1040





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





June 19, 1915





parison of Pittsburgh and New York
facilities for obtaining raw materials
cheaply shows New York to have most
of the advantages. The average lake and
rail freight per ton for Lake Superior
ore to Pittsburgh is $2.03. while the total
rate over thc Barge Canal to New York
will be $1.75. As there is about 50 per
cent, of metallic iron in the ore, this sav¬
ing will amount to about 50 cents per
ton  of  pig  iron.

Iron Ore at Low Prices.

The strength of the New York posi¬
tion is that it may secure a great variety
of ores at low prices. The Adirondack
ore mines are easy of access to New
York. These ores will cost Pittsburgh
$3.54 for transportation, while they can
be laid down in New York for 11 cents
per ton at present, and this rate may be
cut in two when the Lake Champlain
Canal is completed.

The Texas ores are of good quality
and may be brought to New York for
about $3.70 per ton, which is lower than
the rate to Pittsburgh. Tlie Cuban ores
are in great quantity and cost $4.50 a
ton to Pittsburgh and $1.80 to New
York. Newfoundland has immense ore
deposits which can be laid down in New





York for $1.52 per ton. as against $4.38
to Pittsburgh. \'enezuelan and Chilean
ores are likewise accessible to Xew
^'ork at a low rate.

TIic advantage to New York iu the
Brazilian, X'enezuclan and Chilean ore
trade would lie in the return freight
business which the vessels could enjoy.
.\merican manufacturers going to the
three places named would be carried by
the same vessels which brought ore to
New York.

Cost of Coke.

Ncw Vork is able to produce coke at
a low rate because it has a plentiful coal
supply and a sufficient market for the
by-products. Pittsliurgh has an advan¬
tage over New York in the manufacture
of coke. It can make coke for $1.94 per
ton of pig iron, while it would cost the
New York producer $3,85. This is more
than offset by the saving in transporta¬
tion of Adirondack, Cuban and New¬
foundland ores, and the cost of delivery
of manufactured iron from Pittsburgh to
the New Vork market.

New York has large and cheap avail¬
able supplies of limestone on the Hud¬
son River and in Maine.                            (

New   York   has  the  largest   supply  of





lai)or. both common and skilled, in the
United States.

The convenience of New Vork to its
own large market and the markets of
New England give it a great advantage
over i-'ittsburgh. Much of this distri-
butioti can be made by water.

New ^'ork has an unusual location for
the manufacturer of steel because it can
jjroduce the pig iron cheaply and can
buy the scrap iron for melting at a low
rate.

Beyond thc unusual facilities for rail
and water domestic distril)ution, the
Bronx afifords fine accommodations for
foreign shipping. Ore-bearing vessels
from Cuba and South America need not
go through the tortuous and congested
channels of the East River and Hell
(jatc, but can come around the east end
of Long Island directly to thc Bronx.
This slight extra distance is of no im¬
portance. On their return they can
carry  manufactured  products.

The establishment of iron and steel
industries in the Bronx will be only one
factor in the tremendous industrial de¬
velopment which is bound to come to
ithat fortunately situatcd part of Greater
New  York.





TRINITY'S   DWELLINGS   LIKE   OLD   NEW   YORK





Comfortable Little Homes From Which the Tenants Sel¬
dom Move—Report of Miss Dinwiddle in the Year Book





'"THROUGH the expiration of leases
•I more of the dwelling houses erected
on land belonging to the parish have
come under Trinity's control and the
general standard of living conditions in
the property of the parish has been fully
maintained.*

Fifteen houses built and formerly be¬
longing to other owners holding ground
leases have been purchased by Trinity
Corporation   during  the  year.

Houses on Ground Lease Sites.

There are now only 97 dwelling
houses on Trinity Corporation's land
which do not belong to the corporation,
instead of between two and three hun¬
dred, as was the case when the prelimin¬
arv study of the properties was made
in'1909.

The ground lease properties still re¬
maining are of two classes, those still on
old long leases and others on short
leases. For some years past no re¬
newals of ground leases have been
granted for more than twelve months,
and examination of the premises is made
in every case before renewal of the lease
of the site to ascertain whether the
house is in good condition and complies
with the law.

Beside one former ground lease house
torn down, two houses which were
owned by Trinity last year were torn
down in the course of the year, the sites
being taken for a new building for a
working girls' home by one of the
churches   of  this   section.

General Conditions in the Houses.

In spite of some changes from year
to year in the purchase of additional
houses as ground leases expire and in the
tearing down of a few buildings here
and there to make way for ncw improve¬
ments, the general type of Trinity's
dwelling houses and tenants remains the
same.

The length of residence of the families
is conspicuous. The Trinity tenants do
not move once a year. To have been in
a house less than a year is the exception
and to have occupied the same dwelling
for a number of years is the rule. Even
the families in the vicinity of the street
widening and subway work are prefer¬
ring to stay on in spite of inconvenience
from noise,  dust and  strcct obstruction.

The occupations of tlie heads of fam¬
ilies vary widel}'. ranging all the way
from day laborers to professional men
in comfortable circumstances. Of the
total of 359 dwelling houses now be¬
longing  to  Trinity   Corpoiation,  241   or

♦From tho Year Book and Register of the
parish.





67 per cent, are private dwellings for
one or two families in each, and 118 oi
Zi per cent, are occupied by three or
more  families  each.

The largest numl>er of families in any
one house is 21. in a building erected as
a model tenement. The next largest
number is 13 in a house. Next come
five houses built as model tenements
with ten families in each. The houses
owned by the corporation contain ac¬
commodations altogether for 889 fam¬
ilies, an average of 2.5 families per
liouse.

.\bout one-half the houses have a
place of business, usually on the ground
floor. These are groceries, dress¬
makers* and tailors' shops, candy or
candj' and stationery shops, cigar or
cigar and stationery shops, restaurants,
liarbers' shops, or distributed among a
variety of other businesses.

Not only are no gambling places or
immoral resorts permitted in the houses
owned by Trinity, but there are also no
rag shops, junk shops, stables or
bakeries.

The Prevailing Type of Houses.

The low, old-fashioned buildings with
a large yard in the rear, commonly used
as a flower garden or flower and vege-
tal>le garden are still the prevailing type.
Out of 359 houses. 3 are two stories
liigh, 290 are two stories and attic, or
three full stories; 60 are four stories and
6 (of which 5 were built as model tene¬
ments) are five stories high. There are
none higher than five stories. The ordin¬
ary six-story, double-decker, dumbbell
tenement of downtown New York is un¬
known among the Trinity houses, though
such l)uildings are seen in large numbers
in thc section east of the corporation's
dwelling  houses.

The whole area of the Trinitj" proper¬
ties, though l)uilt over in past years
by individual ground lease owners ac¬
cording to tiieir individual ideas, is re¬
markably free from congestion, as com¬
pared with other sections of the city
below 14th street. The absence of tall
buildings and of overcrowding of lots
is a great advantage, and the practice
of the corjioration of removing rear
buildings, if there are any on the backs
of lots, as soon as these come under
control, has l>een a further help in this
direction.

Rentals.

The rents average about $1 a week,
or between $4 and $5 a month per room.
The rents for private dwellings range
from $12 a month for a very small, one-
family housc to a hundred dollars a
month for a two-family house with an
pflfice.    The lowest apartment rents are





$7 a month for three rooms; the highest
are %2(y for five rooms.

The houses are all on the West Side,
and are scattered about in thirty differ¬
ent city blocks throughout an area about
three-quarters of a mile long. Trinity
Corporation thus has on an average ten
or eleven dwelling houses to a block,
sandwiched in among buildings iielong-
ing to other owners or of other kinds.

Systematic inspections of the proper¬
ties are made on the corporation's own
initiative, in order that all defects which
call for attention may be discovered and
remedied. But special credit is due to
the tenants also for their part in the
work of keeping tho houses up to a good
standard and making them attractive and
comfortable  homes.





The William  Street Subway  Entrances.

Through the efforts of Borough Presi¬
dent Marks, a public hearing on the
matter of subway entrances and exits
has been arranged with thc Public Serv¬
ice Cornmission for Wednesday. June 23.
at II A. M., at the hearing room of the
commission. Room 310. 154 Nassau
street. Borough President Marks is op¬
posed to the placing of entrances and
exits on W'illiam and Nassau streets.
This matter was also taken up some
time ago by the Real Estate Board with
the Public Service Commission, and the
board's position placed before the com¬
mission.

The subway plans show proposed en¬
trances and exits of 6 feet 6 inches on
these crowded sidewalks, which are only
9 to 10 feet in width. On account of
the narrow streets, contour of ground,
etc.. only two stations will be placed on
this route, one at Wall street and one
at  Fulton  street.

At the Fulton street station, entrances
and exits will be on the easterlv side
of the street only. From 5.000 to 7,000
persons pass on these narrow sidewalks
in a given hour, morning and night. The
Real Estate Board has placed itself on
record, through its committee on rail¬
roads and transportation, against the
proposed plan. It believes that the
necessary easements should be con¬
demned for this purpose. In Boston,
subway entrances are put on private
property where similar conditions exist.

The Real Estate Board is urging that
its members and property owners on and
about William and Nassau streets write
to the Public Service Commission and
attend the public hearing on Wednesday,
so that the commission mav be thor¬
oughly convinced of the public feeling
against the proposed plan for obstruct¬
ing the sidewalks on these streets.