Culled from the news

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Culled from the news
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XVIII (Issue No.3) March 1938
Year: 1938
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Fulltext: 24 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL March, 1938 Culled from the News TREASURE ISLAND: Mr. J. EH. Stevenot, vice-president of Pan Philippines Corporation, which has the contract to develop and manage the claims of Treasure Island on the island of Lahuy, Camarines Sur, arrived this month from a combined business and pleasure trip to the States. While in the States, Mr. Stevenot arranged all matters necessary for bringing this property into production at an early date. The JOURNAL expects to have important news about Treasure Island in the next is sue. It is understood that Pan Philippines Corporation has secured the agency for a new mill process, and that this type of mill will be installed at Treasure Island. As Pan Philippines officials state it, gold is not produced in the form of concentrates, the new mill process making it possible to 6hip gold bars. SORIANO STOCKS TO BE LISTED IN SAN FRANCISCO AND LOS ANGELES: It was announced at the Masbate Consol idated meeting held on March 11th, that stocks of several companies in which An dres Soriano is interested will be listed shortly on the boards of the San Fran cisco and Los Angeles exchanges. Definite steps in this direction have already been taken, stockholders were informed. Mr. Soriano obtained application forma for listing from the officials of the two ex changes and from the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission during his last trip to the States, he said, as a result of the keen interest in local stocks that he found to exist, particularly on the Pacific coast. Listing of local issues in the States has been advocated from time to time, partic ularly by Mr. Clifford A. Greenman of the Securities Service corporation. Heads of some mining firms have toyed with the idea, but the Soriano action is one of the first definite steps taken. IXL forms will be sent in first, followed by Masbate, An tamok and Eastern Development. The JOURNAL understands from a pri vate source, that another important local company will also take steps looking to ward States listing in the near future. It is known that this company has already sent in its required forms to the Federal Secur ities and Exchange Commission. MASBATE CONSOLIDATED and AN TAMOK TO AFRICA: Stockholders of these two companies ratified a proposal to invest part or all of the reserve funds of the companies in other companies, with tho object of participating in mining enter prises in East Africa.’ Funds will come from amounts set aside for depreciation and amortization, and will be invested in Antam-ixl Selection Trust Limited, which in turn is to acquire con trolling interest in the Joanji Syndicate. This latter syndicate is now operating a property in Kenya, and a small mill is now in operation there. The plan at present is to await success ful operations from this propertv and then, assuming results to be successful, to invest funds of the Selection Trust in other prop erties in Africa. While Masbate has become one of the Is lands’ leading producers of gold, it has not reached its rated capacity of 3,000 tons a day, due to difficulties encountered in mill ing the ore. Conditions at Masbate are unlike those of any other mine. Mr. N. A. Fittinghoff, general superintendent at the mine told the stockholders’ meeting that present mill changes under way will bring the production up to rated capacity by the middle of this year, and also reduce costs. Mr. Soriano stated that it is the opinion of the board that the property can be brought to a dividend-paying basis in the near future. C. A. Mitke, an internationally know au thority on nulling methods, has been em ployed to act in a consulting capacity for Masbate, and has arrived from the United States to advise on methods to be em ployed there. (Please turn to page 31) cerned. Since the expanding credit base would be only moderate even if the entire allowable amount of gold should come into the country, and since money rates have already been forced to almost unprecedented low levels, even prime bonds are likely to ignore the development. More important than the action of the Treasury is the implication of renewed resort to inflationary measures. If the proponents of inflation as a means to industrial recovery gain support and large scale pump priming is resorted to, the implications would be adverse for high grade bonds. This, however, is not an immediate threat; no new money borrowing is expected at the March quar ter date. One of the chief obstacles to rising commodity prices at present is the generally extended inventory position, but inventories are burdensome only to the extent that the price weakness makes them so. Upon any indica tion that government efforts to lift prices are bearing fruit, inventories that are now unwieldly would in many instances be considered inadequate, and thus a buying wave would get under way which might result in quite a price flurry. COMMODITITS MUST ADVANCE FIRST This is one possibility of the next few months that must be considered in determining the probable trend of the stock market. Advancing commodity prices, par ticularly if motivated by inflation fears, would almost assuredly be accompanied by rising stock quotations. This has been the experience in the past. OUTLOOK FOR LEADING INDUSTRIES Outlook Above Average Agricultural Equipment Electrical Equipment Aviation Mail Order Baking Petroleum Variety Chains Outlook Average Building Supplies Machinery Can Manufacturing Meat Packing Cement Motion Pictures Chemical Office Equipment. Copper Packaged Goods Dairy Products Paper Department Store Rubber and Tires Distilling Shoes Drugs and Cosmetics Sugar Fertilizer Tobacco Grocery Chains Utilities Household Products Woolen Textiles Outlook Below Average Automobile Radio Auto Accessory Railroads Coal Mining Railroad Equipment Cotton Textiles Rayon Leather Silk Textiles Steel and Iron March, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 31 the standpoint of the outside world, and disregarding for the moment the question able methods she is using, perhaps the most satisfactory outcome would be for Japan to batter herself into a state of financial insensibility against the yielding but re silient wall of China’s defenses. Certainly, events at the moment are pointing that way. Great Britain’s price structure is not coming unscathed through the general dis turbance. Aside from her active partici pation in European and Far Eastern diplomatic and political scenes, she is far too closely allied commercially and finan cially to the United States not to feel the effects of the depression across the At lantic. British trade has definitely suf fered, and while leading observers there regard the recession as temporary it is improbable that 1938 will be as good a year for Great Britain’s industries as 1937. By and large, the world picture is lib erally be-spattered with gloom, and it is small wonder that the ranks of those fore seeing nothing but a long-lasting and disas trous business decline are expanding by leaps and bounds. Yet the situation is by no means as hopeless as it seems on the surface. Here again, one must turn to the world’s democracies for assurance as to that point. Left to themselves, the odds are that the dictatorships and communistic states would destroy each other and in that destruction carry our present civilization to oblivion. But fortunately, those democra cies, with all their internal difficulties, have nevertheless sufficient farsighted men be hind the scenes to realize this danger and also to realize, \vhat is far more important, that Utopia is not here or even “around the corner.” The path to peace lies in overwhelming strength and the will to use that strength in the upholding, rather than the destruction, of freedom. Culled from the ... (Continued from page 24) GOLD PRODUCTION FIGURES CON TINUE TO SET RECORDS: Every month sets a new all-time high in Philippine gold production. All records were broken in February, and March, Director Abadilla of the Bureau of Mines reports, may reach more than P5,000,000.00. Production th:3 year is almost certain to exceed P60.000,000.00 in gold alone. Meanwhile, the stock market continues to go down. “Oh, Oh!” One convenient thing about some of these stock prices: they fit in so well with Ta galog and with English slang. If a 6tock is quoted at P0.00—something, the prospec tive seller can say, “oh, oh”. The broker can, after taking his order reply with the Tagalog word for ‘yes’, “oh, oh"! At that, it is a little confusing. Your broker tells you that your stock is quoted at P0.00.... You say, “oh, oh! Did you say P0.0O... ?” He replies, “oh, oh”. FEBRUARY 1938 GOLD PRODUCTION ‘ February 1938 February 19.37 Tons Milled Value Tons Milled Value Ambassador .............. Antamok.................... Baguio Gold.............. Balatoc ...................... Benguet Cons............. Benguet Expl............. Big Wedge................ Cal Horr .................. Coco Grove .............. Demonstration.......... East Mindanao ........ Gold Creek................ Ino Gold .................... Ttogon ........................ IXL Mining.......... Mindanao Mother L. Masbate Cons............. North Mindanao .... Royal Paracale ........ San Mauricio............ Suyoc Cons................. Tambis Gold.............. Twin Rivers.............. United Paracale........ Total .......................... 325 P 3,580.00 19,820 367,901.04 7,442 127,481.46 33,891 1,009,794.26 28.267 918.527.32 2.556.89 20,366.00 3.851 133,903.94 5,105 91,651.04 287,500 yds. 174.400.00 7,992 130,683.03 2.294 35.648.09 1,196 20.266.19 5.411 40.289.38 25.184 277,531.38 9.153 221,327.94 4.217 112,320.68 64.692 304,916.84 182 oz. 12.740.00 2,178.5 19,950.18 8,417 195,326.65 5,602 110,062.41 34.085 yds. 9.114.90 24,221 29,370.44 8,330 190,896.90 19,634 P 423,984.81 6,038 83,453.18 34,461 960,653.60 22,896 691,105.00 3,641 24,826.00 4.092 68.951.55 5,149 92,520.52 6,446 122,430.56 2.276 44.600.00 879 13.745.39 4.693 50.582.38 15,453 237.647.62 6,353 152,237.88 46,088 260,917.11 13,650.00 4.265 173,491.06 6.740 87,842.79 19,810.00 9,522 109,891.58 P4,558,042.07 ........ P3,682,356.97* 1 Figures furnished by the Chamber of Mines. * Including IXL Argos, P30,233.06, North cm Mining, P457.14 and Salacot, P19,335.74. LOST PIPE LINES Oil companies occasionally lose their pipe lines. Perhaps the maps were misplaced or the markers removed. It would be a tremendous task to dig for them, so a geophysical survey is made, and the pipes are locted, traced and mapped. Geophysical methods locate and trace mineralized structures in the same way. Of course locating structures is much more complex than finding pipe lines, and highly skilled geophysicists and geologists must interpret the geophysical data in terms of geology. Developments’ staff of experienced and proficient technicians, geophy sicists and geologists have conducted geophysical surveys in the United States, Canada, Alaska, Mexico, and the U. S. S. R. They have made many surveys in the Philippines, including a number on producing properties. Write or phone for an appointment to discuss details and costs. Preliminary discussions will be treated confidentially and with no obligation. DEVELOPMENTS, INC. Filipinas Bldg. P. O. Box 3230 Tel. —2-17-46 Manila. P. I. 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