442





The   Record  and   Guide.





April 2, 1887





mous transactions. But in this new departure of speculation and invest¬
ment the properties and money transfers are widely distributed, and
money is scattered from the centres of gravity. Therfl is no possible doubfc
thafc the extensive use of money in a multiplicity of diverse interests,
employing it actively in business enterprises all over the country, should
be mfiuitelv better in a large sen.se, and far more profitable than its concen¬
tration at the ;{reat c^nfcres of speculation; and it is also evident fchafc even
speculation in distributed forms is preferable to ifcs concentration; but,
while seeing the truth of this, it would be wise to recognize that the new
departure of speculation implies a significant, general change ia the circuit
and locations of money supplies.—Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky^

Some Cities Tliat Boom,

One of the amusing results of fche recenfc rapid growth of cerfcain Western
cities, such as Minneapolis, St. Paul. Kansas City and Omaha is their antic¬
ipations of jumping easily past solid big towns like Cleveland, Pittsburg,
Buffalo and Washington. Already they are counting upon taking rank in
the firsfc dozen American cities by the time the next census is taken. The
fact is that neither Minneapolis, Kansas Cifcy nor Sfc. Paul will be higher
than sixteenth among the cities of the United States, and there is an even
chance that not one of the three will be above fche twentieth place. Minne¬
apolis has grown faster than any of the others named, and that city is
probably as far behind Cleveland now as it was in 1870. Then there was a
difference of not quite 80,00ii between the two cities, and in 18S0 this had
increased to llS.floO. Since then the lead of Cleveland has probably been
cut down to the 80,000 which separated the two cities in 1870, and we may
not be more than 60,00 ahead of the Minnesota metropolis in 1890. That,
however, is quite a margin. Between the United States census of 1880 and
the Minnesota census of 1885 the growth of Minneapolis was 83,000, sup¬
posing the State account to have been accurate. A like increase betwenn
1885 and 1890 would make Minneapolis the proud possessor of 211,000 in¬
habitants four years hence, but it is very improbable that the figures will
exceed 200,0)0. At that time Cleveland. Pittsbm-g, Buffalo and Washing¬
ton will all range from 270,000 down to 230,000, and if Milwaukee does as
well as between 18S0 and 1885 she will have 202,000 inhabitants. Detroit,
Jersey City and Louisville are all quifce as likely to reach that figure as
Minneapolis. Of course figuring on the ratio of gain makes everything
very different, bufc thafc plan is merely a mathematical snare for iittle
towns. Chicago has long baen planning to catch New York in short order
by the cheerful percentage progress, but the cold fact remains that between
1870 and 1880 New York actually ran away from Chicago about 60,000.
The astonishing ratios are not all in the West. Between 1870 and 1880,
Camden, N. J., Wilkesbarre, Pa., Holyoke, Mass., Pawtuckefc, R. I., Lynch¬
burg, Va., Chafctanooga, Tenn., and Ausfcin, Tex., all more than doubled
their population, a feat which makes the liveliest of the Western cities
hustle. In that decade Columbus and Toledo just about kept pace with
Kansas City, and Youngstown and Springfield, O., made better gains,
based on the percentage method In fact, the ratio of increase in popula¬
tion was 71 8 in Kansas City and 72.3 in Cleveland. And befcween 1860 and
1870 the Missouri town had gained nearly 700 per cent., a rate which, if
maintained, would have given it 220,000 in 1880 and tenth place among
American cities, instead of the thirtieth with which it had to be content.
The cities of the far West, some of them, are wonderful towns, but there is
a heap of vitality and capacity for progress left yet bfitween the western
boundary of Ohio and the Atlantic—Cleveland {Ohio) Leader.

The Field of Gold.

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 had an almosfc insfcanfcaneous
effect on the whole world of enterprise. New and richer blood was at
once sent bounding through the arteries of trade. Business immediately
revived in the new and old world, and an era of material prosperity
such as man had never known before was ushered in. Three years after
the California gold fields were found; the vast AustraUan deposits of that
metal were revealed to the world. These have been the principal sources
of supply since thafc time, although gold mining in other portions of the
world has been pursued since then, as a consequence of the impetus to
industry given by these discoveries, with greater success thau at any pre¬
vious period in the century. The extent to which the stock of the most
valuable of our money metals has been increased by the California and
Australian "finds" may be realized by a glance at the follo\ring table:

Gold coin of world. 1402......................................    $140,000,000

Production from 1493 to 1600 ...;.............................      520,000,000

"            "     1601 to 1700..................................      628,6'50,000

"     1701 to 1800................................    1,308,810,000

"            '•     1801 to 1850.................................      813,200,000

Total to 1850.............................................. 83.4:3,600,000

Production from 1851 to 1883..................................    4,158,330,000

Grand total .............................................. $7,571,933,000

The figures here given are those of Dr. Adolf Soetbeer, the great German
financial statistician. They show that more gold has been added to the
world's available stock since the discoveries in California and Australia
than the entire amount of gold which the world had, either in coin or in
the arts or manufactures, at the time these discoveries were made. The
world's production in the past few years has averaged only about $100,000,-
000 annually, a large proportion of which has beea consumed in the arts.
Deducting this amount and the amount which is requisite to repair the
annual loss of the coin from attrition, and the sum which production now
permits to be added to the world's money will fall shorfc of 150,000,000 a
year.—The SL Louis Globe-Democrat.

American Capital in China.

It appears from a recenfc reporfc of Consul Smithers afc Tientsin, China,
thafc there is an opportunity for American capital and brains to meet
Chinese cheap labor on mutually profitable terms in China, if it can not be
allowed to do so in the United States. An American flrm employing 650
native workmen and women in the manufacture of silk filature states, in
reply to the Consul's question, that its land and buildings represent an
invesfcmenfc of $40,700 and the machinery $33,500. On this large total of
nearly $80,000 there is no diflBculty in obtaining a return of 10 per cent,
net, in spite of the fact that a large part of the capital is borrowed at a
rather high rate of interest. Coal costs from $4.40 to $6 05 a ton, and
insurance is expensive, amounting to $1,100 a year; but taxes are light,
being only about $220 a year in all. The wages paid are from $4.00 to $4.50
a month in American gold for ten hours' work a day, and it is stated tliat
the avrage would be much higher but for the large proportion of women
employed afc very low rates. If such an enterprise at this factory can be
conducted successfully in the manufacture of raw silk, ifc is diffi.ulfc fco
undersfcand why ifc mighfc not be rivaled in other branches of industry.
Important results may yet be obtained by the employment of American
capital and intelligent skill in China, in utilizing the abundant raw material
and swarming labjr Of thafc vasfc counfcry.—C'/eiieZajid {Ohio) Leader.

The Boom in Lake Superior Trade.

Ifc was shown by Hon. George H. Ely, of fchis cifcy, in his address to fche
Senate Committee on Commerce, concerning the proposed bridging of the
St. Siary's River and canal, that the tonnage passing through this vital
link in the chain of the greafc lakes was 39 per cenfc. larger in the season Of
1883 than in 1835. Thafc is a wonderful increase and is alone enough to
J——t^ofca f.jia wiadnm of hasfcenine the further improveiaeiit o£ both





the river and the canal. It is Very doubtful whether there is another im¬
portant gateway of American commerce, on wa'er or on land, which can
make anything like as good a showing, xilready the canal at the "Soo,"
in a season lasting only from the 25th of April to the 4th of December,
passed a tonnage of 4,219,897 tons, while the world-famous Suez canal, open
the year round, was used by only about 6,000,000 tons of shipping in the
lat-^ st season of which statistics are attainable—that of 1885. Let it be
considered what an increase of 39 per cenfc. or even of 19 p r cenfc. each
year for three years more, would do for the St. Mary's trade. In thafc
time the Suez would be distanced, and the canal at the foot of Lake Supe¬
rior would do one-third to one-half more business every day it was open
than the great ditch between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The
growth of our Lake Superior commerce is one of the most remarkable
" booms " in the history of the United States, and it will be well if Congress
could be made to appreciate that tact.—Cleveland {Ohio) Herald.

Shifting Commercial Centres.

Commerce moves the world. It is one of the greatest factors of civiliza¬
tion, and yefc fchere is nofching morejaocertain, nothing more fluctuating.
In our own country we have had several notable examples. A contempo¬
rary reminds us that not very long ago Newport was the formidable com¬
petitor of New York; toKiayit is only one of our many summer resorts.
Charleston once swayed the commerce of the South Atlantic and the Gulf.
Once there were cities on the Gulf coast of Florida thafc ranked as commer¬
cial marts, but their names axe almost forgotten. The future will witness
even greater changes. The wigns of the times indicate a rapid and steady
movemenfc of population southward. Naturally this vast region cannot fill
up without the building of several large inland and seaboard cities. Where
will they be established? It will not do to count too much upon natural
advantages. These may be overcome by brains, enterprise and capital.
One thing, however, is worth considering—men who have studied the ques¬
tion predict that our great cities of the fntm-e will be inland because the
domestic trade of a nation is always greater taan its foreign trade. Tak¬
ing this for granted it is reasonable to assume that the centres of commerce
and industry will be established at points where the climate is favorable
and where epidemics do not prevail. Of course these centres must have
facilities for distribution. Hence the problem of railway transportation
must necessarily continue to grow in importance. In the course of a very
few years the future great city of the Piedmont or highland region of the
South will begin to definitely shape itself, if indeed it has not already
begun to do so. Pehaps it would noc be a diflicult matter, afc the presenfc
momenfc, fco poinfc out on the map our coming metropolis.—Atlanta {Ga.)
Constitution.





A syndicafce has been formed to build a new railroad in fche Argenfcine
Republic, and $20,000,000 has already been subscribed. This enterprising
country, which resembles California in climate and resources, has far sur¬
passed us in its progress during the past few years. The population of the
country has uicreased since 1869 about a million and a-half, being now
3.000,000, of whom over a million are foreigners. The Republic expends
nearly $37,000,000 a year. Statistics of this sort should not be discomi^ing.
The fact that other parts of the world are progressing as well as California,
and at an even greater rate, is only an indication of what we are to expect
in the way of advancement. We have obtained a population of only a
million ih the past thirty-nine years, which is certainly a small growth for
so large a State, and shows that the settlement of our territory has been
undul.y retarded rather than stimulated by artificial means.—iSan Fran¬
cisco Post.





Real Estate Department.

Less real estate has changed hands at private sale during the past week
than in the weeks immediately preceding, and this has undoubtedly been
due, in a considerable degree, fco the continued bad weather. In the
Auction Room the attendance has been large and the sales have been
numerous and very important, and the market still shows a very strong
tone, without the slightest signs of diminished faith, on the parfc of wealthy
investors, in the future of city real estate.

The Exchange was well attended on Monday and the sales were quite
numerous. Most of fche property offered was on the easfc side and
embraced dwellings, flafcs and vacanfc lofcs. The four-sfcory brown stone
flat with store No. 79 West Forty-seventh street, northeast corner of Sixfch
avenue, 19.6x75.3, was sold for $53,500 fco J. H. Schiff; fcwo lots on the
south side of Eighty-ninth streefc, befcween Madison and Fif th avenues, each
19.2x100.8, brought $9,800 each. The dwellings Nos. 320 West Thirty-third
street and 315 East Fifty-eighth sfcreefc were nofc offered, having been pre¬
viously sold afc private confcracfc.

On Tuesday the Salesroom was packed, sales were held by ten auctioneers
and it was impossible fco move from one part of the room to another. The
offering of the Christ Church property on the southeasfc corner of Piffch
avenue and Thirfcy-fiffch sfcreefc afcfcracfced a greafc deal of curiosifcy bufc few
bidders. It was started on a bid of $200,000 which was raised to $205,000
by Charles Duggin, fcwo further bids of $1,000 each and one of $500 increased
the figure offered to $307,500, at which price ifc;was bid tu by Samuel Keyser
for the church. The plofc measures 63.9x123, and contains aboufc 7,851
square feefc. The sum bid is equal fco $26.43 per square foofc. The Caswell
properfcy ou the opposite corner, 42.7x135, containing 5,312 square feefc,
was sold for $242,500 to the New York Club. This is afc, fche rate of $45.65
per square foofc. Ifc should be borne in mind that the building on the Caswell
plot can be utilized better than the church edifice. The partition sale of
237 Pearl streefc was well afcfcended and the competition spirited. John
Pettit became the purchaser afc $23,300. The dwelling No. 926 Madison
avenue, between Sevenfcy-fchird and Sevenfcy-f ourfch sfcreefcs, 23.2x5'5x95, was
knocked down to W. G. Francis for $40,350. Over forty-five vacant lots were
also offered. Two facing One^Hundred and Fourteenth streefc, on the corner
of Madison avenue, broughfc $8,700 each; fcwo on the southwest corner of
Madison avenue and One Hundred and Fifteenth streefc, 35x73 each, wenfc
for $7,300 each, and fchree lofcs adjoining on One Hundred and Fiffceenfch
sfcreefc were sold afc $5,050 each; six lofcs on Sixfcy-fourfch sfcreefc, easfc of
Elevenfch avenue, broughfc $3,750 each, and two lots on the north side of
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth streefc, 150 feefc easfc of Ninth avenue, were
sold for $11,400 each—one of these lofcs changed hands lasfc January afc
$3,005. Of fche twenty-eight lots on Morris and Granfc avenues and One
Hundred and Sixfcy-fchird sfcreet which were offered only five were really
sold. The facfcory Nos. 403 and 403 East Sixfcy-second street was. wifch¬
drawn, as no bids could be obfcained for it.

The parcels aunooQced to be sold on Wednesday atiaracted to the Ezcb^g9