INCORPORATED 1884 Mercantile Trust & Deposit Company OF BALTIMORE Capital, Surplus, and Undivided Profits, $5,000,000 We offer our services in any or all of the capacities properly exercised by Trust Companies, and will give the most careful attention and the benefit of our long experience to all matters entrusted to our care. FRED G. BOYCE, Jr., Vice-President AMPLE FUNDS IN ST. LOUIS DISTRICT FOR LEGITIMATE BUSINESS The outstanding feature of the financial situation in this district, according to Chairman Mc C. Martin of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has been the excellent liquidation in the South, particularly in Arkansas. Numerous country banks have reduced their loans much more rapidly than was thought possible sixty days ago. Good progress in the clearing up of loans of long standing is general over the entire cotton section. Elsewhere in the district the situation remains much the same as thirty days ago, save that the freer movement of wheat has increased the demand for credits based on that commodity. Liquidation of old live stock loans and new ones contracted about balance, but the demand from this source is still active. Some improvement in the demand for funds for general commercial purposes has taken place, and is reflected in a firmer tendency in interest rates charged by the commercial banks. Withal there is a plentitude of funds for all legitimate business requirements, and deposits are holding their own in good shape. Savings continue their recent steady gains. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TRUST COMPANY BOND OFFERINGS The Mississippi Valley Trust Company of St. Louis is offering a $400,000 first mortgage 7 per cent. 15-year bond issue of the Marblehead Lime Company, which the trust company recently purchased. The Marblehead Company owns plants at Hannibal, Springfield, Kansas City and other Missouri cities. The Mississippi Valley is also offering on a 5.10 per cent. basis a $200,000 issue of 6 per cent. certificates of indebtedness of the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners, the official name of a levee district in Missouri embracing 1,750,000 acres A. H. S. POST, President of land. A syndicate comprising the Mississippi Valley Trust Company, the Guaranty Trust and the Bankers Trust Companies of New York, and others, has purchased an issue of $3,000,000 State of South Dakota 44 per cent. Rural Credit bonds, to be dated November 15, 1922, and due November 15, 1942. BANKERS CLUB OF ST. LOUIS At the recent annual dinner of the Bankers Club of St. Louis, officers and directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and its branches were guests of honor. Festus J. Wade, president of the Mercantile Trust Company, was elected president; J. L. Johnston, president of the Liberty Central Trust Company, vice-president, and John G. Lonsdale, president of the National Bank of Commerce, vice-president. LIBERTY CENTRAL TRUST PUBLISHES PROPERTY CHART A six page folder entitled "How is Property Distributed Where There Is no Will?" has been published for free distribution by the trust department of the Liberty Central Trust Company of St. Louis. The chart shows how real estate and personal property in Missouri will descend and be distributed when the owner dies intestate. Officers and employees of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company recently attended a dinner and entertainment given in the Company's building. The American Trust Company of St. Louis has given the additional title of vicepresident to its treasurer, C. L. Sager, and Ben S. Lang was elected a vice-president. A Christmas bonus, based on a graduated scale, has been distributed to employees of the Security National Bank Savings & Trust Company of St. Louis. CLEVELAND TRUST COMPANY'S REVIEW All the necessary conditions for a period of prosperity exist at the close of 1922, says the Cleveland Trust Company in its midmonth Business Bulletin for December. Crops are good. Interest rates are relatively low. Prices are rising and business profits are increasing. "The present prospects are that business will continue to gain in profitable volume for some months to come," says the bank. "The duration of this period of prosperity cannot be definitely foretold. The time for business activity is here. It is the part of wisdom to take advantage of its opportunities, and to bear steadfastly in mind the realization that later on it will decline as definitely as it has increased. and probably more rapidly. "Crops are bigger this year than they were in 1921, and they are selling at higher prices. Nevertheless, the amounts that the farmers now receive are almost universally lower than they were during the five years from 1916 through 1920. The result is that while the farmers are better off than they were last year, their purchasing power is so much less than they have become acustomed to, that there is widespread discontent in nearly all the agricultural sections. "Consumers of iron and steel have begun a substantial buying movement for 1923 delivery. The pressure for prompt shipments has increased and as a result the operations of steel works have expanded to fully 80 per cent. of capacity for the first time in over two years. The demand for steel is particularly heavy from the automobile industry and from railroad car builders. Preparations for an active year in motor car building are seen in large orders being placed for sheets for bodies and pig iron for castings. Some automobile plants have asked steel mills to double the tonnage of sheets contracted for delivery in the closing weeks of the year. Part of the explanation of this active demand for sheets is to be found in the increasing popularity of closed automobiles." ST. LOUIS BREVITIES Ed. Mays, president of the Missouri National Bank, has been elected president of the Trust Company of St. Louis County at Clayton. The Bankers Bond and Investment Company has been organized in St. Louis with a capital of $320,000, to deal in government and municipal securities and finance building operations. The Community Fund of St. Louis has been organized to centralize charitable contributions and effort. Judge Thomas C. Hennings, vice-president of the Mercantile Trust Company is one of the principal factors in the movement. The First National Company, affiliated with the First National Bank in St. Louis, announces that H. H. Kelso has joined the staff of its Mortgage Loan Department. CONDITION OF ST. LOUIS TRUST COMPANIES Cleveland Special Correspondence CLOSE OF ACTIVE BANKING YEAR Cleveland bank and trust company managements may look back upon the record of 1922 with gratification and encouragement for the future. The "Cleveland banking spirit" is essentially one of intensive development of new business. This applies to commercial, savings, trust and pther departments. The net result is that Cleveland has perhaps the second highest volume of savings deposits per capita of any city in the United States. Thrift and the advantages of having a savings account, of be longing to Christmas clubs, of creating living or life insurance trusts and the necessity of writing wills, are doctrines which are being preached through newspapers, literature and by word of mouth. As the year draws to a close the businessgetting spirit grows even more pronounced. Several of the larger trust companies are conducting employees contests which means that groups of employees are vying with each other to bring in accounts. Over $2,000,000 of Christmas savings funds have been distributed by Cleveland banks and trust companies and the campaign has been at white heat for Α next year's clubs. large percentage of Christmas savings funds, instead of being taken out for gifts or luxuries, are being turned back into regular savings accounts. Likewise, the competition has also been strong among various financial institutions to make record returns in connection with the Cleveland Community Chest which has filled its coffers to the extent of $4,500,000 for next year's community needs. Deposits of Cleveland State banks and trust companies, aggregated $620,000,000 several months ago and promise to reach an even higher peak before the close of the year. In brief, Cleveland bankers look forward to a prosperous year to come. ACTIVITIES AT CLEVELAND TRUST CO. The Cleveland Trust Company will complete one of the most successful years in its history under the efficient guidance of President F. H. Goff. The last official statement of the company, rendered several months ago, showed aggregate resources of $174,785,000, an increase of over 11 millions since June 30th. On January 15th next the chain of branches operated by the company will be rounded out to fifty in number with the opening of the latest new office at Woodland avenue and East 55th street. On December 1st the 49th branch office was opened at Madison avenue and W. 97th street. The trust department of the Cleveland has experienced exceptional growth during the year now closing. Although quite a number of very large estates and trusts have been committed to the custody of the company, the volume has been especially increased by the large number of moderate sized estates. New features of service have also been inaugurated in the trust and other departments. The sixth annual volunteer "booster campaign" is now in progress at the Cleveland Trust Company, conducted by the Cleveland Trust Club, composed of employees of the company. The campaign runs from November 25th to January 4th and the quota mark has been set at $1,326.000. Mr. R. J. Frackelton, president of the Chandler & Price Co. has been named the sixtieth director of the Cleveland Trust Company. UNION TRUST COMPANY OF CLEVELAND As one of the largest trust companies in the United States, the Union Trust Company of Cleveland is steadily improving its position, adding new features of service and extending its influence throughout this part of the country. Resources of $270,000,000 and deposits of $226,000,000 represent but a portion of the business and responsibilities of this organization. For example, during the ten months of 1922 the Union Trust was appointed trustee for new bonds and note issues of 49 corporations, making total outstanding issues for which the Company is acting as trustee over $306,766,000 and total authorized bond and note issue, $516,537,000. In addition the Company acts as registrar and transfer agent for outstanding issues of preferred stock amounting to over $350,000,000 with authorized issue of $532,972,000. Outstanding common stock issues for which the company is acting either as transfer agent or registrar amount to over $18,000,000 with authorized issues of $28,172,000. Equally impressive are the individual trust and estate holdings of the company. The new building of the company which will be one of the largest bank and office buildings in the world is rapidly assuming structural form. It will be 20 stories in height, having 1,315,000 square feet floor space, covering 95,000 square feet of land, containing 18,000 tons of steel. TRUST COMPANY BROADCASTS ORGAN RECITAL Two thousand fetters of appreciation were received recently from radio fans by WJAX, the Radio Broadcasting Station of the Union Trust Company of Cleveland as the result of a single radio concert-the Cleveland Public Auditorium organ recital, given by Edwin Arthur Kraft, the well-known Cleveland organist, upon the evening of November 28th. The letters come from all sorts of people and all sorts of places. They came in by the bundle. Perhaps the top one was from Nova Scotia and the bottom one from Providence, and in the middle there would be scattered letters covering twenty different states. Here is a sample, for instance: Tuinucu, Cuba. "The broadcasting of the organ recital in the new public auditorium of Cleveland was 80 wonderful last night as to leave us without words to express our admiration. With my amplifier the organ was heard over a mile from my house. In the house it shook the windows and walls just as though the organ, with every stop out, was in the house." Several things were responsible for this deluge of letters. In the first place, the Cleveland Public Auditorium organ is one of the finest in the world. In the second place, organ music is of such character that it comes through exceptionally well by radio, and in the third place, the broadcasting station of the Union Trust Company is an exceptionally powerful one and was able to reproduce the music of the Cleveland Public Auditorium organ in a manner commensurate with its high quality. The Union Trust Company is planning to broadcast Cleveland Public Auditorium organ recitals often during the coming season. OHIO BREVITIES Early in 1923 the Lake Erie Trust Company, now being organized in Cleveland by Mr. J. Horace Jones and associates, is expected to open for business at Euclid avenue and E. 16th street. A considerable part of the stock being offered to create $1,000,000 capital and $250,000 surplus has been subscribed. The First Savings Bank and Trust Company of Ravenna, O., has acquired the entire business of the Ravenna National Bank. William L. Allendorf is the new president of the Commercial Banking & Trust Company of Sandusky, Ohio, into which the Com mercial National Bank and the American Banking & Trust Company, two of this city's first financial concerns, were recently merged. The National Bank of Elyria, Ohio, and the Lorain County Savings and Trust Company have merged and will be known as the Lorain County Savings and Trust Company, with a combined capital of $500,000 and a surplus of a like sum. A depositors' dividend of one-half of one per cent. has been declared by the Locomotive Engineers' Co-operative Bank of Cleveland in connection with a shareholders' dividend of 4 per cent. The depositors have this year received a total of 4 per cent. in dividends in addition to interest compounded quarterly. Five hundred and fifty women employed in banks and trust companies attended a meeting held recently in Cleveland under the auspices of the American Institute of Banking. "With the greatly augmented domestic demand for capital in England, it is not surprising that foreign borrowers have looked to the American market. Funds sent to foreign countries in the last two and one-half years have aggregated $1,605,000,000 for America, against $404,000,000 for the United Kingdom. Nevertheless England, in transmitting $253,000,000 overseas in the first six months of the current year, doubled the twelve months' record for 1921 and returned to practically the pre-war capital exporting basis. Figures for the corresponding half year were $326,000,000 in 1911, $292,000,000 in 1912, and $285,000,000 in 1913." Pittsburgh Special Correspondence BANKING YEAR IN PITTSBURGH From the standpoints of earnings, turnover in volume of business and gain in accounts, the Pittsburgh banks and trust companies have every reason to review the year 1922 with satisfaction. The varying tides in the industrial situation did not appear to have any deterrent influence on banking. Increased savings reflect full employment as well as a wider spread of thrift. The combined deposits of the National banks, trust companies and State banks of this city have touched the $700,000,000 mark, indicating an increase of over $20,000,000 since last June. Of the aggregate of $699,814,000 deposits reported in response to the last call the National banks hold $344,591,000; the trust companies, $228,736,000 and the State banks, $126,487,000. The year has been one of sound trust company progress in banking as well as in fiduciary and investment departments. PITTSBURGH BREVITIES Alexander C. Robinson, president of the Peoples Savings & Trust Company is celebrating the fortieth year of his active association with the banking business in Pittsburgh by making a tour of the world. Prior to his departure he was presented by the employees of his company with a steamer rug and binoculars. George W. McNulty has become associated with the trust department of the Tarentum Savings & Trust Company. Shareholders of the Pennsylvania Trust Company, formerly the South Side Trust Company of Pittsburgh, have approved an increase in capital from $300,000 to $400,000. . The Bank of Pittsburgh, N. A., has declared an extra dividend of 3 per cent. Pittsburgh FIDELITY TITLE AND TRUST CO. 341-343 FOURTH AVE.. PITTSBURGH. ESTABLISHED 1886 Acts in all trust capacities Trust accounts managed aggregate more than $100,000,000 Capital, surplus and undivided profits $6,700,000. Handles checking accounts of corporations, firms and individuals. President John E. Potter presided at the recent annual banquet given to employees of the Potter Title and Trust Company of Pittsburgh. The Brotherhood Savings & Trust Company is being organized by laboring interests in Pittsburgh with, proposed capital of $500,000 and surplus of $50,000. The Pittsburgh Trust Company has issued a suggestive pamphlet entitled "Before Investing Ask Your Banker." J. A. McCormick, vice-president of the Chicago Trust Company has been elected a member of the board of the Independent Pneumatic Tool Company. |