How Now the Dow

Created in 1884 by Charles Henry Dow, the first editor of the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones average of industrial stocks took its modern form in the late 1920s, just in time for the market crash and the Great Depression. Then as now, the index is an average of stock prices of companies in major American industries.

Only 13 of the original 30 stocks are still on the list. Dropped long ago were smoky, smelly oldies like American Smelting, Nash Motors and American Sugar. The three latest additions are IBM, Merck and American Express.

Despite last week's high, only General Electric at 93⅜ and American Brands at 49⅞ set price records, and a few were strikingly beneath their historic highs. U.S. Steel, reflecting the woes of its industry, closed at 19⅞%, down sharply from 108 in 1959. GM was at 57, half the 113¾% of 1965, before stiff competition arose from Japan.

COMPANY CLOSING PRICE Nov. 5 % RISE SINCE AUG. 12

American Express $64¾ 81%

Sears Roebuck 31⅛ 72

F.W.Woolworth 26⅜ 56

Minnesota Mining 76½ 47

General Electric 91⅞ 46

Goodyear 32 45

General Motors 57 43

Westinghouse 37⅝ 42

United Technologies 56⅛ 42

DuPont 43¼ 41

International Paper 50 37

IBM 84⅜ 36

Union Carbide 57 35

Procter & Gamble 113¾ 35

General Foods 46 35

Owens Illinois 28⅛ 33

American Brands 49⅞ 33

Eastman Kodak 93¼ 30

American Can 34 30

Standard Oil (Calif.) 32¼ 29

Alcoa 29⅛ 27

Merck 81½ 26

INCO 9⅞ 23

Allied Corp. 38 23

Bethlehem Steel 18½ 23

Exxon 30½ 22

AT&T 62⅛ 22

U.S. Steel 19⅞ 20

Texaco 31 18

International Harvester 4⅛ 10