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SIGNATURE LAWRENCE L. HOOPER, JR.
TITLE SEC. & GEN. COUNSEL
[COOPERS & LYBRAND LOGO]
Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.
a professional services firm
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
The Adams Express Company:
We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities of The
Adams Express Company, including the schedule of investments, as of December 31,
1997, and the related statement of operations for the year then ended, the
statement of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period
then ended, and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the
period then ended. These financial statements and financial highlights
are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility of
the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these financial statements and financial highlights based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements
and financial highlights are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of investments
owned as of December 31, 1997, by correspondence with the custodian and brokers.
An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements and the financial highlights referred
to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position
of The Adams Express Company as of December 31, 1997, and the results of
its operations, the changes in its net assets, and financial highlights
for each of the respective periods stated in the first paragraph, in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
/s/ COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
---------------------------
COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
Baltimore, Maryland
January 6, 1998
