fine eating, and the Interest shown by letters fro n every part of the United States and some from over the borders would Indicate that the market Is ready for lots of this fruit. It much resembles evaporated apples. May Use Cartons. “I may pack in cartons. If I get or ders enough. “The shrinkage Is materially more than other fruits and the weather a shade hotter than the hot place ought to be when the cantaloupe season Is on here, so prices will be good if I pioneer the game.” He concludes by asking how At lanta wants the goods packed and what the trade here will pay for the product. In reply, Whitcomb, Burke & Co. express themselves as anxious to In troduce the product In the South, and say that if the fruit Is up to Its ad vance notices it ought to bring good prices. It seems to be like the dehydrated berries, rhubarb and vegetables, which have proved so great a success, and which, by the addition of cold watsr, return to their original plumpness and flavor. McCall Is Enterprising. McCall seems to be a most enter prising ranchman. He Is one of the pioneer cotton growers In the Impe rial Valley, where a very fine long staple has been raised for the past few years. “Dried cantaloupe may be as fa miliar In a few years as Is canned asparagus." says W. M. Burke. “Sev en or eight years ago everyone thought It impossible to can aspara gus. R. Hlckmott, of California, de clared he could do It and turn out an edible superior to the vegetable as It comes fresh from the garden. How well he and the host of canners who have followed In his footsteps have succeeded Is a matter of common knowledge to-day.” TRAFFIC FALLS OFF. Railways of the United Kingdom carried 31,980,000 fewer passengers in 1912 than in 1911. NEW YORK, Sept. 6.—It Is neces sary to go back to the fiscal year 1908 to find smaller net earnings for Louis ville and Nashville than the $12,913,- 620 reported for twelve months ended June 30. In the Intervening period. 1910, net after taxes reached as high as $15,966,402, when gross earnings were some $7,000,000 below those of the past fiscal year. The increase in gross for the yes* just ended amounted to $2,328,665, or 6.72 per cent. Net showed a decrease of $1,808,977, or 12.24 per cent, as com pared with previous year, the reason for which Is not hard to find. Ex penditures for maintenance of way In creased $2,204,380, or 24.96 per cent over the previous year. At the same time there was expended on mainte nance of equipment $1,145,685, or 11.3* per cent more than In 1912. For the last four years maintenance expenditures have exceeded those for conducting transportation, but It re mained for the 1913 year to show charges for maintenance practically 4 per cent of gross above transporta tion costs. This followed a jump o$ two points In 1911 over 1910. Not many roads put as much back into property as they spend in moving traffic. In ten months to April 10 last Louis ville and Nashville reported surplus after all charges and sinking funds of $7,701,398, equal to 10.69 per cent on $72,000,000 stock outstanding. On $60,- 000,000 stock this would have been equal to 12.83 per cent. As the $12,- 000,000 new stock was not fully paid until February, when the Anal instal ment of 80 per cent was due, the com pany to date has received little re turn from Its additional money. If to estimated surplus for dividends Is added the $3,350,000 Increase In maintenance charges shown for the year, the former figure would be brought up to $11,850,000, or equiva lent to 16 1-2 per cent on the stock. Umbrella Business Above Last Year’s Handles With Animal Heads, Jew. eled Designs and Change Purses Are New Styles. Fall business with umbrella marrafao- turers Is more active than last year Prices are advancing because of the In creased cost of materials, but whole salers are having little dlffculty tn get- ting their advances Among novelties offered are umbrella handles the metal tops of which form vanity cases and change purse* An imported line of handles is topped with sterling silver animal heads, Including dogs, horses and monkeys. A strong fall line Is one of slim rosewood, ebony snakewood and ivory handles with smali gold caps. Jeweled handles are shown by a leading house. These are closely studded, for about eight inches at tho top, with rhinestones, garnets tur quoises and topazes in pleasing combi nations. A line of children’s umbrellas Is topped with colored fruits, nuts and animal heads. A novelty In tassels is a square-shaped one which forms a crocheted silk pocket containing a small mirror. Another forms a crocheted change purse and has a metel cover held shut by a snap clasp. The fall color trend Is toward blue, green, taupe and black in regular shapes. A manufacturer said yester day that freak shapes featured last year did not sell satisfactorily, and that they are taboo this season. France Takes Heavy Lots of Jap Silk Allotment for American Consumption Likely To Be No Larger Than Last Year's. The Lyons, France, manufacturers have been buying heavily of Japanese raw silks this year. This Is taken to Indicate that the allotment of Japanese slllcs for American consumption wlU be no larger this year than last. Prices are still tending upward. The rising exchange is making business more difficult at’ Shanghai. Exorbitant prlcee are being asked at Canton for the few lots of silk that are being offered there. Buying at New York continues active, and. while a slight reaction In prices le expected In certain quarters, there la little indication of It yet. “ALC0” CORPORATION MAY CLOSE PROVIDENCE PLANT One of the Interesting phases American Locomotive’s decision liquidate its automobile business the disposition which will be made the Providence, R, I., works. Th property is said to represent a cat investment of substantially more tht $2,000,000. American Locomotive d rectors did, however, vote to chan $2,300,000 against surplus as a r serve for liquidation of the autom< bile business. Some of this reser will undoubtedly be needed In dlsp. sitlon of cars, taxis and motor true] on hand. In fact. It Is stated that tl company has over 500 vehicles of vi rious kinds In Providence or In 1 salesrooms waiting to be sold. The need of a locomotive works i Providence Is not apparent, and tl locomotive company will probab continue Its policy of concentratlr production at the larger units 111 Schenectady. PITTSBURG BOND~ PLAN FAIL PITTSBURG, Sept. 6.—City Com] troller Morrow has admitted hlg pit to sell city bonds to the people ht fallen through, the Issue of $150,O' for street Improvement going In a probability In a lump sum to the Ui Ion Trust Company. Offers from tl people amounted to only $35,000. COST OF LIVING RISES. A Government report on the co of living among British working clai shows there has been an average at vance In seven years of 10 per cent 1 fuel, food and clothing taken togetl er. Wages have Increased not nea; Iv enough to balance the Increase ] the cost of living. _ .