Index

Trans-Atlantic Talk. When William Crapo Durant, stock market operator, was in Europe this summer he spent more than $25,000 on trans-Atlantic telephone calls to the U. S. But never for one call did he, nor anyone else, ever spend as much as F. B. Odium did last week. For 95 minutes of speech he paid $1,425. He is director of several U. S. electrical companies, notably, of Electric Bond & Share Co.

Bees. New Jersey's most industrious insects are bees. They number 30,280 cultured colonies, which gave a net income of $113,250 ($3.74 per colony) last year. It cost $16.52 to keep each bee colony, $9.33 for the bees, the rest for equipment.

R. R. Car Names. Express, passenger and freight trains have names; Pullman cars have names; and B. &O. engines.* The Pennsylvania Railroad, building cars: at its Altoona, Pa., shops, decided to name 45 new theatrical scenery cars after famed stage characters (real and literary), 25 new horse express cars after famed racetracks.

Rubber. The British Stevenson Act controlling the production of rubber in the Orient expires Nov. 1. London despatches last week reported British and Dutch rubber plantation owners, who control the world's present output, conferring to form a private group to restrict rubber production, to create an artificial shortage, to shove prices (now low) up.

Exports. U. S. exports for the first half of this year totalled $2,377,533,000--more than for any full year before the War, $11,000,000 more than for the same time last year.

Canadian Railroads. The Alberta Government is selling half interest in all its province railroads to the Canadian Pacific for $25,000,000.

Philadelphia Seat. A seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, where relatively little business is negotiated, sold last week for a record price--$17,000.

*English locomotives all have names, like all ships.