9p6





Record and Guide





December ii, 1897.





tion-room, restaurant and a docturs' offlce ancl apartments. For
the rest, there are four apartments per floor in this buiiding, and
two per lloor in tiie two smaller buiidings on the avenue.

It is probabiy the oniy wholiy steel construction and fireproof
domestie building nortii of IKlth street. The fireproofing contraet
was in the able hands uf John W. Rapp, a fact that will create
confidence ĩn tiie fire-resisting ciualities of the buildings. Bach of
the three buiidings has its separate passenger elevators, whiclr,
as well as the freight eievators, were buiit and put in place by
the Graves Eievator Co. The public hails are paved with mosaic
tiiing and panelled in marbie. Each apartment contains a private
hali, parlor, musie-room or iibrary, dining-room, kitchen, bath-
room, and bedTOoms, in number according to size, and aii iight
and compietely self-ĩnclosed. The servants' quarter is shut off
from the rest of the apartment, an arrangement that ought to be
imitated in aii similar houses. Care has been taken, too, to make
the batli-room inconspicuous and ĩnaudible Erora the other rooms. .
Bpth gas and electric light are provideû for. The piumbing, sup-
piied by George Schweppenhauser, is the very best, as are aiso
the sanitary speciaities provided by Ihe Henry Huber Co,. and
the heating arrangements froni The Mercer Co. The kitchens
contain combination gas and coal ranges, dressers, wash tubs,
sinks, dumb-waiters, and refrigerators, kept at an evenly iow
temperature by cold air supplied from the basement. The par-
lors and dining-rooms are furnĩshed witli cabinets, mirrored man-
tels and gas ranges, as weli as steam heat radiators. like the
other rooms. The Batavia and New York Wood-Working Co.
furnished the trim, which in the halls and dining-rooms is oak,
and in the interiors birch. AII the Hoors are of liard polished ma-
ple. The workmanship in its severai parts is unexceptionable.
and besides the contractors aiready mentioned, the names oC
Janies Dowd, the piastereT; John H. Sturk & Co., who laid the
artificiai stone sidewailís, yards, ceilaĩ's and ai;eas, and the iWan-
hattan Iron Works. which supplied the monumental iron-work,
including the eievator enclosures and iron stairs, shouid also be
mentioned as contributing materially in the making of the buiid-
ings. The corner liouse contains .SOô,000 cubic feet of built-up
space, and each of the others 400,848 cubic feet.

For the information of our readers the names of the principal
eontractors for these important and excellent huildings are re-
peated below, and their addresses given also:

Fireproofing.                                            Plastering.

Joha.W. Rapp. 311-.527 Bast 94th st.      James Dowd, 4ÛG West -ĩ.oth st.

Elevators.                                       Sanitary Specialties.

The Gravea Blevator Co.,92 Liberty st.   The Heiiry Huber Co.,Sl Beekman st.

Stonework.                                       Interior Woodwork.

Charles   Hillemeier. 115tĩi   aud   116th   The   Batavia   &    New    Yorlt   Wooâ-
sts.. east of Pleasant av.                         Workiiig Co., 102 West Slst st.

Plumbing.                                      Artiiiciai Stonework.

George Schweppenhauser. 2530 8th av.   John   H.   Sturk   &   Co,,  324-;!28  East

Mason Builders                          lU^iÍ st.

D^wå,& Masiem,  217  West  12ôth st.   Ornamental IronWorkíinc'.uãingstaÍrs

Heating Fixtures.                             and  elevator  enclosures).

The Mereer Co.. 137 Centre st.               Manhattan Iron  Works, 212 and 214

East 09th st.





FROM   THE   NEGOTIABLE  INSTRUMENTS  LAW.

"DeHvery.—No negotiabie instrument takes effect until it is
Intentionally delivered, and any agreement about it is incomplete
and valueiess until deiivery. As between immediate parties con-
ditions may be imposed upon its deiivery, or it may tae delivered
for a special purpose oniy, and that may be set up by the malĩer,
or prior party, as a reason why he should not pay it. But in Ihe
hands of holder in due course (see Sec. 91) a vaiĩd delivery as
to all parties prior to him so as to make them iiable to him is
conclusiveiy presumed. (Sec. 35.) So a man can agree to buy
a share in a Klondike mine provided he wishes to keep the share,
and may give his note for it, with the oral agreement that the
note is not to be used until the buyer malies up his mind; if he
fînally ãecĩdes to back oul, the seiler cannot make him pay the
note. Or,- i£ it was distinctly understood between the maker of a
note and the bank that discounted it, at the time it was dis-
counted, that the maker was not to be liabie, aiîhough he signed
the note, the bank can not eollect it from hĩm. But such an agree-
ment between tlie maker and the payee, i. e., that the payee shall
take it up at maturity, is no defence to the suit of the bank
which discounts it, when tliat agreement was not made with the
bank, and was not brougbt to its notice. And an agreeraent can
not be enforced that a note shail not be collected, when a good
consideration was given £or the note.

"Mistake as to person.—If tiie party who makes and delivers a
note is mistaken in the iãentity of the person to whom he
makes and deiivers it. and the iatter fraudulently accepts it, al-
lowing the maker to believe that he is some one elae, that note is
void right away.

'•Renewals.—A renewalnote is subject to the same defences as
the original note, such as usury, in tlie hands of the original hold-
ers, no matter if the tĩme be extended, or interest added.

"Ambiguity in the instrument.—Suppose the sum payable is
written four hundred dollars, and then in lîgures $450, then the
written words will govern, and the note is only good Eor $400.
But i£ the words are ambiguous or uncertain, then you can fĩx the
amount by tiie fĩgures; for example, iE you could not make out
from the handwriting whether it was two hundreã or five hun-
dred doilars, then the figures will decide. I once had a German
client who subscribcd for two shares o£ stock, beginning the
word two with a German t, and it looked, as he wrote it, exactly
like five with the dot of the î omitted, and was so aceepted and





understood; there were no flgures to explain it, and it made a iot
oE troutale—more tlian the stock was worth."

lE you desire ciear explanations oC ail the law about Promissory
Notes, Biiis of Exchange, Checks and Bonds, send $2 to The
Record and Guide for Mr. Van Siclen's book, just out. The new
law went intn effect Oct. 1, 1897.





AN ANSWER TO "ENGINEER."

'fo the Edilor uf The Record and Guĩde:

Dear Sir.—In the letter addressed to you, and signed "Engĩ-
neer," he propounds two ciuestions: 'Ts it safe to have this floor-
ing constructed by ordinary contractors, or should it only be put
in under the supervision of the manufacturer?" and

"Do manufacturers ordinarily furnish such supervision, or are
the floors put in without it?"

Before answering the inquiries, it is necessary to state what
induced ■■Engineer's" interest in the questions. An "Bxceisior"
End Construction Tiie Arch was to have been tested at the same
time as one of the Roebiing concrete arches, on November 19th
last; the Roebling concrete arch was prepared and eonstructed
by the manufacturers thereof; the materiai for the tile arch was
procured by John A. Roebling's Sons Co.. was constructed by par-
ties unknown to us. and the test carried out by employees of
John A, Roebling's Sons Co. The tiie arch, ioaded with but 150
pounds to the square foot, feli in after about 3 hours' flring.
The ■'Bxcelsior" arch, though not demanding expert workmen to
iay, at ieast presuppo^ses that they should be able to distinguish
between a "Key" brick and a "Skew-back."

These are the cireumstances whichleadto "Engineer's" inquiry:
■ Is it safe to have tliis liooring constructed by ordinary con-
traetors?" We reply; The "Exceisior" End Construction flooríng,
though only adopted in this city in 1S94, has since received the
endorsement of architects sueh as Messrs. Bruce Price, James
Barnes Bai;er, Henry J. Hardenbergh, N. Le Brun & Sons, Er-
nc^st Fiagg, and others; that construction has gone into the fol-
lowing buildings: American Surety. The Bank of Commerce, Mr.
Charles T. Wills, buiider; The Manhattan Hotel, Messrs. Marc
Eidlitz & Son. buiiders; Metropolitan Life Insuranee Co.'s, 24th
street and Madison avenue. Mr. John Downey, builder, and sev-
eral others.

In no case did we have any supervision of the construction; in
fact, sucli interference wouid have been resented by both the
builders and the "Unions." For proof that the work was done
well, however, we refer "Engineer" to ■'The Brickbuilder," of
January 2U, 1897. where he will find an interview with Mr. Bruce
Price; referrĩng to the "Excelsior" Arch used in the American
Suiety Building, built according to his pians, he states: "After
the fioor biocks were set in place, granite weighing as mueh as 5
to S tons was dumped on the archings and worked over before
being set, without the slightest damage to the construction."

We think we have shown that where the single motive existst
to turn out good work; the supervision of the manufacturers is
unnecessary.

To his other question, the answer is simpiy; what rules govern
manufacturers of conci'ete or other systems we do not know, but
an agreement entered into by the Master Builders and the
"Unions" of this city, denies the manufacturer of Holiow Tile
any voice in tlie eonstruction; their functions being limited to the
delivery of their materiaĩ at the building.   Tours very truly,

HENRT MAURER & SON.





THE     CHARTER    AND     REAL     ESTATE.

Orders will now be received at the offîce of publication, 14 and
16 Vesey street, for the book whicb tbe Record and Guide wîll
publish next week on "The Bearing of the Charter" on real
estate. The book has been prepared by Mr. Geo. W. Van Siclen,
of the New York Bar, and sets forth in plaín, clear langnage,
without any technicalities, the effect which the charter will bave
on ALL departments oE real estate. The new law will make a
great mauy changes on the first of the year, and for a time a
good deal of eonfusion is sure to prevail. Delay will be caused
and mistakes made whieh will he eostly, all of whieh may be
avoided by those who wilî study beforehand Mr. Van Siclen's
book. The book will contain about 125 pages, will be bound in
red leather with gold lettering and red edges. This work is not
a mere reprint of the charter, nor a short summary of it, but a
cleai- statement of its provisions so far as they affeet real estate.
The work has been done with the utmost eare and with a spe-
cial purpose in view. The book will be found to be one of Mr.
Van Siclen's most successful publications. No real estate
bvoker, ágent, auctioneer, owner, builder, or arehiteet ean afford
to be without it. Price, $1.50. Send order by postal at once to
insure early delivery.





COPIES WANTED.
We will pay a liberaĩ price for copies of the Record and Guide:
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6, 7, 8, 0, 13, 19, 108, 114, 116," 120, 122, 123, 129,
133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 13S, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144. 253, 254,
270, 271, 272, 275, 616, 618, 619, 651, 652, 653, 668, 1298 and 1453,
also Indiees In volumes 41 and 43, delivered at our offlce ,in good
condition.