AND ANOTHER DOW JONES MEMBER BITES THE DUST

The Last Of The Original Ones In Fact

by bob Walsh

A historically interesting, but probably not actually significant, thing happened in the financial world yesterday. The last of the original corporate components of the Dow Jones Industrial Averages dropped off the list. Yes, the General Electric Company has joined the list of corporate has-beens.

The list was established in 1896 to track general trends in the stock market. They were American Cotton Oil, American Sugar, American Tobacco, Chicago Gas, Distilling and Cattle Feeding, General Electric, Laclede Gas, National Lead, North American Tennessee Coal and Iron, U. S. Leather and U. S. Rubber. Only General Electric still existed. The list expanded to 30 in 1929.