Downtown

Last week in business districts throughout the land the following was news: P: Henry Ford filed a balance sheet with New Hampshire's secretary of state. Wholly owned by Mr. & Mrs. Ford and Son Edsel, Ford Motor Co. publishes no earnings; its profits or losses can be estimated only from the annual statements required by a few States. In 1930 the statement indicated a profit of $44,000,000, in 1931 a loss of $53,000,000, in 1932 a loss of $57,000,000. But even at the end of last year Ford Motor assets were $664,000,000, nearly one-half of it in cash, securities or receivables. P: Hard on the New York Stock Exchange's order to strike Allied Chemical & Dye from the trading list because of President Orlando Weber's passion for secret bookkeeping (TIME, June 5), came the formation of a committee representing more than one-fourth of the outstanding stock to bring Mr. Weber to terms. Headed by Charles W. Nichols, a big individual holder, the committee included President Gordon Auchincloss of Solvay American Investment Corp., whose chief asset is 20% of Allied's stock, Bankers Grayson Mallet-Prevost Murphy, E. Roland Harriman and Francis M. Weld. They plan to drum up more proxies, oust four directors (three of whom are Mr. Weber's hirelings) at a special stockholders' meeting fortnight before Aug. 23, the date set for Allied's removal from trading. P:National Distillers Products Corp. was reported to be dickering for Overholt Distillery whose chief assets are a famed name and 35,000 barrels of rye whiskey. Added to its stock of 700,000 cases, the Overholt supply would give National Distillers 70% of all U. S. bonded whiskey. Promptly denied were Toronto rumors that National Distillers was about to combine with Canada's Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Canadian Industrial Alcohol, Distillers Corp.-Seagrams and Brewers & Distillers in a huge continental whiskey merger.

P: In Atlantic City, Neptune Trust Co.'s bank building was being renovated for an opening this week as a beer garden. Beer will be stored in the cool vaults. P: President Kenneth Raleigh Kingsbury of Standard Oil of California announced that his company will buy a substantial interest in San Francisco's Anglo California National Bank, owned by his jape-loving friends, the Brothers Fleishhacker, Mortimer and Herbert. An indirect Rockefeller entry into West Coast banking, the deal will finance an expansion program which includes acquisition of 15 banks throughout branch-banking California. P: On a heavy demand from fabricators copper rose on four consecutive days to 8-c- a pound, up 60% from the year's low. Anaconda stock jumped to $18 and Kennecott to $21. Their lows had been respectively $5 and $7.38. P: Mack Trucks asked the New York Transit Commission for permission to buy from Samuel Rosoff, fabulous Russian-born subway builder, $550,000 of preferred stock in his franchise to run busses on Manhattan's 1st and 2nd Avenues. Mr. Rosoff. who wangled the franchise, will probably retain the company's $50,000 of common stock.

P: Pullman Corp. received an order for 500 steel box cars from Chicago Great Western R. R. Last year all U. S. car builders sold a total of 386 cars.

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